In 2014, the hotel was sold to New York City hotelier Richard Born for $30 million,[15] after which another New York-based firm, Simon Baron Development, acquired a 99-year ground lease on the property.[4] In 2016, Matt Baron, president of Simon Baron, said he was committed to the preservation of architecturally or historically significant components of the building, such as the hotel's grand lobby, but his company planned to completely redevelop the interior and fix the "hodgepodge" work that had been done in more recent years.[16] The hotel closed in 2017 for the renovation, but the work was suspended indefinitely when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.[17][18][6][6][7]