Marriott
Marriott may refer to:
People
*Marriott (surname)
Corporations
* Marriott Corporation, founded as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in 1927; split into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation in 1993
* Marriott International, international hote ...
hotel on
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
, in the
Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres.
Places
*Theater District, Manhattan, New York City
*Boston Theater District
*Buffalo Theater District
*Cleveland Theater ...
of
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, between 45th and 46th Streets. With 1,966 rooms and of meeting space, it is one of the largest hotels in the city.
The hotel has two wings, one on 45th Street and one on 46th Street, connected by a podium at ground level. The first two stories contain retail space, while the
Marquis Theatre
The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1986, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization. There are about ...
was built within the building's third floor. The hotel's atrium lobby is at the eighth floor and also includes meeting space and restaurants. Thirty-six stories of guestrooms rise above the lobby, overlooking it. The top three stories contain the View, one of New York City's highest restaurants. An architectural feature of the hotel is its concrete elevator core, which consists of a minaret-shaped structure with twelve glass elevator cabs on the exterior.
Real estate agent Peter Sharp acquired the site in the 1960s with plans to build an office building on the site. The hotel was first announced in 1972 and official plans were released in 1973, but the hotel was postponed after the
New York City fiscal crisis
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
in 1975. The hotel was restarted in the late 1970s under mayor
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...
. There was extensive controversy over the destruction of five old theaters on the site, and various lawsuits and protests delayed the start of construction until 1982. By the time construction began, Westin had been replaced with Marriott. The hotel opened on September 3, 1985, and has undergone several renovations and modifications since then. By the late 1990s, the hotel was one of the most profitable in the Marriott chain. Marriott bought out Portman's minority ownership stake in 1993 and acquired the underlying site in 2013.
Site
The New York Marriott Marquis is on the west side of
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, along
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
between 45th Street (
George Abbott Way
George Abbott Way is a section of West 45th Street west of Times Square between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in New York City, named for Broadway producer and director George Abbott. It is just east of Restaurant Row.
Notable buildings
The are ...
) to the south and 46th Street to the north, in the
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
neighborhood of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The
New York City Department of City Planning
The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...
gives the address as 1535 Broadway. The
land lot
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in ...
is irregularly shaped and covers , with a
frontage
Frontage is the boundary between a plot of land or a building and the road onto which the plot or building fronts. Frontage may also refer to the full length of this boundary. This length is considered especially important for certain types of ...
of on Broadway and a depth of . The Broadway frontage runs diagonally to the 45th and 46th Street frontages. The northern end of the hotel faces
Duffy Square
Duffy Square, named Father Duffy Square in 1939, is the northern triangle of Times Square in Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by 45th Street (Manhattan), 45th and 47th Street (Manhattan), 47th Streets, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and S ...
.
The sidewalk in front of Broadway was slightly widened when the hotel was built in the 1980s. The widened sidewalk was known as Broadway Plaza. As originally proposed, it would have been a
pedestrian mall
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...
extending across the roadbed of Broadway eastward to Seventh Avenue.
M. Paul Friedberg
M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA, (born 1931) is an American landscape architect.
Biography
M. Paul Friedberg was born in New York City where he attended Cornell University. In 1954 he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. He said that "after n ...
had designed a plaza with benches and barriers, but the plan was ultimately scrapped. In the 2010s, the sidewalk was further widened, and the adjoining roadbed was converted into a permanent pedestrian plaza with benches. The expanded plaza measures long and extends the curb line eastward to Seventh Avenue.
The surrounding area is part of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
's
Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres.
Places
*Theater District, Manhattan, New York City
*Boston Theater District
*Buffalo Theater District
*Cleveland Theater ...
and contains many
Broadway theatres
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
. On the same block are the
Richard Rodgers Theatre
The Richard Rodgers Theatre (formerly Chanin's 46th Street Theatre and the 46th Street Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 226 West 46th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Her ...
,
Music Box Theatre
The Music Box Theatre is a Broadway theater at 239 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, the Music Box Theatre was designed by C. Howard Crane in a Palladian-inspir ...
, and
Imperial Theatre
The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed fo ...
to the west. Other nearby buildings include the
Paramount Hotel
The Paramount Hotel (formerly the Century-Paramount Hotel) is a hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, the hotel is at 235 West 46th Street, between Eighth Av ...
to the northwest; the
Hotel Edison
Hotel Edison is at 228 West 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1931, it is part of the Triumph Hotels brand, owned by Shimmie Horn and Gerald Barad. Thomas Edison turned on the lights when it opened. It accommodated 1,0 ...
and
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, originally the Globe Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 205 West 46th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1910, the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre was designed by Carrère and Hasti ...
to the north;
TSX Broadway
TSX Broadway is an under-construction 46-story mixed-use building on Times Square, at the southeastern corner of Broadway and 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Developed by L&L Holding, the building will include a 669-room hote ...
, the
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
I. Miller Building
1552 Broadway, also known as the I. Miller Building, is a commercial structure on Times Square in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Located at the northeast corner of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
1530 Broadway
The Olympia Theatre (1514–16 Broadway at 44th Street), also known as Hammerstein's Olympia, was a theatre complex built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I in Longacre Square (later Times Square), New York City, opening in 1895. It consisted of ...
to the southeast;
One Astor Plaza
One Astor Plaza, also known as 1515 Broadway and formerly the W. T. Grant Building, is a 54-story office building on Times Square in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Der Scutt o ...
to the south; and the
Booth
Booth may refer to:
People
* Booth (surname)
* Booth (given name)
Fictional characters
* August Wayne Booth, from the television series ''Once Upon A Time''
*Cliff Booth, a supporting character of the 2019 film ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' ...
