| The Lexington Hotel, Autograph Collection | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Interactive map of The Lexington Hotel, Autograph Collection | |
| General information | |
| Location | 511 Lexington Avenue (corner with 48th Street), New York, NY, 10017 |
| Coordinates | 40°45′18″N73°58′23″W / 40.75500°N 73.97306°W /40.75500; -73.97306 |
| Opening | 1929 |
| Owner |
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| Height | 316 ft (96 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 27 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Schultze and Weaver |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 725 |
| Number of suites | 25 |
| Number of restaurants | 2 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
| Designated | November 22, 2016 |
| Reference no. | 2559 |
The Lexington Hotel, Autograph Collection is a hotel at 509Lexington Avenue, at the southeast corner with 48th Street, in theMidtown Manhattan neighborhood ofNew York City. The 27-story hotel was designed bySchultze & Weaver in theRomanesque Revival style and contains 725 rooms. The Lexington, one of several large hotels developed aroundGrand Central Terminal as part ofTerminal City, is aNew York City designated landmark.
The hotel building contains a facade of brick, limestone, andarchitectural terracotta. It containslight courts facing north and west, as well assetbacks to comply with the1916 Zoning Resolution. The limestone base is two to three stories high and contains storefronts, a main entrance on 48th Street, and an archway on Lexington Avenue. The upper stories are generally clad with plain brick and contain random projecting groups of bricks; there is a narrow tower at the top of the building. The basement contains a restaurant space that formerly housed event venues, including the Hawaiian Room. When the hotel opened, it had 814 guestrooms, though this has been reduced over the years.
The Lexington opened on October 15, 1929, and was originally operated by the Hotel Lexington Corporation, led byJ. Leslie Kincaid. The hotel went into foreclosure in 1932, andRalph Hitz's National Hotel Management Company operated the hotel until 1937, when Hotel Lexington Inc. took over.Lawrence Wien bought the hotel in 1954 and leased it to a syndicate led by Saul Hertzig. Indian conglomerateTata Group acquired the Lexington in 1981 and operated it for several years. The hotel became theRadisson Hotel New York-East Side in 1999 after becoming a franchise ofRadisson Hotels. DiamondRock Hospitality acquired the hotel in 2011, and the Lexington left the Radisson chain and became part ofMarriott'sAutograph Collection. Since 2021, a joint venture betweenMCR Hotels, Three Wall Capital, and Island Capital Group has owned the Lexington.
The Lexington Hotel is at 509Lexington Avenue, at the southeast corner with 48th Street, in theMidtown Manhattan neighborhood ofNew York City.[1] It sits on the western portion of a city block bounded by Lexington Avenue to the west, 48th Street to the north,Third Avenue to the east, and47th Street to the south.[2] The hotel occupies a rectangularland lot with an area of 17,522 sq ft (1,627.8 m2).[3] The site has afrontage of 100 ft (30 m) on Lexington Avenue and 175 ft (53 m) on 48th Street.[3]
The building is across from245 Park Avenue to the southwest,277 Park Avenue to the west, theInterContinental New York Barclay Hotel and299 Park Avenue to the northwest, and theNew York Marriott East Side to the north.[2] The Lexington was part of "Hotel Row", a collection of hotels developed along Lexington Avenue in the early 20th century.[4] Prior to the development of the Hotel Lexington, the site had been occupied by a brick "elevator building".[5] The surrounding section of Lexington Avenue from 42nd to 52nd Street did not experience significant development until the late 19th century, whenrow houses andtenements, made of brick and brownstone, were developed in the area.[6]
The original architect wasSchultze & Weaver, whose first major commission had been theMillennium Biltmore in Los Angeles.[7] The hotel was designed in theRomanesque Revival style, with afacade of brick, limestone, andarchitectural terracotta. The hotel building containssetbacks to comply with the1916 Zoning Resolution.[8] It is variously cited as being 25,[9] 27,[8] or 30 stories high.[10] This discrepancy is based on whether the towers atop the building, which have pyramidal roofs, are counted.[8]
The building's base is clad with limestone and ranges from two to three stories high. The rest of the facade is clad with red brick; at arbitrary intervals, there are projecting bricks which are laid on theirheader faces. In addition, there arelight courts on the north and west elevations above the 2nd floor, and there are windows with brickspandrels above the 5th floor.[11]
