In the early 19th century, the surrounding area was largely rural, with cottages and farms. New Yorkers began establishing mansions and row houses north of
Madison Square Park during the mid-nineteenth century. Several churches were built nearby, including the "
Little Church Around the Corner" and the
Marble Collegiate Church. A commercial boom followed with the growth of hotels such as the
Fifth Avenue Hotel,
Gilsey House, and
Grand Hotel, as well as restaurants,
Broadway theaters, the second
Madison Square Garden, and office buildings. The opening of the
New York City Subway's
first line (now the
IRT Lexington Avenue Line) one block east, in 1904, spurred further development in the area. The
28th Street subway station was two blocks southeast of the intersection of Madison Avenue and 29th Street, and there were many stores and entertainment venues nearby, so the area was highly attractive to hotel developers. for $175,000. who hired Harry Allan Jacobs to draw up plans for the hotel. Graves wanted an elaborate structure facing onto Madison Avenue, though the main entrance was relocated to the longer 29th Street frontage in the final plans. The structure was supposed to have 410 guest units, including 300 bathrooms. In early 1902, the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company loaned Graves $475,000 for the hotel's construction. The hotel was nearly completed in early 1903, when several contractors placed
mechanic's liens on the property. and he lost the hotel to
foreclosure. The hotel was sold at an auction in July 1903 to a syndicate headed by P. Henry Dugro, who paid $489,000, Raegener completed the hotel, which opened as the Seville March 1904. The Seville was extremely popular among visitors soon after it opened, Raegener leased a 200-foot-deep site next to the hotel in November 1905, and he hired Charles P. Mott, his brother-in-law, to draw up plans for a 12-story annex there. The annex was to have 19 bedrooms per floor, but Raegener could not start construction until the next year because they had to wait for an existing lease to expire. Mott filed plans for the annex with the Manhattan Bureau of Buildings in January 1906. The annex was finished in September 1907, doubling the amount of usable space in the hotel, which had 400 guestrooms and 300 bathrooms. In addition, the annex provided more capacity for business visitors, since business in the area was also increasing.
1910s to 1950s The Seville's operators acquired the neighboring four-story row houses at 86 and 88 Madison Avenue, collectively occupying a lot, in July 1913.
The Sun reported that the houses were a "big factor to the financial success of the hotel" merely because they existed, since their presence allowed natural light and air to enter the hotel from the south. That December, Raegener's firm Roy Realty Company bought the 10-story apartment building at the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and 28th Street, south and east of the hotel. This gave Raegener full ownership of the western side of Madison Avenue between 28th and 29th Streets. which would preserve the hotel's natural light exposure. After Raegener died in 1928, the executor of his estate indicated that the hotel had not made a net profit in several years. His company, the Roy Realty Company, retained ownership of the hotel. Permanent residents and short-term guests continued to patronize the Seville after Raegener died. The Roy Realty Company continued to operate the Seville until 1946, when Roy Realty sold the hotel to the Seville Realty Corporation. The buyers also acquired the commercial building on 28th Street and Madison Avenue, around which the Seville wrapped. and another undergarment company opened a showroom on the first floor in 1950. An investment group known as the Seville Syndicate bought the Hotel Seville in May 1955 at an assessed valuation of $800,000. The buyers also took over a $723,000 mortgage that had been placed on the hotel.
1960s to 1990s The Hotel Seville's popularity began to decline in the mid-20th century, along with that of other hotels in the neighborhood, as businesses and entertainment venues
relocated uptown. The Seville remained popular with theatrical personalities who hosted their weddings there. The hotel was advertised to visitors attending the
1964 New York World's Fair. One of the hotel's owners, minority shareholder Merit Koslowsky, attempted to sell the hotel in 1965, but his partners filed a lawsuit to prevent him from doing so. The Seville Syndicate ultimately sold the hotel in September 1967 to Robert Roth and Richard S. Forman of Seville Properties Inc. for $2.3 million, after the
New York Court of Appeals ruled that the sale could proceed. and the hotel underwent further upgrades in the early 1980s. During 1985,
New York University rented the top six stories of the Seville Hotel and used them as dormitories for transfer students and freshmen. The hotel had closed to visitors entirely by then, and a new owner bought the Seville and renovated the rooms. The hotel was renamed the Carlton in 1987. The Carlton functioned as a
single room occupancy hotel with 371
rent-regulated apartments until the 1990s, Some of the Carlton's 29 remaining rent-regulated residents sued the hotel's operators in 1997, claiming that the operators were harassing them while renovating the hotel to accommodate short-term guests. The Wolfson family acquired the hotel in the late 1990s and began renovating it.
2000s to present Carol Bullock-Walter took over as the hotel's manager in the early 2000s and began converting it into a four-star hotel. As part of the project, a three-story annex with a new main entrance was built at 86–88 Madison Avenue, and the guest rooms were refurbished. The
Rockwell Group designed both the lobby and the hotel's restaurant, which was renovated concurrently. During the renovation, the hotel's managers rediscovered and restored the first-story bar's original glass dome, which was extremely dirty and had dozens of broken glass panes; before the renovation, no one had realized that the dome still existed, as it was hidden above a dropped ceiling. The Country restaurant opened in October 2005 and was ranked by
Travel + Leisure magazine as one of the world's five best new restaurants that year. The hotel had 316 rooms by the late 2000s, The Carlton was renovated again in 2010. The Country restaurant was replaced by seafood restaurant Millesime, which opened in late 2010. The Carlton became part of
Marriott International's
Autograph Collection brand in early 2012, and several specialty suites opened at the hotel later the same year. In October 2015, GFI Capital Resources Group bought the Carlton from the Wolfson Group for $162.1 million. GFI borrowed $153 million to pay for the hotel. After the purchase, GFI announced in November 2016 that it would renovate the Carlton's lobby, create a retail space, and rebrand the hotel as the James New York – NoMad. Thomas Juul-Hansen was hired to redecorate the lower-story spaces and all the guest units. The hotel reopened in February 2018, with the Seville cocktail lounge and the Scarpetta restaurant at its base. The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) hosted hearings in February 2018 to determine whether the James New York – NoMad and the nearby Emmet Building should be designated as a city landmarks. About a dozen people spoke in favor of both landmark statuses, During the late 2010s and early 2020s, the James New York – NoMad employed a "witch in residence", as well as services such as
reiki, astrological readings, and
tarot readings. The James New York – NoMad became part of
Sonesta International Hotels' The James hotel brand in early 2023.
LuxUrban Hotels announced in January 2025 that it would lease the hotel for 15 years, rebranding it the J Hotel by LuxUrban. A bar called Il Bar opened at the hotel early that same year, along with a furniture store.
Hyatt acquired the hotel in April 2025 and rebranded it as Hotel Seville NoMad, redesigning the interiors. == Critical reception ==