The BT Tower is to be converted into an upmarket hotel, after the British telecoms company agreed to sell the London landmark to the owner of some of New York’s best-known places to stay for £275m.

BT Group said the deal with MCR Hotels would preserve the Grade II-listed building for the future, given that the evolution to fixed and mobile networks mean it no longer relies on the tower to carry signals from London to the rest of the country.

The conversion of the site in London’s Fitzrovia will take time, as BT Group will take years to vacate the tower because of the scale and complexity of removing its technical equipment.

MCR, which operates about 150 hotels in the US including New York’s High Line hotel and the TWA hotel at JFK airport, said the transition period would give it time to develop its design plan and engage with local communities before putting forward a final proposal.

The BT Group property director, Brent Mathews, said: “The BT Tower sits at the heart of London and we’ve been immensely proud to be the owners of this important landmark since 1984.

“It’s played a vital role in carrying the nation’s calls, messages and TV signals, but increasingly we’re delivering content and communication via other means … This deal with MCR will enable BT Tower to take on a new purpose, preserving this iconic building for decades to come.”

The MCR chief executive, Tyler Morse, said he saw many parallels between BT Tower and its JFK TWA hotel, which was a reimagining of the Finnish-American designer Eero Saarinen’s 1962 landmark flight centre and received a national architecture award from the American Institute of Architects.

“It’s been a privilege to adapt the TWA Flight Center into new use for future generations, as it will be the BT Tower,” Morse said.

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