The center of the Lexington Avenue facade contains a round arch, which was originally an entrance but has since been converted to a storefront. The arch is flanked by black-marble piers, and there is an overhanging marquee and a semicircular glass window directly above the entrance.[12] On the second floor, the archway is flanked by windows withengaged columns on either side, which in turn are topped bytympana. In addition, the facade contains sculptural details such asgriffins,rosettes, and six sculpted figures (two sitting, four standing) that signify the seasons. The third floor contains twoarcaded windows, both of which are flanked by columns that contain winged lions at their bases and human faces at theircapitals.[11] On either side of the black-marble piers are large windows, which originally contained doorways.[12] Next to these windows are angled piers, which contain depictions of eagles with shields at their capitals. A pair of flagpoles projects from these piers; the bases of the flagpoles are shaped like eagles.[11]
To the north and south of the Lexington Avenue archway are two-story wings, which are divided into multiple bays by angled piers. Each of those wings contains a storefront at ground level. The tops of these piers containCorinthian capitals, above which are engaged columns with winged lions atop them. Above the second-story windows of both wings are tympana, followed by afrieze with alternating rosettes and griffins.[11] The 48th Street facade is similar in design to that on Lexington Avenue, except that some of the windows have been infilled and replaced with ventilation grates.[13] The easternmost bay of the 48th Street entrance is recessed from the rest of the facade and contains a round arch with a service entrance. Directly above the service entrance, the second floor contains a pair of round-arched windows within a stone frame.[13]
The center of the 48th Street elevation contains the main entrance, which is three bays wide and is shielded by a projecting marquee with the hotel's name. Each bay is separated by a geometric pier, ornamented with a gilded capital at the first story and a stone lion above the second story. A small set of steps leads up to a recessed foyer, and there is also a wheelchair ramp. Above the entrance, there is a railing at the third story, behind which is a light court.[13]
The upper stories are generally clad with plain brick and contain random projecting groups of bricks. The spandrels, between the windows on each story, contain geometric motifs. The windows,parapets, and the side walls adjacent to the parapets are decorated in terracotta. Some of the bricks, windows, and terracotta detailing have been replaced over the years.[12] In the easternmost bay on 48th Street, the third-floor windows have stone frames, while the fourth-floor windows have stone sills.[13]
The 21st-story windows consist of round arches, although the transom windows on this story (at the top of each arch) have been infilled. There are bird-shapedfinials above the 21st-story spandrels and lintels. A narrow tower, with round arches and a pyramidal roof, rises above the Lexington Avenue facade on the 21st story. In addition, the southern wing on Lexington Avenue has a mansard roof and a chimney.[12] There are an additional chimney and tower on 48th Street.[13]
Unlike in older hotels, the Lexington's ground level originally had retail space instead of meeting areas.[14] The basement of the hotel initially contained a dining room known as the Silver Grill, which opened in 1932[15] and was converted into the Hawaiian Room in 1937.[16][17] Jac Lessman redesigned the Hawaiian Room with a wall mural painted by Carl Koeck,[17] a blue ceiling, and palm-tree decorations.[16] According toThe Wall Street Journal, the restaurant was described as having the "best Polynesian cuisine east of the Pacific".[18] By 2012, the hotel had three restaurants: a Latin-American cafe named Taina Café, a gourmet Chinese restaurant named S. Dynasty, and a casual eatery called Raffles.[19] The lobby contained a reception desk with an illuminated clock behind it.[4]
The modern design of the Lexington's public rooms dates to a 2016 renovation by architectural firm dash design, which converted the S. Dynasty space into a 5,000 sq ft (460 m2) meeting space. The ground level contains a pair of Art Deco-style meeting rooms known as the Speakeasy and the Interlude, which can collectively fit 120 people. The rooms are designed with neutral colors and purple hues, as well as artwork by Mao Kudo and Rose Dickson. The spaces are accessed from a pre-function space called the Swing Room, which adjoins a small niche for meetings.[20] The hotel also contains a two-story lobby with furnishings and art from the early 20th century, as well as a bar called the Mixing Room.[21]