,
Gerald Schoenfeld
Gerald Schoenfeld (September 22, 1924 – November 25, 2008) was chairman of The Shubert Organization from 1972 to 2008.
Career
After graduating from the University of Illinois, Schoenfeld fought in World War II. On his return, he obtained a law ...
John Golden Theatre
The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was de ...
s to the southwest. Historically, the Marriott's site was occupied by five theaters: the original Helen Hayes, Morosco,
Bijou
Bijou is a French word meaning ''jewel'', often loosely applied to buildings to mean small and elegant. It may also refer to:
Buildings
* Bijou Palace, also known as the Al-Gawhara Palace, a palace in Cairo, Egypt
* Bijou Theatre (Manhattan), two ...
The New York Marriott Marquis was designed by John C. Portman Jr. and is operated by
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. T ...
. It is part of the Marriott Marquis brand of hotels, a joint venture between Marriott and Portman. The hotel building has 51 stories and two basements, rising to a height of . While there had been rumors that the elevators serve a 55th floor, Marriott states that the top floor number in the hotel is 49, which is used as office space. According to
Host Hotels & Resorts
Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in hotels. As of February 19, 2021, the company owned 80 upscale hotels containing approximately 46,500 rooms in the United States, Brazil, and Canada.
History
I ...
, the hotel's owner, the hotel has 1,966 rooms and of meeting space.
Form and facade
The 1973 plans for the hotel called for two rectangular wings, one on 45th Street and one on 46th Street, connected by a twelve-story podium. Five-story sections of guest rooms were to be recessed between these wings, with each section alternating in depth. The modern hotel is similar to what was originally planned, but the podium is eight stories tall. Above the base of the hotel, in the middle of the Broadway facade, a curving drum sits atop the Marriott marquee. The rectangular wings on 45th and 46th Street contain open terraces on the eighth story, which face Times Square and Broadway. The wings are each deep and are connected by a truss measuring long.
The facade is made of gray precast concrete panels with vertical stripes, which were manufactured by Canadian company Prefac-Vibrek. The lower stories' panels were installed using cranes, while the upper stories' panels were installed with a monorail assembly. The precast panels are hung from steel beams that are placed around the hotel building's perimeter. Some openings were also made in the facade so exterior signs could be attached to it. The windows are recessed deeply into the concrete panels, a design similar to a
Venetian blind
A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard mate ...
.
Signs
On Broadway, the base of the facade originally had four signs. The largest measured and was placed at the center of the Broadway facade, while the other signs measured .
The central sign on Broadway was known as the Kodarama and was originally used by
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
to display color photos, which were changed several times per year and were accompanied by a caption sign measuring . The photos were printed on large
Duratrans Duratrans were invented by Eastman Kodak Co. in the late 1970s and trademarked in 1982, to ascribe to their newly developed large-format backlit color transparency film, by shortening the material name of Endura Transparency. The original duratrans ...
strips, which were double-laminated on the front to protect against weather and wind. The Kodak photos were framed by a large display box and were cooled by a vacuum system behind the box. The signs were largely supported on beams that protruded from the facade. The Kodak sign was enlarged in 1999 to a display measuring . The enlarged display was divided into three parts: the primary display on the bottom, a Jumbotron in the upper right corner, and a tertiary display on the upper left corner. The Kodarama, along with the
Coca-Cola sign
The Coca-Cola sign is an electro-kinetic sculpture on the Two Times Square building in Times Square, Manhattan, New York City. The current sign, installed in 2017, is tall and wide, and is the latest in a line of Coca-Cola Times Square signs ...
, were the only signs along Times Square in the mid-1980s that were sponsored by major companies.
In 2014, a new electronic sign was installed on the Broadway facade, spanning the whole length of the block and wrapping around to 45th and 46th Streets. The screen, made by
Mitsubishi Electric
, established on 15 January 1921, is a Japanese multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi. The products from MELCO include elevators an ...
, measures and has 24 million pixels. The new screen covers and is made of interlocking panels measuring . The preexisting framing was extended and reinforced to support the newer sign, and a
Vierendeel truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
was installed across the center of the Broadway facade.
Structural features
The
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
is on high-quality rock and uses spread footings capable of . The site was excavated to a depth of . The hotel originally had two basement levels, but the first basement level was demolished in the 2010s, creating one basement level with a double-height ceiling. When the basement was modified, a steel frame was built adjacent to the foundation wall.
The
superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships.
Aboard ships and large boats
On water craft, the superstruct ...
of the hotel consists of of steel, manufactured by the Mosher Steel Company. Some of the steel beams measured as much as long and weighed up to apiece. As the steel was erected, a layer of minerals bonded with cement was sprayed onto the steel members, providing fireproofing. The columns are placed about behind the facade, and horizontal beams are cantilevered outward from the columns to support the exterior signs.
