Grand Central office building to be converted for hotel use.

The Fitzpatrick Family Group of Hotels will restore an office building at 141 East 44th Street across from Grand Central Terminal into a 156-room first class hotel, announced John Fitzpatrick, CEO of North America for the Dublin-based hotel group.

"The new Fitzpatrick Grand Central is an ideal opportunity to expand our American operation at another of Manhattan's major crossroads," founder and chairman Paddy Fitzpatrick said.

The new hotel will have all modern conveniences, but with an Irish theme, continuing the romantic, European nostalgia of the three premier properties the Fitzpatrick Group owns and operates in Ireland and the Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel on Lexington Avenue at 57th Street, its first U.S. property, opened in 1991.

In its design, the Fitzpatrick Grand Central will evoke the memory of the Irish workers who built much of the American railroad system. The hotel will include an old-world Irish pub and feature the traditional Irish breakfast for which the Fitzpatrick Manhattan is noted.

In a joint venture with Blackacre Capital Group, L,P., the Fitzpatrick Group has acquired the 44th Street building and will begin re-construction of the interior of the building immediately, with completion scheduled for May, 1998, John Fitzpatrick said. The total cost of purchase and renovation will be $27 million.

The hotel will generate an estimated $19 million annually for the New York City economy, Fitzpatrick said.

Architect Martin J. Brockstedt is designing the interior work, with renovations by HRH Construction.

The 75,000 square-foot hotel will include 156 rooms and suites, including a penthouse. The new hotel is in a 10-story building which was originally built as a hotel in 1916. In 1949 it was converted to an office building.

"With high occupancy rates and many sell-out nights at the Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel, we have been looking to acquire another well-located Manhattan property for some time," Fitzpatrick explained. "This is in exceptional opportunity for us to more double our size in New York. We look forward to working with the Grand Central Partnership and of being a part of this exciting neighborhood."

The Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel consist of 92 accommodations, 52 of which are spacious one-bedroom suites. The Group also manages 127 East 55th Street, the private British Airways hotel.

Rates at the new hotel are expected to be in the same range as the Fitzpatrick Manhattan, with guest rooms beginning at $245 and suites beginning at $295.