NYC’s Gramercy Park Hotel to reopen with rooftop bar and Danny Meyer restaurant
Image via WikiCommons
After closing during the pandemic, Manhattan’s famed Gramercy Park Hotel will reopen under new ownership, the Wall Street Journal reported. MCR Hotels, the nation’s third-largest hotel owner and operator, has purchased a 99-year lease to the hotel, located directly across from the exclusive Gramercy Park, for roughly $50 million and expects to reopen the property as one of the city’s most luxurious hotels in 2025 following renovations. Plans include upgrades to the lobby, the 197 guest rooms, the first-floor restaurant (Danny Meyer’s Maialino), and the 7,000-square-foot rooftop bar.
The property was foreclosed on in 2022 by Solil Management, who owns the land beneath the building, according to Tyler Morse, chief executive of MCR/MORSE Development.
Morse intends to transform the hotel into one of the city’s most luxurious hotels. Maialino, an esteemed Italian restaurant run by chef Danny Meyer that closed along with the hotel in 2020, will reopen on the first floor. The hotel’s 7,000-square-foot rooftop bar, the only venue with an aerial view of Gramercy Park, will be fully restored.
“We will return this beloved hotel to its original splendor as the jewel of Gramercy Park — one of the most magical and unique neighborhoods in Manhattan,” Morse said.
Constructed in 1924, the 18-story Gramercy Park Hotel is known for its luxurious rooms and reputation as a favorite among celebrities. New York Yankee stars Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle stayed at the hotel, as well as members of the Rolling Stones during their first American tour in 1964. John F. Kennedy and his family also lived in the hotel for a short period of time during the 1930s.
In 2003, the hotel was bought by real-estate developer Aby Rosen and hotelier and co-founder of Studio 54 Ian Schrager, who conducted a $200 million renovation with the help of painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel.
Rosen eventually bought out Schrager’s share of the hotel but ran into financial trouble during the pandemic. After failing to make payments on the lease, Solil took over the property and sold most of what was inside. Only a few original items remain, including a vintage chandelier in the hotel’s lobby and the red and velvet curtains from the Rose and Jade bars, according to Morse.
MCR is also the owner of the New Yorker Hotel, the High Line Hotel, the Royalton New York, and John F. Kennedy International Airport’s TWA Hotel, which opened in 2019. The $265 million project restored the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center to its “Jet Age” glory, which when it was completed in 1962, was regarded for its revolutionary architecture.
Arlene Harrison, the president of the Gramercy Park Block Association, commended the reopening plan.
“We have been in ongoing dialogue for months with the Hotel’s new owner, Tyler Morse—the developer behind the iconic TWA and Highline Hotels,” Harrison said in an email to community members.
“His reverence for the history and legacy of the Gramercy Park Hotel is evident, as is his commitment to being a considerate neighbor and integrating the hotel seamlessly into the fabric of our community. This is a good day for Gramercy Park.”
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