Weidlinger Associates
Weidlinger Associates, Inc., was a U.S.-based structural engineering firm that designs and rehabilitates buildings, bridges, and infrastructure and provides special services in applied science, forensics, and physical security. Weidlinger's clien ...
was the structural engineer but, after the hotel was completed, it was reinforced with additional steel framing from Burgess Steel. The second story of the hotel was removed in the 2010s, creating a double-height space on the ground story. The ground-story columns were reinforced with plates, and the depth of some beams was reduced by up to .
On the first ten stories, the floor decks consist of concrete poured over sheets of
corrugated metal
Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a bu ...
. The guestroom floors above are made of concrete panels, which weigh about each. They measure wide, long, and thick. According to an engineer, the precast slabs provided not only a finished ceiling (as opposed to a bare surface) but also lateral stability. The floor decks contain standard steel trusses at some location, as well as Vierendeel trusses that carry some of the hotel rooms across the width of the atrium. The structural steel is entirely encased inside floor slabs and walls, which allows light to pass into the central atrium.
The elevator core is made of concrete and is rounded in shape, with a form similar to a
minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
. It was manufactured by Collavino Brothers. The core measures wide and carries twelve passenger elevators on its exterior, as well as four elevators at the center. The exterior elevators are surrounded by glass and overlook the atrium lobby. The cabs are enclosed by glass and have fiber-optic lighting. The elevator system, supplied by Schindler, has a
destination dispatch
Destination dispatch is an optimization technique used for multi-elevator installations, in which groups passengers heading to the same destinations use the same elevators, thereby reducing waiting and travel times. Comparatively, the traditional ...
system, which assigns passengers to elevator cars according to their destination floors. The destination-dispatch system was completed in 2006 and modernized in 2019. Six additional elevators are used by service staff.
Interior
Base
Under normal
zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...
regulations, the maximum
floor area ratio
Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of a building's total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. It is often used as one of the regulations in city planning along with the building-to-land ratio. The ...
(FAR) for any building on the hotel's site was 15. During the hotel's planning, the FAR received two bonuses of 20 percent each, bringing the FAR to 21.6. The developers had to include
privately owned public space
Privately owned public space (POPS), or alternatively, privately owned public open spaces (POPOS), are terms used to describe a type of public space that, although privately owned, is legally required to be open to the public under a city's zoni ...
at the building's base for the first bonus, and they built a new theater (the
Marquis Theatre
The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1986, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization. There are about ...
) for the second bonus. The privately operated public space consists of two passageways between 45th and 46th Streets. The passageway on the eastern side of the site contains a driveway, which was designed with five vehicular lanes and was intended to divert taxi traffic away from Broadway. To the west is a pedestrian walkway, which functions as an northward extension of Shubert Alley and was proposed as early as 1970. Both the driveway and the Shubert Alley Extension have doors that lead to an indoor pedestrian area.
The ground and second stories were designed with of retail space, though the second story was demolished in the 2010s. In the original plans, the retail space would have spanned seven stories at the base, and a ninth-story terrace was to have enclosed the retail space. The seven-story retail mall was part of the floor-area bonus for the hotel, but it was omitted in the final plan. While of public space was to have been provided in exchange for the floor-area bonus, a 2000 study by the
Municipal Art Society
The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is a non-profit membership organization for preservation in New York City, which aims to encourage thoughtful planning and urban design and inclusive neighborhoods across the city.
The organization was ...
could not locate the additional space. Ernest P. Gathwaite, a professor at York College of the
City University of New York
The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
, designed six landscape murals for the hotel, each measuring wide.
The Marquis Theatre is on the building's third floor. In exchange for including the theater, the hotel was given a bonus of nearly . As a stipulation of the bonus, the
New York City Board of Estimate
The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...
specified that there had to be 1,500 seats in the theater. The stage is immediately above the hotel driveway, and the ballroom is above the theater's ceiling. The third through seventh stories contain theater offices, as well as additional meeting rooms.
Atrium lobby
The hotel's atrium lobby is placed on the eighth floor. Because of security concerns when the hotel was constructed in the 1980s, there was originally only one set of escalators leading from street level to the hotel lobby. A planted atrium rises 37 stories from the lobby to the rooftop restaurant. The atrium, extending tall, is one of the world's tallest indoor spaces. A sky bridge measuring long is just above the atrium floor. This sky bridge has 90 tons of steel and contains LED signs on the side. The reception desks were originally placed on the south wall. Following a 2020s renovation, the desks were relocated to the north wall, separated by wooden archways, and a prismatic-glass wall was installed behind the desks. In addition, the lobby contains an acrylic sculpture by Parachilna, installed in 2022.
Adjacent to the lobby, the hotel has a set of restaurants and a revolving cocktail lounge on its eastern side. Robert Pinart designed five stained-glass panels for the lobby restaurant: three in the main restaurant area and two in an adjacent cocktail lounge. , the eighth floor contains Revel & Rye Bar and Restaurant, which includes a gold-colored ceiling and rows of lighting. There is also a 200-seat members' lounge called the M Club, with a business center and a library. There is an adjoining lounge called the Broadway Lounge, which serves cuisine inspired by food trucks. The space has six chandeliers designed to resemble the
Times Square Ball
The Times Square Ball is a time ball located in New York City's Times Square. Located on the roof of One Times Square, the ball is a prominent part of a New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square commonly referred to as the ball drop, where the ...
, as well as double-height windows facing Times Square. The Broadway Lounge also connects to the hotel's two outdoor terraces on Broadway, which are known as Perch.
