Four Seasons Hotel New York

Four Seasons Hotel New York is a luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that opened in 1993. The hotel is owned by Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts, L.L.C. and operated by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. It was closed temporarily in 2020.

Four Seasons Hotel New York
Hotel chainFour Seasons
General information
StatusCompleted
Architectural styleNew Classical
Location57 East 57th Street
New York City, New York, United States
Construction started1990
Completed1993
OpeningSeptember 1993
Height
Architectural682 feet (207.9 m)
Technical details
Floor count52
Design and construction
Architect(s)Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Frank Williams and Assoc.
EngineerJaros, Baum & Bolles (MEP)
Structural engineerRosenwasser/Grossman Consulting Engineers P.C.
Other information
Number of rooms368
Number of suites15
Website
www.fourseasons.com/newyork
References
[1][2]

Prior to the hotel's closing, the Ty Warner Penthouse Suite was frequently listed among the world's most expensive hotel suites.[3][4]

History

In the 1980s, William Zeckendorf, a prominent American real estate developer, assembled 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) of vacant property on 57th Street between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue. Robert H. Burns, founder of Regent International Hotels, approached Harunori Takahashi, owner of EIE International Corporation company to build a luxurious hotel on the property.

When the hotel was announced in January 1989, it was to have a main tower of 46 stories and a smaller tower of some 20 stories, with a total of 400 rooms. Completion was planned for late 1991. Construction was financed by a loan from a consortium of six Japanese banks, led by the Long-Term Credit Bank. The others were the Ashikaga Bank, Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation, Mitsui Trust and Banking Company, Nippon Credit Bank, and Sumitomo Trust and Banking Company. The hotel was named Regent New York Hotel and managed by Regent International Hotels of Hong Kong, in which EIE International had a 30 percent interest. The cost of construction was reportedly more than US$1 million per room.[5]

After the Japanese real estate market imploded in 1990, Four Seasons Hotels, Inc. purchased a 20 percent stake in Regent International for $122 million.[6] The 1992 deal included the Four Seasons in New York, which was then under construction. The other 80 percent was retained by Regent's parent company, the E.I.E. International Corporation.[7] In 1996, the Lai Sun Group purchased the Four Seasons New York from Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, which assumed ownership when E.I.E. International encountered financial difficulties.[8] In 1999, Lai Sun sold the building to a private investment group headed by Ty Warner for $275 million.[9] Today, the hotel is owned by Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts, L.L.C. and operated by Four Seasons.

The luxury hotel stopped booking paying guests in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead offering free housing for medical professionals.[10] The hotel closed in July 2020 for what the hotel said was "substantial infrastructure and maintenance work" that it expected to last "well into 2023."[11] Several publications reported that the closing is actually the result of a dispute between owner Ty Warner and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts over management fees.[12][13][14]

Architecture

At 682 feet (208 m) tall and 52 stories, it is the second-tallest hotel in New York City and the fourth-tallest hotel in the U.S.,[15] and the 85th tallest building in New York.[16] In 2006, the Four Seasons New York opened the Michelin star restaurant: L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon.

The hotel is noted for its luxurious interiors which have an art moderne quality.[5] I. M. Pei and Frank Williams collaborated as the architects.[17] I. M. Pei was also the responsible for the interiors of the public spaces in the hotel.[5] The building has more in common with the Waldorf Astoria and other hotels of the 1920s than it does with Pei's other works.[5] Rosenwasser/Grossman Consulting Engineers provided the structural engineering and Jaros, Baum & Bolles was the MEP engineer on the project.[18][16]

See also

References
  1. "Four Seasons Hotel New York". CTBUH Skyscraper Center.
  2. "Emporis building ID 115447". Emporis. Archived from the original on March 18, 2020.
  3. "Top 10 most expensive hotel rooms in the world". The Luxury Travel Expert. August 3, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  4. Arnold, Helen (December 2, 2011). "World's 15 most expensive hotel suites". CNN. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  5. Goldberger, Paul (June 27, 1993). "ARCHITECTURE VIEW; A Grand Hotel, But Not What You'd Call Homey". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  6. "Four Seasons buys Regent International Hotels". UPI. August 14, 1992. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  7. "COMPANY NEWS; Four Seasons In Regent Deal". timesmachine.nytimes.com. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  8. "Asian Group Buys Four Seasons Hotel". The New York Times. August 2, 1996. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  9. "Metro Business; Four Seasons Hotel Sold for $275 Million". The New York Times. Bloomberg News. February 5, 1999. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  10. Coleman, Oli; Siegler, Mara (April 9, 2020). "Inside the Four Seasons Hotel's effort to house healthcare workers". Page Six. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  11. "Luxury Hotel NYC | 5 Star Manhattan Hotel | Four Seasons New York". www.fourseasons.com. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  12. Chang, Clio (October 3, 2022). "Is the Beanie Babies Inventor Trying to Kill the Four Seasons?". Curbed. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  13. Long, Ciara (October 3, 2022). "Feud Between Owner And Operator Keeps NYC's Four Seasons Hotel Shuttered". Bisnow. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  14. "Owner's feud with Four Seasons leaves Midtown hotel in limbo". The Real Deal. October 3, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  15. Four Seasons Hotel Emporis.com
  16. "Four Seasons Hotel". The Skyscraper Center. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  17. Hevesi, Dennis (March 8, 2010). "Frank Williams, Architect of Skyscrapers, Dies at 73". The New York Times. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
  18. "Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown | Infinity Drain". Mortarr. Retrieved November 25, 2022.

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