The hotel originally had 801 guestrooms.[10][22] Following a renovation in 2001, the hotel had 522 regular rooms, 101 deluxe rooms, and 82 suites.[23] By 2012, the hotel had 712 rooms.[19] At that time, the guestrooms were redecorated in aJazz Age-inspired style with Art Deco patterns and furniture.[19][21] One of the 18th-floor suites, formerly occupied by baseball playerJoe DiMaggio and his actress wifeMarilyn Monroe, is themed to baseball and contains a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom, two bathrooms, and a terrace.[21] As of 2021[update],MCR Hotels operates the Lexington as a 725-room hotel.[24]
In the 19th century,New York Central Railroad lines north ofGrand Central Depot inMidtown Manhattan were served exclusively bysteam locomotives, and the rising traffic soon caused accumulations of smoke and soot in thePark Avenue Tunnel, the only approach to the depot.[25] After a fatal crash in 1902,[26] the New York state legislature passed a law to ban all steam trains in Manhattan by 1908.[27] The New York Central's vice presidentWilliam J. Wilgus proposed electrifying the line and building a new electric-train terminal underground,[28] a plan that was implemented almost in its entirety.[29] The old Grand Central Depot was torn down in phases and replaced by the current Grand Central Terminal.[28] Construction on Grand Central Terminal started in 1903, and the new terminal was opened on February 2, 1913.[30][31] Passenger traffic on the commuter lines into Grand Central more than doubled in the years following the terminal's completion.[32]
The terminal spurred development in the surrounding area, particularly inTerminal City, a commercial and office district created above where the tracks were covered.[33][34][35] Terminal City soon became Manhattan's most desirable commercial and office district.[36] A 1920New 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."[37] The Lexington was one of several hotels developed in Terminal City,[38] along with other hostelries such as the Barclay,Commodore,Roosevelt, andBiltmore.[39]
Tishman Realty & Construction had purchased the site at the southeast corner of Lexington Avenue and 48th Street, then quickly resold it to the Lexington Hotel Corporation, in the late 1920s.[40][41] GeneralJ. Leslie Kincaid, the president of theAmerican Hotel Corporation (parent company of the Lexington Hotel Corporation), announced in May 1928 that he would begin demolishing existing structures on the site and construct a hotel at a cost of $6.5 million.[5][42][i] S. W. Straus & Co. placed a $4.5 million mortgage[ii] loan on the hotel that month.[43][44] At the time, many hotels, commercial structures, and office buildings were being developed on Lexington Avenue north of 42nd Street.[42] Schultze and Weaver were hired as the architects, whileTurner Construction was the general contractor.[9] Several workers received craftsmanship awards at a ceremony in August 1929.[45] The Hotel Lexington opened on October 15, 1929,[46][47] one of several hotels to be built in Midtown Manhattan during the 1920s.[48] From the outset, customers were banned from tipping the waitstaff at the hotel's bar and restaurant; instead, a 10 percentgratuity was applied to all guests.[47][49] The Lexington was one of 33 hotels in the American Hotel Corporation chain.[50]
The restaurant space in the basement was initially unoccupied until 1932, when the Silver Grill opened there.[15] Because the Lexington had opened at the beginning of theGreat Depression, its business suffered,[14] and the hotel defaulted on both its $3.9 million first mortgage and $600,000 second mortgage.[51][iii] The National Hotel Management Company, operated by theNew Yorker Hotel's managerRalph Hitz, acquired the Lexington Hotel in March 1932.[52][53] Reliance Property Management, headed by Frank W. Kriedel, was placed in charge of the Lexington's day-to-day operations.[54][50] Shortly thereafter, as part of aforeclosure proceeding against the Lexington Hotel Corporation, a federal judge appointed Robert P. Patterson ofIrving Trust as the hotel'sreceiver,[55][56] and two groups were created to represent the hotel's bondholders.[51] In August 1934, a group of bondholders asked theUnited States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to reorganize the Lexington Hotel Corporation;[57] the corporation was reorganized the next year.[58]
