After the city government granted a tax abatement for the renovation, Trump and Hyatt completely remodeled the hotel from June 1978 to September 1980, spending $100 million and removing almost all of the Commodore's original decorations.

[17] On the lobby's west wall was a cafe with natural-oak wainscoting; a blue-and-gold carpet; Flemish oak chairs; and a ceiling with white-and-green plaster frescoes.

[16] This arrangement, inspired by the layout of seats in a Mexican bullring, was intended to maximize the number of boxes for sale during charity events, as well as provide sufficient space for a dance floor below.

[28][35] Three chandeliers were hung from the vestibule's high ceiling, which was painted blue and white, and a carpet with "Old World designs" covered the marble floors.

[17][47] Acting as a concierge for their respective story, the floor clerk coordinated room service, provided supplies, and obtained tickets and schedules for guests, among other tasks.

[56][57][b] After the renovation in 2013, the lobby was clad in stone and dark wood, laid in a carpet with gray stripes and furnished with black leather chairs.

[74] New York Central's vice president William J. Wilgus proposed electrifying the line and building a new electric-train terminal underground,[75] a plan that was implemented almost in its entirety.

[82] A 1920 New York Times article said, "With its hotels, office buildings, apartments and underground Streets it not only is a wonderful railroad terminal, but also a great civic centre.

The commission was unwilling to pay the New York Central's asking price for the easement, so the IRT modified its plans in April 1913 to avoid the hospital site entirely.

[105] The project involved numerous extremely large material orders, including a contract for 159,000 pieces of silverware[11] and 1.06×10^6 sq ft (98,000 m2) of mesh reinforcement.

[118] The Commodore also hosted a party in 1924 to celebrate the removal of the Grand Central elevated station on 42nd Street,[119] which had been directly above the hotel's main entrance.

[137] On April 21, 1949, the Commodore Hotel hosted the 1949 BAA draft in what became the final year of league operations under the Basketball Association of America name.

[141] Webb and Knapp, led by developer William Zeckendorf, offered to buy all of the Commodore Hotel's outstanding common stock in October 1957 for $18 per share.

[159][160] Amid continued rent disputes, Franchard evicted Webb and Knapp as the hotel's operator in May 1964 and began managing the Commodore directly.

[197] Hyman B. Cantor of the Carter Hotels Corporation made another offer for the Commodore in April 1976, while city officials continued to discuss the tax abatement.

[227] The city government originally planned a sales tax on construction materials to fund other improvements in the area,[228] including $2 million for a cleaning of Grand Central Terminal's facade.

[248] The same year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that they planned to use eminent domain to acquire 3,600 sq ft (330 m2) of the Grand Hyatt's basement and reconstruct a subway entrance there.

[249] Regional newspaper Newsday estimated that, in the first five years of the hotel's operation, the tax abatement saved Trump and Hyatt $5.5 million annually.

[253][254] An investigation by city auditors found that the hotel was missing basic financial records and was using procedures that violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

[262] Trump sued several members of the Pritzker family in 1993, accusing them of racketeering; he sought full control of the hotel and $500 million in damages.

[263][264] Trump claimed that Hyatt wanted to force him out of the partnership because their agreement prevented the chain from operating other Hyatt-branded convention hotels in New York City.

[267][268] The Pritzkers countersued in March 1994, alleging that Trump had violated their partnership by failing to remain solvent, using his share as collateral for loans, and refusing to fund his portion of the renovation.

[269][270] The Pritzkers also sued Bankers Trust and Chemical Bank, claiming that Trump had diluted the partnership by conveying his financial interest to his lenders while retaining veto power.

[306] The Hyatt Grand Central offered limited services, as its meeting facilities/function rooms, restaurants and bars remained closed; the hotel's permanent closure date was postponed to at least 2023.

[304] As of December 2023[update], the hotel's closure had been postponed because no major tenants had been found for the office building;[307] work on Project Commodore was scheduled to start in 2026.

[3][310] The American Architect magazine wrote that the Commodore "adds a very important architectural feature to a location that is bound to become one of New York's busiest civic centers".

[311]Conversely, Ada Louise Huxtable wrote that the Grand Hyatt's atrium had been adapted to the existing steel frame "with ingenuity and elegance, and the result is not only a vast improvement over the spiritless interior court that has become an overreaching cliche, but also—give or take a few details—one of the handsomest public spaces in New York.

"[312] The Atlanta Constitution wrote that the atrium "seems vast" despite being only three stories high,[58] while The New York Times said the lobby was a place for "sitting and watching the custom that flows back and forth before the eyes".

[314] Shortly after the hotel reopened, reporters for Newsweek said that the "glistening mass of reflecting glass" seemed to be "a world apart from that grubby cluster of porn shops and X-rated movie theaters" along the section of 42nd Street within Times Square.

[59] A writer for The Washington Post said the Grand Hyatt "reaches for the present and future", in contrast to the Helmsley Palace Hotel, which had opened the same year but had "tried to embrace the past" by incorporating the historical Villard Houses.