Originally the Endicott Hotel, the property was converted in 1981 by Robert Quinlan and the conversion was designed by Stephen B. Jacobs.

Built in 1889, the 7-story building, which overlooks Manhattan Square and its the American Museum of Natural History, had a palm court and for a while in the early 1930’s was the residence of gangster Dutch Schultz. The building’s fortunes declined during the city’s fiscal crisis in the 1970’s: "Formerly proud hotels, the Endicott, the Belleclaire, the Marseilles, became sinks of vice and crime," noted Peter Selwen in his book, "Upper West Side Story, A History and Guide," (Abbeville Press, 1989).

"By 1983," Selwen wrote, "even the Endicott Hotel had been emptied, fumigated, and converted to expensive co-ops and movie mogul Dino De Laurentis turned the restored Palm Court into what he called DDL Foodshow, a specialty shop where improbably handsome waiters (probably from Central Casting) served pheasant and roast suckling pig under theatrical lighting."