Savoy-Plaza Hotel

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Savoy-Plaza Hotel
Savoy-Plaza Hotel, the large building at center, to the right of the taller, narrow spire of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel, seen from The Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary in Central Park in 1933
Map
General information
LocationNew York City, New York
Address767 5th Avenue
OpeningOctober 1, 1927
Demolished1965
Height420 ft (130 m)
Technical details
Floor count33
Design and construction
Architect(s)McKim, Mead & White
Other information
Number of rooms1,000

The Savoy-Plaza Hotel was a 33-story hotel overlooking Central Park at Fifth Avenue and East 59th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1927 and was demolished in 1965.

History

Original Savoy Hotel

The original Savoy Hotel at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street opened in June 1892, following the opening of the neighboring Plaza Hotel in 1890. The original 12-story Savoy was designed by architect Ralph S. Townsend, for landowners including New York Supreme Court Justice P. Henry Dugro.[1] The old Savoy continued to expand into the 1920s, and its furnishings were sold in 1925.

Savoy-Plaza Hotel

Harry S. Black,[2] owner of the Plaza, bought the Savoy Hotel, consolidated the block, and demolished it to commission a newer companion to the older establishment from the architects of the Plaza.[2] The 33-story, 420-foot (130 m)[3] skyscraper Savoy-Plaza Hotel was designed by McKim, Mead & White, built at a cost of $30 million,[4] and opened on October 1, 1927. In September 1955, the Russeks women's clothing store opened a shop selling furs at the hotel.[5]

Hilton Hotels acquired the hotel in January 1957[6] through an exchange of stock with Savoy-Plaza, Inc. Hilton opened a Trader Vic's within the hotel on April 14, 1958, in a space formerly occupied by the Red Coach Inn.[7] On December 31, 1958, the full merger of Savoy-Plaza, Inc. and Hilton Hotels Corporation became effective,[8] and the hotel was renamed the Savoy Hilton. Hilton sold the hotel to Webb & Knapp, Inc. in May 1962, for $25 million.[4] That November, Webb & Knapp resold a two-thirds interest to British Commercial Property Investments and a one-third interest to London Merchant Securities.[9][10] Hilton and the hotel's owners agreed to end the chain's management of the hotel in 1964, though the contract continued through 1967. Western International Hotels assumed management on June 2, 1964, renaming the property The Savoy Plaza, without the original hyphen.[11]

The owners announced plans for the hotel's demolition on August 21, 1964, leading to a significant public outcry and protests.[4] On December 16, 1964, the owners announced that the hotel would be replaced by a 48-story office tower, designed by Edward Durell Stone to house the Eastern headquarters of General Motors.[12] The hotel remained open through the 1964 New York World's Fair, finally closing in October 1965. It was demolished in late 1965 and early 1966 and replaced with the General Motors Building, completed in 1968.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Lost 1892 Hotel Savoy -- 5th Avenue and 59th Street". Daytonian in Manhattan. February 8, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Turkel, MHS, ISHC, Stanley (February 27, 2008). "Remember the Savoy Plaza Hotel?; Is Economic Disaster Imminent; Cuba at the Crossroads". Hospitalitynet.org. Retrieved February 22, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "New York Architecture Images- Savoy-Plaza Hotel". nyc-architecture.com. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Hailey, Foster (August 21, 1964). "Savoy Plaza to Be Razed for G.M. Offices". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Russeks Opens Shop at Hotel," The New York Times.
  6. ^ "HILTON TO ACQUIRE THE SAVOY-PLAZA; Chain Concern to Take over Hotel Here Through an Exchange of Stock". The New York Times. January 30, 1957.
  7. ^ "Hilton Hotels, 1957 Annual Report".
  8. ^ "Annual Report 1958". Archived from the original on December 12, 2022.
  9. ^ "Webb & Knapp Sells Part-Interest in Hotel To a British Company: London Merchant Securities Pays Cash for Third of Savoy Hilton In New York, Another Building". Wall Street Journal. November 13, 1962. p. 4. ISSN 0099-9660. ProQuest 132729673.
  10. ^ "Interest Is Sold in Savoy Hilton; Foreign Company Acquires Webb & Knapp Equity" (PDF). The New York Times. November 13, 1962. p. 61. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  11. ^ "Hotel Here to Become The Savoy Plaza Again". The New York Times. June 3, 1964.
  12. ^ Fowler, Glenn (December 16, 1964). "48-Story Tower to Rise on Savoy Plaza Site". The New York Times.
  13. ^ "Manhattan 1960s: 1965". Wired New York. April 5, 2010. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.

40°45′50″N 73°58′22″W / 40.7638°N 73.9728°W / 40.7638; -73.9728