995 Fifth Avenue is a 16-story co-op apartment building at 995

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 populatio ...

and East 81st Street on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street (Man ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, across Fifth Avenue from

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

's Fifth Avenue building. It was constructed in 1926 as The Stanhope Apartment Hotel and designed by

Rosario Candela Rosario Candela (March 7, 1890 – October 3, 1953) was an Italian American architect who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the cit ...

. The building was converted to a residential co-op with 26 units in 2005 and renamed The Stanhope. It has since been renamed simply 995 Fifth Avenue.

History

The Stanhope Apartment Hotel opened in 1927 under the ownership of the 955 Fifth Avenue Corporation. It shortly passed into the ownership of Benjamin Winter, Inc. in 1928, followed by joint ownership among four banks, including the Bank of United States, in 1932, after Winter's default.New York Times: "BANKS GET HOTELS FOR WINTER'S DEBTS; Bank of United States and 3 Others Acquire Bretton Hall, Stanhope and Other Realty. GET DELMONICO INTEREST Release Some of Properties Now Held for $2,090,330 Indebtedness -- Court Approves Settlement."
December 3, 1932 Following acquisition by Hopestand Realty Corporation, the Stanhope Hotel built a reputation for luxury and live music. The hotel's Rembrandt Room cabaret featured

George Feyer George Feyer (1921 – March 1967) was a Canadian cartoonist who shot to fame through appearances on CBC Television in the 1950s. As a cartoonist for Maclean's magazine he helped to define the look of Canadian popular culture through the ...

from 1968 to 1980, and

Greta Keller Margaretha "Greta" Keller (8 February 1903 - 11 November 1977) was an Austrian and American cabaret singer and actress, who worked in some Hollywood movies and television dramas. Early years Born Margaretha Keller in Vienna, Austria, she studie ...

for several weeks each year through 1964, returning for a week's encore in 1971. Hotel ownership changed twice in 1961, first to Webb Knapp, Inc. in August, then to the Alliance Realty Company in October. The hotel continued its reputation as home to many well-to-do New Yorkers and entertaining celebrity visitors like Ringo Starr in 1969. Judson Realty purchased the hotel in 1980 and renamed it the American Stanhope Hotel as a statement about several major local hotels passing into foreign ownership. In 1982,

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (inc ...

established the music policy at the hotel's Saratoga Room restaurant. The hotel was acquired by New York developer Gerald Guterman's Hanover Companies for $19 million in 1986. He undertook a $26 million Louis XV-style renovation with plans to sell the 132 rooms and suites as cooperatives while running the building as a luxury hotel. When the hotel reopened following renovations, it was among the first hotels in the city to pass the room cost of $200 per night. Unfortunately, the expected profit was not realized and the Hanover subsidiary that owned the Stanhope PRE-packaged and filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whet ...

bankruptcy protection in February 1988. The hotel was purchased by Tobishima Associates at a November 1988 bankruptcy auction for $76 million. Tobishima invested $5 million more in renovations, but then sold the hotel in 1998 for only $15 million to a partnership of Richard Born, Ira Drucker and Los Angeles-based Colony Capital. In 1999, the hotel was purchased by

Hyatt Hotels Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vaca ...

for $65 million. At that point, the hotel also paid $2 million annually to the estate of Sol Goldman, which owned the leased ground on which the structure sat. Hyatt renamed the property The Stanhope, A Park Hyatt Hotel, and then later The Stanhope Park Hyatt New York. The hotel's cabaret was revived as the Melrose Room, featuring talents including pianist Steve Ross and soprano Anna Bergman. It ceased operation as a hotel on January 13, 2005. It was converted to co-op that year and first operated as The Stanhope, later changed to 995 Fifth Avenue.

Notable people

Famous residents

Daphne Guinness Daphne Diana Joan Susanna Guinness (born 9 November 1967) is an English designer, actress, producer, and musician. Early life Her father is Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne, the eldest son of Diana Mitford and Bryan Guinness. Diana Mitford w ...

Pannonica de Koenigswarter Baroness Kathleen Annie Pannonica de Koenigswarter (''née'' Rothschild; 10 December 1913 – 30 November 1988) was a British-born jazz patron and writer. A leading patron of bebop, she was a member of the Rothschild family. Personal life Kath ...

Famous deaths

*1946: Kiki Preston (née Alice Gwynne), plunged out a window. *1955:

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

, in the suite of Nica de Koenigswarter.

References

External links