Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel

The Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel is located at 811 Seventh Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The building's rectangular land lot occupies the western half of the city block bounded by Seventh Avenue to the west, 52nd Street to the south, Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) to the east, and 53rd Street to the north. The site covers , with a frontage of on Seventh Avenue and along the side streets. ==History==

Americana of New York The Americana of New York was designed by Morris Lapidus, Liebman & Associates in 1960–1962. It was constructed by brothers Laurence Tisch and Preston Tisch, co-owners of the Loews Corporation. The hotel was developed to serve the large business and convention market in New York City. In August 1960, the Tisch brothers acquired the Manhattan Storage Warehouse site on the eastern side of Seventh Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets. The project would contain 2,000 rooms and, at 50 stories tall, would be the tallest hotel in the world. Morris Lapidus was hired to design the new hotel, which was planned to open in May 1962 at a cost of $50 million. Loew's was also simultaneously developing two motels and a luxury apartment building in Manhattan. Construction began in September 1960, Concrete pouring had commenced in July 1961 when all of the building's concrete workers went on strike, which lasted for eight weeks. All construction at the hotel was paused during the strike, since the hotel was being built using a concrete frame. The concrete work finally began in late 1961, and the concrete superstructure was initially built at a rate of one story every three days. Above floor 29, one story was completed every two days. The hotel ultimately cost $45 million to construct. The Americana of New York opened on September 24, 1962, following a press preview on September 20. Lilly Daché operated a beauty salon in the hotel when it opened. As at the Summit, the Americana required that many staff members be able to speak several languages. One of four employees in the hotel's front offices could speak more than one language. The hotel's concierge service included staff members who could speak Spanish, French, German, and Italian. The hotel's Royal Box nightclub was renovated in early 1963, having opened in October 1962 with a performance by Harry Belafonte. John Lennon and Paul McCartney announced the formation of their music label Apple Corps at a press conference in the Americana in 1968. In addition, the Americana also hosted the New York portion of the Emmy Awards in 1967 and again in 1968. The Royal Box hosted performances by musical artists including Harry Belafonte, Nancy Ames, Thelma Houston, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Peggy Lee; it also hosted other performers such as comedian Woody Allen. On July 21, 1972, American Airlines leased the Americana of New York from Loews, as well as the City Squire Motor Inn across the street, and the Americana Hotels in Bal Harbour, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a period of thirty years. American merged the hotels with their existing Flagship Hotels chain (part of their wholly owned Sky Chefs catering division), and marketed all the properties under the Americana Hotels brand. The Americana hosted the 1974 NFL draft and served as Democratic headquarters for the 1976 Democratic National Convention and 1980 Democratic National Convention. Sheraton The Americana of New York and the City Squire were sold to a partnership of Sheraton Hotels and the Equitable Life Assurance Society The Americana was renamed the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers. Sheraton bought out Equitable's share in the hotel in 1990, freeing them to undertake a nearly $200 million renovation in 1991, Starwood Hotels (which had bought Sheraton in 1998) sold the hotel on November 14, 2005, to Host Marriott for $738 million, The hotel continued to be managed by Sheraton, however, and was again renovated from 2011 to 2012 at a cost of $160 million. The name was shortened to Sheraton New York Hotel in 2012 and then changed to Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in 2013. In 2018, Host Hotels & Resorts attempted to sell the hotel, without success, for $550 million. By 2020, the price had dropped to $495 million. MCR took over the previous owner's $250 million loan on the hotel; the loan went into forbearance after it matured in October 2023. MCR and Island Capital refinanced the hotel the next month with a $260 million loan from firms associated with the Fortress Investment Group. ==Architecture==

The Americana was one of at least eight hotels that Loews Hotels developed in Manhattan during the early 1960s, as well as one of four developed by Morris Lapidus. and Farkas & Barron was the structural engineer. Form and facade At 51 floors, with a height of , the hotel was acclaimed for many years in its advertising and by the media as the tallest hotel in the world, based on the number and height of its inhabited floors. The base is three stories high and contains the hotel's public rooms. The main entrance, on Seventh Avenue, occupies the northern part of the hotel's Seventh Avenue elevation, near 53rd Street. It originally contained a full-height glass wall and was slightly angled from the street grid. This rotunda contained the hotel's restaurants. The main part of the Sheraton is a 47-story slab, which is bent in the center. The western part of the massing is angled toward the corner of Seventh Avenue and 52nd Street, while the eastern part runs parallel to the Manhattan street grid. The hotel was designed in this way because zoning regulations prohibited the upper stories from being built any closer to 52nd Street. On the north side, a 25-story wing is perpendicular to the western part of the slab (and slightly angled from the street grid). On the longer elevations of the slab, each story originally contained horizontal strips of windows, installed in stainless-steel frames. The facades of the accommodation blocks are generally intact, but the podium levels were reclad in the 1991 renovation, replacing the varied, light 1960s details with Postmodern squared granite. Features The hotel's superstructure is composed of three structural systems. According to Lapidus, his previous projects had all used reinforced concrete, and he did not intend to use steel. At the time of its completion, the building was the tallest concrete-framed structure in the city. Lowest stories The lobby contained gold-and-white and teak furniture, as well as a floor made of white marble. In addition, a set of concrete arches supported a staircase that led to a lower lobby. which could accommodate up to 11,000 diners at once. There were seven kitchens, which took up four basement levels. which was themed to the Old West and contained themed wooden carvings. or . The chandelier, which could be raised and lowered on a winch, cost $50,000. The Imperial Ballroom's projection booth could retract into the ceiling when it was not being used. There were two large sliding panels, allowing the Imperial Ballroom to be divided into three smaller spaces. There were also three smaller ballrooms that fit up to 1,000 people; they were known as the Royal, Versailles, and Princess. The Royal (or Georgian) Ballroom could fit 1,200 guests and could be divided into a primary ballroom and a separate foyer. The Versailles Ballroom could fit 400 diners or 500 business guests, and the Princess Ballroom could fit 300 people. The exhibition hall spanned at ground level. The hotel also had 38 private meeting rooms, each with a capacity of 25 to 500 people. The basement contained a parking garage with 350 spots. Also part of the hotel was a swimming pool on the 25th story. Hotel rooms When the hotel was developed, it contained 2,000 rooms, including 90 large suites. Originally, the smallest room in the Americana Hotel was a single-bedroom unit measuring . By contrast, the hotel's largest unit had six bedrooms, a three-sided terrace, and its own butler and maid. Lapidus designed most of the hotel's original furniture. These included lamps, portraits, and furniture, which were all designed in a mid-20th-century style. The hotel rooms were originally decorated in a white, blue, and gold color scheme, complementing the design of the lower stories. Lapidus also designed the carpets, which were installed across each room, extending into the closets. Each bedroom initially had its own thermostat, telephone, small refrigerator, and combination swivel/rocking chair, as well as a full-width window. In addition, rooms had their own radio, television, and Gideon Bible. Guests could use the televisions in their rooms to watch closed-circuit television footage of the ballrooms and exhibition areas. ==References==