The Stanhope, 995 Fifth Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 995 Fifth Avenue by Carter Horsley

For decades, this pre-war building at 995 Fifth Avenue on the southeast corner at 81^st Street was the only hotel property on the Upper East Side to challenge the desirability and prestige of the Carlyle Hotel a few blocks south on Madison Avenue.

A far less interesting building architecturally, it did, however, face directly on Central Park and for many years it boasted an extremely attractive sidewalk cafe, probably the city's best, on either side of its canopied entrance. The attractive building was known as The Stanhope Hotel.

Its conversion by Extell Development to a 26-unit residence in 2007, however, did away with the cafe as well as its ground floor bar and large formal restaurant.

The 17-story building was designed by Rosario Candela in 1926 and Cetra Ruddy and John Simpson were the architects for the conversion.

Bottom Line

The building is across Fifth Avenue from the south end of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and across 81st Street from 998 Fifth Avenue, one of the city's most impressive pre-war apartment buildings.

Description

The brown-brick building has a three-story limestone base and the sidewalk cafe has been replaced with hedges on either side of the canopied entrance.

Amenities

The building has a La Palestra health club, an in-house wine consultancy and Concierge Direct service.

It has a concierge and a full-time doorman as well as a health club, a canopied entrance and sidewalk landscaping.

It has no roof deck, no balconies and there is considerable traffic at this location.

There is good bus transportation.

Apartments

Ceilings are generally about 9 feet.

Apartment 9S is a three-bedroom unit with a 12-foot-long foyer that leads to a 27-foot-long living room and an 18-foot-long dining room next to a 24-foot-long kitchen.

Apartment 11S is a five-bedroom unit with a 9-foot-long entrance gallery that leads to a 27-foot-long living room next to a 19-foot-long enclosed dining room off a 25-foot-long kitchen/family room.  The apartment also has a 27-foot-gallery that leads to the  bedrooms.

The apartment on the 14^th floor has a 36-foot-long entrance gallery that opens onto a 42-foot-long living room next to a corner 26-foot-long dining room and a 17-foot-long media room next to a 19-foot-long library.  The 18-foot-long kitchen next to the dining room also has an 18-foot-long family room.  The apartment also has five bedrooms, a sitting room with a wet bar and a staff-room.

History

When apartment sales languished initially, Extell dropped the "Stanhope" name.

The developers got permission from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to add a setback floor to the building.

The building has changed hands many times over the years.  Shortly after it opened in 1927, it was owned by Benjamin Winter and the next year it passed into joint ownership of four banks.  It was then acquired by Hopestand Realty Corporation and in 1961 it was acquired by Webb & Knapp Inc. and then the Alliance Realty Company.  In 1980, it was acquired by Judson Realty and renamed the American Stanhope Hotel.

Six years later, it was bought by Hanover Companies, of which Gerald Gutterman was a principal, for $19 million.  He undertook a $26 million renovation and planned to sell the 132 rooms and suites as a cooperative and it became one of the first hotels in the city to pass $200 a night per room.

The Hanover Companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1988 and was purchased later that year by Tobishima Associates at a bankruptcy auction for $76 million.

The Hyatt Corporation acquired the property in 1999 and operated it as a Park Hyatt Hotel until 2005 when it was acquired by Extell Development.

In 1955, Charlie Parker, the legendary alto sax player, died in the suite of Nica de Koenigswarter.

A February 17, 1988 article by Lisa W. Foderaro in The New York Times said that that month Mr. Guterman’s limited partnership filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Federal bankruptcy law as it owed  almost $80 million.  The article noted that Mr. Guterman had chartered the Queen Elizabeth II in the fall of 1986 to invite 600 guests on a cruise of the bar and bas mitzvahs of his three children.  It also said that he auctioned 47 Old Master paintings at Sotheby’s but 17 did not sell.

According to a November 19, 2006 in The Wall Street Journal by Josh Barbanel “the building is a co-op (though with condominium rules) and buyers will have to pay annual rent charges on the land, driving up the maintenance, which starts at about $9,000 a month for half-floor apartments.”  The article added that the lease on the land runs for 150 years and increases in rent payments are “extremely modest, rising by 14 percent every 21 years.”