Waldorf Astoria: Latest Chinese trophy asset, priciest U.S. hotel

The Waldorf Astoria, known as one of America’s most famous hotels, was reportedly sold to Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group for $1.95 billion.

That makes the sale the largest acquisition of a U.S. real estate asset by a Chinese buyer, as well as the most expensive purchase ever of a U.S. hotel, Forbes.com reported.

The price for the 1,413-room art deco landmark hotel equated to about $1.4 million per room. Hilton Worldwide has owned the hotel – which covers an entire city block on New York’s Park Avenue – since 1949. The hotel has housed numerous world leaders and celebrities over its 83-year history.

It marks the latest “trophy asset” that Chinese buyers have snatched up in the U.S. Private Chinese companies have quickly emerged as leading foreign property buyers in the U.S. Insurance investment firms in particular have been looking for safe assets to park their money. The Chinese began their buying surge in the U.S. shortly after China began loosening restrictions on overseas investments in 2012.

As of 2011, Anbang was ranked as China’s second-largest insurer.

New York has been the preferred market for many of these commercial acquisitions by Chinese firms in 2014, according to a Reuters poll of New York City real estate agents in April. The poll also found that the Chinese had displaced Russians as the largest private buyers of Manhattan real estate.