Aiming to prevent job losses when hotels are closed, the New York City Council on Thursday passed a two-year ban on conversions of hotels to condominiums.
The original version of the bill would have permanently banned the conversions, but the amended version instead imposes a two-year moratorium while the city does a study on the economic effect of conversions, the New York Daily News reported.
The bill applies to hotels with at least 150 rooms. Owners would be able to apply to the Board of Standards and Appeals for an exception to the rules, if they could show financial hardship.
The Hotel Association of New York City spoke out strongly against the bill. “In addition to raising serious concerns about infringement of private property rights, the measure would create a disincentive for new hotel development and job creation by placing undue restrictions on one of the city’s most robust sectors,” Joseph Spinnato, president of the Hotel Association of New York City, said in a written statement. “Any effort to stifle growth at a time when hotel sales and development have generated hundreds of millions in revenues for the city would be shortsighted and counterproductive.”