The Marriott Marquis also has a ballroom, advertised during construction as the largest in New York City. The main ballroom is known as the Broadway Ballroom and has a maximum capacity of 2,800, with a black "vanishing ceiling" and LED chandeliers. There are also 46 smaller meeting rooms, with a total area of . One of the meeting rooms is the Westside Ballroom, which covers and has a capacity of 2,400 guests. Another room, the Liberty Ballroom on the eighth floor, has a capacity of 140 to 150 people and faces Shubert Alley. The conference space also includes 40 breakout rooms. There is also a large ninth-story atrium known as the Terrace, connecting several of the meeting rooms. The Terrace is decorated with streetlight-shaped lamps and can also function as a meeting space.
Guestrooms and rooftop
The hotel was built with 1,876 or 1,877 rooms, each measuring . Each room is designed to face the atrium. Rather than physical keys, each room could be entered using a computerized card. The hotel contains rooms in numerous sizes, including "family connector", "deluxe", and "superior" rooms. The rooms also include TVs and custom furnishings.
The top three stories (47th through 49th) contain the View, New York City's only rooftop
revolving restaurant
A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is usually a tower restaurant eating space designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on ...
. The View specializes in American cuisine for brunch and dinner. The restaurant is designed with 700 seats and generally makes a full revolution every hour, though it originally rotated clockwise and made a full revolution every 70 to 80 minutes. The rotating restaurant was manufactured by the Macton Corporation. It consists of a set of static pedestals with wheels attached to them. The restaurant and lounges are then placed on platforms above the wheels; there are rails on the underside of each platform, which one designer compared to the opposite of a train.
History
Planning
By the 1960s, Times Square was in decline, and its dilapidated condition was widely perceived among the public as representative of the city's decline as a whole. In the late 1960s, real-estate agent Peter Sharp had acquired the Morosco, Astor, Helen Hayes, and Victoria theaters, with plans to build an office tower on the site. However, Sharp could not find a willing major tenant for the property. Sharp also tried to acquire the Piccadilly Hotel to the west, but the hotel refused to sell.
Initial concept and delays
Jaquelin T. Robertson, who led the city government's office of Midtown Planning and Development, convinced Sharp in 1970 to hire
Robert Venturi
Robert Charles Venturi Jr. (June 25, 1925 – September 18, 2018) was an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, and one of the major architectural figures of the twentieth century.
Together with h ...
as a consultant. Venturi, along with
Denise Scott Brown
Denise Scott Brown (née Lakofski; born October 3, 1931) is an American architect, planner, writer, educator, and principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates in Philadelphia. Scott Brown and her husband and partner, Robert Venturi, ...
and Steven Izenour, proposed large signs and "low public spaces". Sharp was not impressed with Venturi's plan, and there was too much office space in Midtown, so Venturi's plans were scrapped. Robertson and Sharp then visited Portman's
Hyatt Regency Atlanta
The Hyatt Regency Atlanta is a business hotel located on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Opened in 1967 as the Regency Hyatt House, John C. Portman, Jr.'s revolutionary 22-story atrium design for the hotel has influenced hotel de ...
hotel in 1971, where Robertson recalled Sharp "stayed up half the night looking around". Sharp offered to hire Portman, who readily accepted, as Portman had expressed interest in designing a building in New York City for several years. Portman agreed to provide 90 percent of financing for the project. ''The New York Times'' subsequently recalled that Portman had taken the project because New York City was the "most claustrophobic city he had ever seen". Sharp closed some of the theaters in the meantime, including the Astor in 1972. Less than twelve legitimate theaters still existed in Times Square, so closing them was not a major concern to the public.
On November 3, 1972, Western International Hotels (later
Westin
Westin Hotels & Resorts is an American upscale hotel chain owned by Marriott International. , the Westin Brand has 226 properties with 82,608 rooms in multiple countries in addition to 58 hotels with 15,741 rooms in the pipeline.
History Wester ...
) and Portman announced they would build a 2,000-room hotel for $75 million. The hotel would contain two towers connected by several multi-story walkways, and it would complement a convention center on the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
, later the
Javits Center
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, commonly known as the Javits Center, is a large convention center on Eleventh Avenue between 34th Street and 38th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by architect James ...
. At the time, there had been no major hotel projects in New York City since the 1964 World's Fair, and the number of hotel rooms in the city had declined since 1969. Robertson praised the development as a harbinger of "the renaissance of Times Square". By April 1973, the plans for the hotel had been changed to a single tower with a hollow atrium, increasing the projected cost to $90 million. Furthermore, difficulties in obtaining property
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
for the land lots had delayed the hotel. Portman and mayor
John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
officially announced plans for the 54-story, 2,020-room Portman Hotel on July 11, 1973. By then, the projected cost had risen to $150 million. Portman also promised to renovate the 46th Street Theatre (later the Richard Rodgers Theatre) as part of the development. Construction was set to begin in 1974, with the hotel set to open in 1977.
The hotel received mixed reviews, with architectural critics and theatrical personalities being particularly negative toward the project. The hotel also required approval for two special permits to increase the floor area ratio.
