The Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday approved Extell Development Company's rehabilitation and restoration plans for the former Carlton House Hotel at 680 Madison Avenue (between 61st and 62nd Streets) in Manhattan.
The unanimous vote cleared the way for Extell and its partner, Angelo Gordon & Company, to proceed with their plans to convert the building's 157 hotel and residential units to 68 apartments and one townhouse unit.
The building will undergo a thorough gut renovation, and will be enlarged by a 2 story addition and two infill buildings along its west side - one on 61st Street and the other on 62nd Street.
The existing second and third floors will be removed and replaced with a new second floor to increase ceiling heights and window openings for the 32,000 square feet of retail.
The existing exterior facade will undergo a comprehensive restoration to clean and repair its masonry.
On 61st Street, a new 5-story, 9,700-square foot townhouse will be added and will fill in a 35-foot gap between 680 Madison Avenue and a neighboring property. The first floor here will serve as the main lobby to the existing building and a private entry to the townhouse on the upper four levels.
Extell and Angelo Gordon purchased the building from the Helmsley Estate in March 2010 for $170 million. The property was closed in February 2011 to make way for construction and is slated to be completed in 2013.
The Helmsley Carlton House was originally built as a residential property when it was erected in 1951. The brown brick, free-standing building at 680 Madison Avenue occupies the entire blockfront between 61st and 62nd Streets and was designed by K. B. Norton in 1950 with 147 apartments.
It has a three-story limestone base with handsome pilasters between the second and third floors. It has a canopied entrance, sidewalk landscaping discrete air-conditioners, several terraces and many bay windows.
For several years, Maxim's, the famous Parisian restaurant, occupied a large restaurant decorated by Janko Rasic in Art Nouveau style on three levels as well as a bistro in the building on 61st Street that was notable for the large "eye" painted in the urinal bowls of its men's rooms in space that would later be occupied by Judith Lieber handbags.
The architect for the conversion is Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP.
The unanimous vote cleared the way for Extell and its partner, Angelo Gordon & Company, to proceed with their plans to convert the building's 157 hotel and residential units to 68 apartments and one townhouse unit.
The building will undergo a thorough gut renovation, and will be enlarged by a 2 story addition and two infill buildings along its west side - one on 61st Street and the other on 62nd Street.
The existing second and third floors will be removed and replaced with a new second floor to increase ceiling heights and window openings for the 32,000 square feet of retail.
The existing exterior facade will undergo a comprehensive restoration to clean and repair its masonry.
On 61st Street, a new 5-story, 9,700-square foot townhouse will be added and will fill in a 35-foot gap between 680 Madison Avenue and a neighboring property. The first floor here will serve as the main lobby to the existing building and a private entry to the townhouse on the upper four levels.
Extell and Angelo Gordon purchased the building from the Helmsley Estate in March 2010 for $170 million. The property was closed in February 2011 to make way for construction and is slated to be completed in 2013.
The Helmsley Carlton House was originally built as a residential property when it was erected in 1951. The brown brick, free-standing building at 680 Madison Avenue occupies the entire blockfront between 61st and 62nd Streets and was designed by K. B. Norton in 1950 with 147 apartments.
It has a three-story limestone base with handsome pilasters between the second and third floors. It has a canopied entrance, sidewalk landscaping discrete air-conditioners, several terraces and many bay windows.
For several years, Maxim's, the famous Parisian restaurant, occupied a large restaurant decorated by Janko Rasic in Art Nouveau style on three levels as well as a bistro in the building on 61st Street that was notable for the large "eye" painted in the urinal bowls of its men's rooms in space that would later be occupied by Judith Lieber handbags.
The architect for the conversion is Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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