And Zeckendorf, Too

Real Estate Operator William Zeckendorf was also busy last week closing a big hotel deal of his own. With a group of eastern and West Coast real-estate men, Zeckendorf took over control of Manhattan's famed Astor Hotel, built by William Waldorf Astor in 1903 and a Broadway landmark and tourist mecca ever since. For $1,500,000, Zeckendorf & Co. bought leasehold control of the 706-room Astor from the City Bank Farmers Trust Co., trustee for the Astor estates. The land itself, valued at $6,400,000, remains the property of the trust company, but Zeckendorf has an option to buy that, too, within two years.

To squelch rumors of a new office building on the site, Zeckendorf promptly announced that he would keep on running the Astor "as a great hotel." For a starter, he plans to redecorate the Astor "with a Parisian flavor"--plus air-conditioning--to give guests a sense of Old-World leisure on old Times Square.

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