New York City Planning Commission
The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...
chairman John Eugene Zuccotti scheduled a hearing for these permits in mid-1973. The Portman Hotel was experiencing delays by the end of 1973 because of a lack of funding. The
New York City fiscal crisis
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
had also endangered public funding for the convention center, and, by January 1975, Portman warned that he would withdraw from the Portman Hotel unless the convention center was funded. Construction costs had decreased enough that the hotel only needed $100 million, but only about $38 million had been raised. That December, Portman announced he would cancel the plans for the Portman Hotel. Though the designs were completed and the city government had given approvals, investors had not shown interest in the project. The cancellation meant that, for the time being, the Morosco and Helen Hayes theaters could continue to operate. The
Bankers Trust Company
Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corpo ...
owned the site of the theaters.
Revival of plans
In January 1976, the city negotiated with Portman to revive plans for the hotel. By the middle of the year, the city's hotel industry had recovered and was running near capacity. Portman Properties officials said in March 1978 that the company could raise $150 million for the hotel if the city government received a $15 million federal action grant. The New York City Board of Estimate voted to approve a tax exemption for the hotel that August, thereby permitting Portman Properties to contact potential lenders. The
Urban Development Corporation
Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). T ...
(UDC), an agency of the New York state government, was to obtain the land and lease it back to the hotel operators under a long lease. Later in 1978, the board authorized the city government to apply for the action grant on Portman's behalf.
Gerald Schoenfeld
Gerald Schoenfeld (September 22, 1924 – November 25, 2008) was chairman of The Shubert Organization from 1972 to 2008.
Career
After graduating from the University of Illinois, Schoenfeld fought in World War II. On his return, he obtained a law ...
of
the Shubert Organization
The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters ...
predicted in September 1978 that the hotel was planned to start construction early the following year.
By early 1979, the federal grant had still not been approved. The federal grant application had been submitted but was held in
abeyance
Abeyance (from the Old French ''abeance'' meaning "gaping") is a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. ...
until the outside financing was secured. The cost of the hotel had risen to at least $240 million by June 1979, though about $60 million of that cost would become from the planned action grant and Portman's equity.Equitable Life Assurance was negotiating with several other lenders to write a
mortgage
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
to cover the remaining cost. Ultimately,
Metropolitan Life
MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produc ...
and
Manufacturers Hanover
Manufacturers Hanover Corporation was the bank holding company formed as parent of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, a large New York bank formed by a merger in 1961. After 1969, Manufacturers Hanover Trust became a subsidiary of Manufa ...
joined Equitable in funding the project. Trust Houses Forte of London expressed interest in operating the hotel, but the developers announced in November 1979 that they still had difficulties obtaining financing. The operators of the Piccadilly Hotel said the same month that they would not sell to Portman. The Piccadilly planned to continue offering low rates for their rooms, as opposed to the luxury prices planned for the Portman Hotel.
Difficulties
The plans entailed the demolition of the original Helen Hayes, Morosco, and Bijou, as well as the remnants of the Astor and Gaiety. Theatrical advocates and preservationists felt the Portman Hotel's new theater would be bulky and impersonal, like the Minskoff and the Uris (Gershwin). The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
(LPC) had internally described the Helen Hayes as "one of the finest theaters" in New York City, and the Helen Hayes had been declared eligible for
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
(NRHP) listing in 1978. In November 1979, a lawyer filed a lawsuit to force the LPC to consider the old Helen Hayes Theatre as a city landmark, though the LPC had no opinion on the theaters. The next month,
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...
asked the city to reconsider the demolition of the old theaters. The
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...
conversely supported the project, as did theatrical operators such as the Shubert Organization.
In February 1980, actors such as
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influential ...
,
Jose Ferrer
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
* Jose ben Abin
* Jose ben Akabya
*Jose the Galile ...
, and
Tony Randall
Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play ''The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...
protested the proposed demolition of the Helen Hayes, Morosco, and Bijou. With the city government set to obtain the Piccadilly Hotel through land condemnation, the Piccadilly's owners sued in March 1980 to stop the condemnation. Actors' Equity collected signatures for a petition against the federal action grant, which still had not been distributed. In July 1980,
Manhattan Community Board 5
Manhattan Community Board 5 is a New York City community board, part of the local government apparatus of the city, with the responsibility for the neighborhoods of Midtown, Times Square, most of the Theater District, the Diamond District, the ...
voted to affirm the Portman Hotel, despite testimony from opponents including impresario
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created a y ...
. The ''Times'' reported that the project would probably proceed because of low
interest rates
An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, th ...
and high demand for hotel rooms. Opponents brought the issue before a
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...
committee that had no power over the hotel's approval, and they also alleged that Community Board 5 had approved the hotel without sufficient information.
The city government gave approval in November 1980 to seek an additional $6.5 million in action grants, or $21.5 million total. The next month, the Piccadilly's owners
settled
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
their lawsuit against the city, enabling Portman to acquire that site. The project's remaining opponents, including Actors' Equity, filed a new lawsuit against the hotel. The
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...
formally placed the federal action grant on hold in January 1981, supposedly because the documents had been sent a few days late. The incoming administration of Ronald Reagan planned to eliminate the grant program altogether, though Koch expressed confidence the hotel could be built regardless of the grant. The action grant was approved in April 1981.