The hotel's Silver Grill was one of the most popular entertainment venues in a New York City hotel by the mid-1930s, offering live music during lunch and dinner.[59] The Silver Grill was renovated into the Hawaiian Room in mid-1937.[16][17] The National Hotel Management Company stopped operating the Lexington in July 1937 because it wanted to focus on managing the nearby Hotel Montclair.[60][61] John M. Stoddard, who had been elected as Hotel Lexington Inc.'s president, appointed Charles E. Rochester as the new manager.[62] Within a month, hotel officials began planning an outdoor cafe,[58] and they opened the Paul Revere Tavern at the hotel in October 1937.[63] The Hawaiian Room was extremely popular upon its opening, and it remained so in the early 1940s.[64] Although Rochester became the president of Hotel Lexington Inc. in 1946, he continued to manage the Lexington.[65]
Louis Schleiffer acquired the hotel at the end of December 1954.[66][67] As part of the agreement, Rochester was to continue operating the hotel, and general manager George W. Miller remained in his position.[66][22] At the time, the hotel contained 801 rooms and was assessed at $3.75 million.[22][iv] The shareholders of Hotel Lexington Inc. approved the sale in early February 1955; Schleiffer would buy 83 percent of the corporation's 91,110 outstanding shares ofcommon stock for $5.25 million.[68][v] Before Schleiffer could finalize his purchase, real-estate investorLawrence Wien agreed to buy Schleiffer's contract for the hotel. Wien planned to take title to the hotel on May 2, 1955, he planned to lease it to a syndicate led by Saul Hertzig.[69][70] In turn, Hertzig planned to spend $250,000 renovating the guestrooms.[71] After Wien took title that May,Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance placed a $3.25 million first mortgage on the hotel.[72][vi] Rochester resigned from his position as the hotel's manager that July.[73]
Hotel Lexington Associates, which owned the hotel, announced in 1963 that it would replace the hotel's manually operated elevators with automatic cabs. To fund this renovation, the owner received a $140,000 mortgage loan on the property.[74][vii] After the Hawaiian Room's business declined sharply during the1966 New York City transit strike, the room was closed temporarily,[75] and the room was permanently shuttered after a fire the same year.[76] TheChateau Madrid club moved into the Hawaiian Room's space in late 1968;[77] the space could accommodate either 600 or 700 guests.[78][79] Charles Hertzig served as the hotel's director until he died in 1968.[80] By the 1970s, community college students were trying to encourage business at the Lexington Hotel.[81] The Chateau Madrid was sold in 1974[82] but continued to operate at the hotel into the late 1970s.[83]
Indian conglomerateTata Group acquired the Lexington in September 1981,[84] and theTaj Hotels chain began managing the hostelry.[85][86] During this time, the Lexington operated as a mid-priced hotel.[85] The base of the hotel, which had been altered several times throughout its history, was rebuilt in the 1980s; the rebuilt base resembled the original design.[87] The New York Playboy Club relocated to the Chateau Madrid's former space in 1983,[88][89] but the club was only housed at the hotel for a short time.[14] The hotel rebranded eight of its floors as the Lexington Towers in 1990, including the 23rd floor, which containednon-smoking rooms. The Lexington Towers also contained a private lounge with a bar, as well as mini-fridges andturndown service in each room.[90]
In December 1999,Radisson Hotels announced that the hotel would operate as a Radisson franchise and would be renamed the Radisson Hotel New York-East Side.[91]Highgate Oxford Hospitality took over the hotel's operation.[23][92] Lexington Hotel LLC (a joint venture between theBlackstone Group,Goldman Sachs,Whitehall Street Real Estate, and Oxford Capital Partners) owned the hotel, while Highgate Hotels operated the hostelry.[92] The retail space was rented to tenants such asStarbucks.[23] Following theSeptember 11 attacks in 2001, some of the hotel's space was offered to companies that had been displaced from theWorld Trade Center.[93] The Lexington underwent a $518 million renovation, which was finished in 2001; several rooms were further renovated in 2004.[23] MeriStar Hospitality bought a 49.99 percent stake in the hotel for $50 million in 2004.[23] The hotel was renovated in 2006 for $20 million.[92]LaSalle Bank placed a $100 million mortgage loan on the building in 2007.[92]
