Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. has announced that it is not moving ahead with its agreement to buy the former five-story Donnell branch of the New York Public Library at 24 West 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and replace it with an 11-story hotel structure that would connect to its "21" Club property on East 52nd Street.
Under the plan that had been announced in November, 2007, the library would own and occupy space on the first floor and underground.
The construction project was estimated at $220 million and would have included 150 hotels rooms and a restaurant on the top floor. The site is across from St. Thomas Episcopal Church and the Museum of Modern Art, both on the north side of the street.
The Donnell branch building was erected in 1955 and the deal with Orient-Express was reported to be for about $59 million.
The "21" Club's facade on 52nd Street has statues of jockeys in their racing colors and its downstairs bar is one of the most famous in the city and was seen in the movie, "Sweet Smell of Success." "21" was not a club but a restaurant but its high prices and haughty doormen tended to keep the masses away and for decades it was the city's most famous eatery for the rich and famous.
At the time that the deal to sell the building was announced David Offensend, chief operating officer of the New York Public Library said that "the cost of renovating Donnell is prohibitive," adding that "with this agreement, we'll be able to embark on the creation of a technologically advanced Donnell Library for our users."
Orient-Express was founded in 1976 when it bought the Hotel Cipriani in Venice and it also owns the Simplon-Orient-Express train that links Venice with Paris and London.
An article by Robin Pogrebin in The New York Times said that Orient-Express's decision to "back out of its plans to buy the former Donnell Library building in Midtown Manhattan is likely to deprive the New York Public Library of millions it was counting on," adding that "The sum was to help jump-start a $250 million renovation of its central library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street."
The Donnell, a five-story building on West 53rd Street, was to be razed to make way for an 11-story hotel, with the library on the first floor and underground.
The hotel conglomerate said in a statement that it was seeking to "defer or restructure" that project and the article reported that the library said through a spokesman that "it planned to study various options to get Orient Express to honor its commitment," declining to comment more, "citing possible litigation."
The article noted that "legal experts say the library might have no recourse but to seek damages but suggested that it was unlikely to recover the full $59 million purchase price."
The sale of the Donnell property was to go toward the major renovation of the main library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street and the article said that the library had received "a $7 million deposit from Orient-Express."
Under the plan that had been announced in November, 2007, the library would own and occupy space on the first floor and underground.
The construction project was estimated at $220 million and would have included 150 hotels rooms and a restaurant on the top floor. The site is across from St. Thomas Episcopal Church and the Museum of Modern Art, both on the north side of the street.
The Donnell branch building was erected in 1955 and the deal with Orient-Express was reported to be for about $59 million.
The "21" Club's facade on 52nd Street has statues of jockeys in their racing colors and its downstairs bar is one of the most famous in the city and was seen in the movie, "Sweet Smell of Success." "21" was not a club but a restaurant but its high prices and haughty doormen tended to keep the masses away and for decades it was the city's most famous eatery for the rich and famous.
At the time that the deal to sell the building was announced David Offensend, chief operating officer of the New York Public Library said that "the cost of renovating Donnell is prohibitive," adding that "with this agreement, we'll be able to embark on the creation of a technologically advanced Donnell Library for our users."
Orient-Express was founded in 1976 when it bought the Hotel Cipriani in Venice and it also owns the Simplon-Orient-Express train that links Venice with Paris and London.
An article by Robin Pogrebin in The New York Times said that Orient-Express's decision to "back out of its plans to buy the former Donnell Library building in Midtown Manhattan is likely to deprive the New York Public Library of millions it was counting on," adding that "The sum was to help jump-start a $250 million renovation of its central library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street."
The Donnell, a five-story building on West 53rd Street, was to be razed to make way for an 11-story hotel, with the library on the first floor and underground.
The hotel conglomerate said in a statement that it was seeking to "defer or restructure" that project and the article reported that the library said through a spokesman that "it planned to study various options to get Orient Express to honor its commitment," declining to comment more, "citing possible litigation."
The article noted that "legal experts say the library might have no recourse but to seek damages but suggested that it was unlikely to recover the full $59 million purchase price."
The sale of the Donnell property was to go toward the major renovation of the main library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street and the article said that the library had received "a $7 million deposit from Orient-Express."
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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