Development
Portman had begun formally acquiring land for the hotel in January 1981, terminating existing leases. Marriott was reported as the likely operator of the new hotel that March and subsequently signed a 25-year contract to manage the hotel. The hotel continued to be known colloquially as the Portman Hotel, but it encountered so many delays that it was nicknamed "Portman's Folly". The hotel's developer was officially known as the Times Square Hotel Company, which leased the land from the UDC at $900,000 per year. The original lease ran for 75 years, but Marriott could exercise an option to buy the land at
fair market value
The fair market value of property is the price at which it would change hands between a willing and informed buyer and seller. The term is used throughout the Internal Revenue Code, as well as in bankruptcy laws, in many state laws, and by sever ...
after paying off the federal grant. A financing agreement was finalized in March 1982.
Site clearing and preservation efforts
By mid-1981, the only remaining issues to address before the start of construction were a public hearing for the planning process, as well as a lawsuit from Actors' Equity. Though opponents made many comments at the public hearings, the city published an environmental impact statement in favor of Portman's plans. As a last-ditch effort, opponents put forth a competing proposal by Lee Harris Pomeroy, which was largely similar to Portman's plans but would cantilever the hotel over the theaters. Portman Properties did not challenge the validity of the proposal but said it would further prolong the hotel's construction, and the City Planning Commission ultimately denied Pomeroy's proposal. Nevertheless, Pomeroy's plan earned a merit award from the Municipal Art Society. A pedestrian plaza was also planned for the section of Broadway in front of the hotel, but this too was controversial. In general, supporters of the hotel also advocated for the pedestrian plaza, while opponents of the hotel were against the plaza.
Actors' Equity and other preservation groups had tried to add the Morosco to the NRHP in early 1981, though the federal government initially rejected the move. After opponents further advocated NRHP listings for the site, the Morosco was deemed eligible for the NRHP that November. Subsequently, lawyers for Actors' Equity and
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States-based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Bo ...
accused Reagan aide
Lyn Nofziger
Franklyn Curran "Lyn" Nofziger (June 8, 1924 – March 27, 2006) was an American journalist, conservative Republican political consultant and author. He served as press secretary in Ronald Reagan's administration as Governor of California, ...
and interior secretary
James G. Watt
James Gaius Watt (born January 31, 1938) is a public servant who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1981 to 1983. He has been described as "anti-environmentalist", and was one of Ronald Reagan's most controversial cabinet appointment ...
of coercing the
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
Advisory may refer to:
* Advisory board, a body that provides advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation
* Boil-water advisory, a public health directive given by government to consumers when a community's drinking wat ...
in favor of the Portman development. A ''Times'' writer stated that the preservation issue had become particularly "heated among playwrights", to the point where it could not be discussed in theatrical meetings. A federal appeals court granted a temporary injunction against demolishing the Morosco and Helen Hayes theaters on January 6, 1982, but a state court approved the demolition three days later. By January 15, the Bijou was demolished.
A federal judge ruled to allow the other theaters' demolition in February 1982, rejecting claims of political influence. Actors held a protest to save the theaters on March 3, and a state judge granted two week-long injunctions. A federal injunction was also in place until the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
chose whether to hear the case. The
New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...
refused to hear an appeal on March 17, and it rejected another appeal three days later. By then, three of the five theaters had been demolished.
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
filed a lawsuit to stop the hotel's construction on the technicality that it would be built on the pedestrian plaza. Demolition of the Helen Hayes and Morosco commenced on March 22, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, and several high-profile actors and theatrical personalities were arrested in the ensuing protests. The Morosco was demolished quickly as it was never listed on the NRHP, but some historically and architecturally significant items from the Helen Hayes were preserved. The controversy over the theaters' demolition prompted a larger-scale preservation movement for Broadway theaters in the 1980s.
Construction
By May 1982, Portman indicated he would drop plans for the Broadway pedestrian plaza, citing large community opposition. The facade had to be redesigned as a result of the pedestrian plaza's cancellation. The site had been cleared by mid-1982, except for the Piccadilly Hotel. That July, Portman had put together $15 million to acquire the site of the Piccadilly Hotel, which was closed immediately. Simultaneously, Portman Properties signed contracts with its lenders for a $221.5 million financing package, which would fund much of the $320 million cost. Equitable Life, Metropolitan Life, Manufacturers Hanover, and the New York State Common Retirement Fund would collectively loan $200 million,(composed of a $150 million first mortgage and $50 million second mortgage) while the city would loan the action grant of $21.5 million. The Piccadilly's items were then sold off, but its demolition was delayed in late 1982 due to a lack of proper permits. The Portman Hotel's foundation was excavated through blasting, which had to be timed to avoid interrupting performances at nearby theaters.
The Portman Hotel was one of several in New York City being built in the mid-1980s, with a collective 3,500 rooms between them. Marriott Corporation president
Bill Marriott
John Willard "Bill" Marriott Jr. (born March 25, 1932) is an American billionaire businessman who is the executive chairman of Marriott International, of which he owns 11.28%.
Early life and education
Marriott was born in Washington, D.C., ...
and the company's executive vice president
Fred Malek
Frederic Vincent Malek (December 22, 1936 – March 24, 2019) was an American business executive, political advisor, and philanthropist. He was a president of Marriott Hotels and Northwest Airlines and an assistant to United States Presidents Ric ...
hoped the new hotel would revitalize Times Square, the decline of which they had personally witnessed when they were younger. The hotel was still not officially named until the end of 1982, when it became the "Marriott Marquis". By then, excavations were nearly complete. The concrete elevator core was then poured through a steel-and-wood formwork that was moved upward at a rate of per hour. The core had risen to the fourth story in January 1983. A sign with the Marriott name was hung on the core, though members of the public were still unaware that Marriott was in charge of the project, according to a ''New York Daily News'' account. The core had risen to nearly its full height by mid-1983, with the girders to be built afterward.
