Former TWA terminal at JFK airport could become a hotel

A group led by hotel company MCR Development is in talks with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to revamp the former Trans World Airlines terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport into a hotel, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

JetBlue Airways is taking part in the MCR bid with a small investment, said the people, who asked not to be identified because talks are private. The airline, based in Long Island City, N.Y., is interested in preserving the aviation history of the building, designed by Eero Saarinen, and having a modern hotel in proximity to its own terminal at JFK, one of the people said.

The venture is a one-time deal on the part of JetBlue, which doesn’t plan to invest in more hotels. Its name wouldn’t be on the JFK property.

Philip Stewart, a JetBlue spokesman, declined to comment. MCR’s chief executive, Tyler Morse, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment, nor did Ron Marsico, a representative for the Port Authority, which runs the airport.

MCR Development owns 88 hotels in 23 states, according to a release last week. The Wall Street Journal had reported that MCR was working with JetBlue.

For many years before its merger into American Airlines, TWA’s operating headquarters were in Kansas City.

This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 9:26 AM with the headline "Former TWA terminal at JFK airport could become a hotel."