The famous Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York is looking for a buyer after years of renovations

The Chinese owners of the iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York, recognized worldwide after appearing in numerous films and series produced by Hollywood, are preparing to put the luxury building up for sale, a few months after its reopening following renovations that cost several billion dollars, reports The Wall Street Journal, quoted by Reuters.

The iconic Park Avenue building reopened in November after an eight-year renovation that transformed it from a 1,400-room hotel into a complex with 375 hotel rooms and 372 residences. The transformation was completed five years late and more than $1 billion over budget.

Among many others, the hotel even had a movie named after it – “Week-End at the Waldorf,” starring Ginger Rogers – and the $1,000-a-week suite 2728 was Marilyn Monroe's home in 1955 after she left Hollywood.

According to The Wall Street Journal's sources, the restaurants, shops and other facilities adjacent to the hotel would be included in the sale, but the apartments will still be sold separately.

What would be the sale price for the Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Hilton Worldwide, which holds a 100-year management contract for the hotel, sold the property in 2014 to Anbang Insurance Group, a China-based reinsurance company, for $1.95 billion, making it one of the most expensive hotel sales in history.

The group spent an additional $2 billion on renovations that began later, bringing the total cost to more than $4 billion.

Chinese state-owned Dajia Insurance Group was later appointed to administer Anbang's assets after its chief executive was prosecuted for economic crimes.

However, the seller does not expect to fully recoup its costs through a sale. And with an estimated sale price of over a billion dollars, only a very limited number of potential buyers could afford this flagship property of Hilton's luxury Waldorf brand.