MCR has acquired the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City. Morse Development, an MCR affiliate that developed the TWA Hotel at New York City’s JFK Airport, will renovate the five-star hotel.
Areas of the hotel that will be renovated include the lobby; the first-floor restaurants and bars; and the 197 guestrooms and suites. The 7,000-sq.-ft. rooftop bar will also receive a full restoration. The property is expected to reopen in 2025.
“We will return this beloved hotel to its original splendor as the jewel of Gramercy Park—one of the most magical and unique neighborhoods in Manhattan,” said Tyler Morse, chairman/CEO, MCR/MORSE Development.
Built in 1924 on the site where Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Edith Wharton was born, the 18-story luxury hotel has a rich history as a haunt for athletes (Babe Ruth frequented the bar), politicians (a young John F. Kennedy Jr. stayed there with his father) and screen legends (Humphrey Bogart married stage actress Helen Menken there in 1926). But it was a true favorite of rockstars. The Clash, U2, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones all booked rooms during their tours. Blondie’s Debbie Harry lived in room 501. Madonna, who worked as a hat-check girl at the nearby club Danceteria, partied after hours at the hotel. And when David Bowie checked in for two weeks in 1973, the hotel was nicknamed “The Glamercy.”
MCR’s New York City portfolio also includes the landmarked The High Line Hotel, an 1895 Gothic Collegiate gem in a former Episcopalian seminary; the Sheraton New York Times Square; the Royalton New York; and The Lexington Hotel.