In May 2011, DiamondRock Hospitality agreed to pay $335 million for the Radisson Lexington, making a 10 percentdown payment. At the time, the new owner planned to sign a short-term agreement with Radisson.[92][94] DiamondRock obtained a $170.4 millionsyndicated loan from a consortium of banks in March 2012.[95] The hotel left the Radisson chain in September 2012, becoming an independent hotel known as The Lexington New York City.[19][96] The Lexington was added toMarriott's "Autograph Collection" brand in mid-2013.[97][21] Highgate simultaneously announced that it would spend several million dollars renovating the hotel,[19] and the Lexington was renovated at a cost of $46 million.[7][21] The project, completed in 2016,[20] involved restoring architectural elements including the originalbrass elevator doors withsongbird motifs.[7]
TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) hosted public hearings in 2013 to determine whether the Lexington Hotel and four other structures in East Midtown should be designated as New York City landmarks.[18][98] In mid-2016, the LPC proposed protecting twelve buildings in East Midtown, including the Lexington Hotel, in advance of proposed changes to the area's zoning.[99][100] On November 22, 2016, the LPC designated the Lexington Hotel and ten other nearby buildings as city landmarks.[101][102]
The hotel closed temporarily in early 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in New York City.[103] Hotel operatorMCR Hotels, along with Three Wall Capital andAndrew Farkas's firm Island Capital Group, acquired the hotel in July 2021 for $185 million.[104][105] The sale occurred amid adecline in tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[106] Farkas reopened the hotel shortly afterward; prior to his purchase, the hotel had been closed since early 2020 due to the pandemic.[103] In May 2024, the hotel was refinanced with a $155 million loan fromHudson Bay Capital.[107][108] By 2025, Farkas and his partners were looking to sell the hotel for about $275 million.[109]
When the Lexington opened, some of the space on the southwest corner of the mezzanine was leased by theSons of the American Revolution.[110] The Hotel Lexington was home to many celebrities, including baseball playerJoe DiMaggio, who resided at suite 1806; actressMarilyn Monroe, who lived with DiMaggio during their marriage; and actressDorothy Lamour, who stayed at the hotel every time she visited the city.[91] Later in the Lexington's history, its guests included U.S. PresidentBill Clinton, tennis playerRoger Federer, and singer-actressesPatti LaBelle andJennifer Lopez.[111][19]
The hotel's Silver Grill hosted performances byArtie Shaw's band, whichThe New York Times described as "an ill-fated attempt to build aswing band around ajazz quartet".[112] During the Hawaiian Room's existence, the room hosted numerous Hawaiian musicians such asAlfred Apaka,Kui Lee,Emma Veary,Mahi Beamer, andHilo Hattie, as well as bands led byAndy Iona,Ray Kinney, andLani McIntyre.[76] In addition, entertainerArthur Godfrey broadcast his radio show live from the Hawaiian Room.[91][113]
When the Lexington was completed, trade publications such asArchitect,The American Architect,Architectural Forum, andArchitecture and Building reported on the hotel.[14] WhenLeonard B. Schultze of Schultze & Weaver applied for membership in theAmerican Institute of Architects in 1929, he listed the then-recently-completed Lexington as one of twelve buildings in the U.S. that he designed.[14] In a book published in 1932, W. Parker Chase wrote of the Lexington: "They term it 'The Hotel with a Heart' as everybody connected with the place from Bell Boy to President seems to have been drilled in the art of courtesy and a desire to please."[10]George Shepard Chappell, writing inThe New Yorker under the pseudonym "T-Square", said the Lexington was "a romantic addition" to the avenue with which it shared a name.[14][114] The hotel was also shown in the 2005 bookGrand Hotels of the Jazz Age: The Architecture of Schultze & Weaver.[14]
In 1996, a writer for theNew York Daily News described the Lexington as being "ideal for business travelers who need the prestige of a name-brand midtown hotel", saying that it was "decorated in a subdued traditional style, with plenty of lobby room to meet friends or business associates".[115] Christopher Gray wrote forThe New York Times in 2009 that the hotel's Lexington Avenue entrance was a "Frappuccino gauntlet" because there was a Starbucks on both sides, but that the flagpoles were a "disrespectful, throwaway cast. Better not to fly the flag at all."[4]
