Judge orders Ace Hotel to remain closed as local ownership seeks to run it as an independent property

PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Christine Ward has ruled that the Ace Hotel Pittsburgh in East Liberty cannot reopen to the public due to an ongoing dispute between its local ownership and the New York-based boutique hotel brand.

Ward filed the order on May 27 before the holiday weekend in response to an emergency motion by New York-based Ace Hotel Group to stop the property’s local ownership from reopening the hotel as a new independent property that would no longer operate under the Ace flag, according to court filings.

The ruling by Ward comes just as all the emergency requirements of the Covid-19 pandemic that crippled so much of the hotel business here and everywhere else are set to be fully lifted, with Gov. Tom Wolf recently ordering that all remaining restrictions for Covid-19 will be fully lifted on Memorial Day.