The steel superstructure was built after the elevator core. Because of the heavy traffic and densely built neighborhood, there was only a small amount of space where builders could work, and materials could not be staged nearby. The steel beams were therefore transported from a facility in
Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684, After a protest in mid-1983 over the lack of minority workers at the site, the developers hired additional minority workers to comply with a UDC rule, and several women joined the then-exclusively-male project.
Completion
The Marriott Marquis was refinanced with $328.5 million from 23 lenders in January 1984. Marriott put up 89 percent of the equity and Portman put up the remainder. By then, potential guests had made at least 300,000 nights of reservations at the Marriott Marquis. One guest had reserved a room for the Times Square Ball drop on New Year's Eve 1999, which the guest ultimately attended. The Marriott chain also began negotiating with potential theater operators. The Marriott Marquis planned to charge $175 per room per night. The costs of the hotel had risen to $400 million. The hotel
topped out
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...
at a ceremony in October 1984. At the ceremony, Koch praised the hotel as the "first gem in the new Times Square crown".
In November 1984, the
Nederlander Organization
The Nederlander Organization, founded in 1912 by David T. Nederlander in Detroit, and currently based in New York City, is one of the largest operators of live theaters and music venues in the United States. Its first acquisition was a lease on ...
accepted the rights to operate the hotel's theater. As the hotel was being completed in mid-1985, a worker was killed after falling several stories at the site. Prior to the hotel's opening, the ''Times'' described the hotel as "the linchpin of an ambitious plan to redevelop Times Square", and several major organizations had booked conventions there. To prepare for the official opening, some "practice meals" were held in the ballroom for various charities and government agencies. Additionally, in 1985, Portman bought a 28.68 percent ownership stake in the hotel for $26.3 million, and he took a $375 million loan at a 12 percent interest rate.
Operation
Opening and early years
The Marriott Marquis opened on September 3, 1985. It had been slated to open two days earlier, but there had been delays in obtaining a
certificate of occupancy
Certificate may refer to:
* Birth certificate
* Marriage certificate
* Death certificate
* Gift certificate
* Certificate of authenticity, a document or seal certifying the authenticity of something
* Certificate of deposit, or CD, a financial p ...
for the eighth story. The ultimate approval was given orally on the afternoon before it opened, just before a convention of the Emergency Nurses Association was scheduled to take place at the hotel. The initial opening included the meeting space, restaurants, and five hundred rooms on the lower floors. The rooftop revolving restaurant and theater were still not opened. At the time, the hotel was not expected to be finished until the end of that year, but 1.2 million nights of reservations had been booked through 1995. Marriott executives projected that it might take years for the hotel to become profitable. Actors Equity still held resentment against the hotel, advocating for the Actors Fund of America to cancel a planned benefit there shortly after the hotel's opening.
The hotel was formally dedicated in October 1985. The Marriott Marquis was one of 13 large hotels, with a combined 9,000 rooms, that had opened in New York City during the early 1980s. In late 1985, Kodak installed the world's largest color photograph display on one of the panels outside the hotel. The Marquis Theatre within the hotel opened in July 1986. In its first two years, the Marriott Marquis had one million guests. The average room rates in 1986 and 1987 were far below the posted rates, in part because nearly half of its business was group business, much higher than Marriott originally projected. Though the controversy over the hotel largely subsided, some Broadway performers refused to visit the hotel years after its completion. The Marriott Marquis's events included the National Football League Draft, which was hosted at the hotel from 1986 NFL Draft, 1986 to 1994 NFL Draft, 1994. By the late 1980s, the Marriott Marquis had an occupancy rate of 80 percent year-round, higher than other hotels in Manhattan. It had been one of several hotels to be developed around Times Square, as well as in New York City in general, during the 1980s.
1990s and 2000s
By the early 1990s, Portman was having trouble paying off his $375 million loan. As a result, at the end of 1993, the newly spun-off Host Marriott obtained a 28.6 percent ownership stake in the Marriott Marquis from Portman after he defaulted on his loan. The following year, coffee brand Maxwell House installed a sign on the hotel's facade. By the mid-1990s, the New York Marriott Marquis was highly profitable, especially with the ongoing revitalization of Times Square. A 1997 ''New York Times'' report stated that the hotel's rooms had an occupancy rate of 90 percent year-round, while ''Crain's New York'' stated that the New York Marquis was the "most successful hotel worldwide" in the Marriott brand when considering its size, revenue, or occupancy rate. At the time, the hotel had 1,700 employees who spoke 47 languages.
In advance of the 1998 Goodwill Games, Marriott affixed a three-story sign made of vinyl panels onto the facade. In 1998, the administration of mayor Rudy Giuliani shortened the site's lease from 75 to 35 years. Marriott would pay $19.9 million when the lease expired in 2017, and Marriott would make a fixed payment on the lease instead of paying a percentage of the taxes. The Giuliani administration said the move would allow the city to receive the $19.9 million forty years early and would increase tax revenue by $16 million per year for forty years. The Kodak sign on the facade was renovated and enlarged in 1999.
