For 98 years, the Plaza Hotel has sat majestically on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, serving as an anchor between the tranquility of Central Park and the bustle of the great city. It is a legendary property that has been featured in more than 40 films. Every American president since William Howard Taft has visited the Plaza. The International Olympic Committee stayed at the Plaza during its visit last week to consider New York City as a site for the 2012 Games. But now the new owner of this historic hotel, a real estate development firm called Elad Properties, wants to convert the Plaza into private condominiums and a department store. Somewhere, Eloise is weeping.

The Plaza is the latest of a dozen New York City hotels that have been purchased for the purpose of conversion to condominiums. Manhattan hotels are a favorite target of developers during the current condominium boom because they generally have good locations and there are no apartment renters or business offices to evict. They are a quick flip that make a rapid and large profit for developers. But this trend is not good news for New York and its residents. Recently, the state and city committed almost $1 billion to expand the Jacob Javits Convention Center to boost tourism. That ambitious expenditure may not reap the anticipated rewards if we continue to lose hotels, especially one as celebrated as the Plaza.

New York City lost 5,000 hotel rooms in the last year alone. Considering that tourism is the second-largest employer and the second-largest source of income for New York, losing a crown jewel like the Plaza would be a huge blow. More than 1,000 good-paying jobs would vanish and some of New York’s most wondrous interior architectural treasures would be lost to the public. The developers say they intend to preserve most of the lovely interior spaces of the Plaza Hotel, but they have also said that they intend to put a department store in its irreplaceable Grand Ballroom and auction off many of its gorgeous fixtures.

If the conversion is completed as it is currently designed, it may very well turn out to be a splendid place for millionaires to own condos. But it won’t be the Plaza Hotel that for almost a century has served New York’s residents and visitors so well. And while the condominiums at the converted Plaza will no doubt pay healthy property taxes, that money will not come close to equaling the revenue New York currently receives from the property operating as a hotel.

There are many New Yorkers and people in other parts of the world who believe that the Plaza Hotel should be saved. At the same time, no one is denying that Elad Properties is entitled to earn a profit on its investment.

A compromise might be able to keep much of the Plaza operating as a hotel while allowing Elad Properties to earn a good return on its investment. Such a compromise would require the assistance of Elad Properties, of the union that represents the Plaza employees, of which I am the president, and of elected officials. Mayor Bloomberg has already expressed support for saving hotel rooms and hotel jobs, and many members of the New York City Council and the State Senate and Assembly have signed on to a “Save the Plaza Coalition.” Now, we should all work together to preserve the Plaza largely as a hotel that the entire public can enjoy and to allow Elad Properties to enjoy a decent return on its investment.

There are precedents for these objectives. As an example, the city and state have made numerous tax abatement deals in recent years to keep various companies in New York. If such a deal can save the jobs of 500 banking industry employees or 700 stock market workers, why couldn’t a similar deal be implemented to save the more than 1,000 good-paying jobs at the Plaza Hotel?

Another example is this: when Grand Central Terminal and a number of theaters were land marked because of their historic significance, the properties’ owners were awarded air rights that could be sold in other parts of the city. There are not many buildings in Manhattan more historic than the Plaza. Perhaps a deal could be worked out to award Elad Properties air rights in exchange for keeping much of the Plaza as a hotel.

None of these proposals – and others that have been offered – can work without the cooperation of elected officials. But many of them, including Mr. Bloomberg, have already indicated their support for preserving much of the Plaza as a hotel and saving hundreds of the good-paying jobs it provides.

Of course, we also need the cooperation of Elad Properties. As efforts are underway to landmark many of the precious interior spaces of the Plaza like the Oak Room, the Grand Ballroom, the Palm Court, and so many others, and as more and more people in New York come to realize that this hotel is a special part of our city and its history, we hope that Elad Properties will act as a responsible corporate citizen and work with all of us to save the Plaza.

Mr. Ward is president of the New York Hotel Trades Council, AFL-CIO, the union that represents workers at the Plaza Hotel.