From the hotel's opening, congestion in the elevators had been a major issue, with waits stretching up to half an hour. The elevators accounted for three of four complaints about the hotel, which itself had one of the most complaints of any Marriott hotel. As a result, the six service elevators were renovated between 2002 and 2004 with the installation of a destination dispatch system. The 16 guest elevators were renovated with a destination dispatch system starting in 2004 and were completed in 2006. The destination dispatch system was installed because the design of the elevator core prevented the installation of additional elevators. The minibars in the guest rooms were removed by the mid-2000s due to low use. Through the late 2000s, the hotel had a 90 percent occupancy rate throughout the year. A 2008 appraisal found the hotel to be worth $579.7 million, making it the most valuable hotel in the city.
2010s to present
Marriott offered to pay $10.7 million for the hotel site in 2010, though this was unsuccessful. The guestrooms were renovated in 2011 and 2012. As part of the renovation, a restaurant called Crossroads was opened, and a lounge called the Broadway Lounge was also refurbished. By April 2012, the Kodak sign was no longer profitable and Kodak wished to sell its lease to the sign. Vornado Realty Trust signed a 20-year lease that August to redevelop the Marriott Marquis's retail space. The company planned to spend up to $140 million on upgrading the signage at the base and renovating the retail space. Vornado expected that the upgraded sign would be highly profitable.
In 2013, Host Hotels & Resorts acquired outright ownership of the land under the Marriott Marquis from the Empire State Development Corporation (ESD), the parent organization of the UDC, for $19.9 million due to a clause in the renegotiation of the lease from the ESD in 1998. City comptroller John Liu sharply criticized the price, saying the site had a market value of $193 million. An enlarged electronic sign at the base was completed in November 2014. In September 2018, Vornado acquired the remaining 46 percent ownership stake in the Marriott Marquis's retail space from Host Hotels & Resorts for $442 million, giving Vornado full control of the retail space and exterior sign. At the time, the retail tenants included Invicta Watch Group, Invicta, Levi Strauss & Co., Levi's, Sephora, Swatch, and T-Mobile.
From the Marriott Marquis's opening, its workers had never been Trade union, unionized. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, in which demand for the hotel decreased greatly, Marriott decided to outsource all of its more than 850 foodservice-worker positions. In December 2020, Marriott notified all of the foodservice workers that they would be fired by the following March. The move led to protests from the laid-off workers and an investigation from the Attorney General of New York, and its remaining workers voted to unionize in early 2021. That August, Omnibuild completed a 16-month renovation of the Marriott Marquis, costing $30 million. As part of the renovation, the bars, restaurants, meeting rooms, and ballrooms were upgraded, and a sky bridge measuring long was installed at the ninth story. In addition, a boiler plant that converted gas to steam was installed. The Union Square Hospitality Group was selected to run the Marriott Marquis's foodservice operation. During late 2022, one of the Marriott Marquis's suites was re-themed to the musical ''Beetlejuice (musical), Beetlejuice'', which was being staged at the Marquis Theatre.
Critical reception
Of the original plans, architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable wrote that the Portman Hotel "will be not only the city's tallest, but also its most dramatic, repeating and enlarging a successful Portman formula already in operation in Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco". Huxtable wrote that Times Square's redevelopment was contingent on whether the "large, tide-turning" Portman Hotel was able to succeed. ''Architectural Forum'' wrote that "any Portman in a storm (especially that of Times Square) will do just fine", while ''The New Yorker'' commented, "The hotel looked like fun". Conversely, Stanley Abercrombie of ''Architecture Plus'' said "the hotel threatens to effect, at street level, a weakening rather than a strengthening of Times Square vitality".
In 1980, after the redesigned hotel was revealed, Paul Goldberger wrote that he supported the hotel plans. Though Goldberger was slightly disturbed by the planned destruction of the theaters, "the life of an ongoing city is always one of tradeoffs". Abercrombie, writing for the ''Journal of the Institute of American Architects'', said in 1982: "The new hotel may do wonderful things for the area, but it could have been even more beneficial if another site had been chosen for it." Michael Sorkin characterized the hotel as "hopelessly self-centered". When the hotel finally opened, Goldberger called the design outdated, with the mass "looming over Times Square like an upended bunker". ''Newsday'' said two years after the hotel's completion that the "exterior could hold its own against anything in Dallas", while the "interior resembles the set where Luke Skywalker battled Darth Vader." Herbert Muschamp said: "Throughout the hotel, design issues a protective order that makes the city outside a forbidding presence, mercifully kept at bay."
As for the service at the hotel itself, reviews were mixed. ''U.S. News & World Report'', which did not rank the hotel among the top 100 in New York City, wrote: "For some previous visitors it's this Marriott's high-caliber service that wins them over [...] but for others it's the enviable location."
See also
* List of buildings and structures on Broadway in Manhattan
* List of hotels in New York City
The View restaurant
{{Broadway (Manhattan)
1985 establishments in New York City
Broadway (Manhattan)
Brutalist architecture in New York City
Buildings and structures with revolving restaurants
Hotel buildings completed in 1985
Hotels established in 1985
Hotels in Manhattan
John C. Portman Jr. buildings
Marriott hotels
Skyscraper hotels in Manhattan
Times Square buildings