Address 767 5th Avenue Height 128 m Architecture firm McKim, Mead & White Floor count 33 | Opening October 1, 1927 Opened 1 October 1927 Number of rooms 1,000 | |
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Similar General Motors Building, The Sherry‑Netherland, Singer Building, City Investing Building, Grand Army Plaza | ||
The Savoy-Plaza Hotel was a 33-story hotel overlooking Central Park at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in New York City, New York. It opened in 1927 and was demolished in 1965.
Contents
Map of Savoy-Plaza Hotel, New York, NY 10022, USA
History
Harry S. Black, the owner of the nearby Plaza Hotel, bought the Savoy Hotel, built in 1890, and demolished it along with the adjacent buildings on the block to build a newer companion to the older establishment. The 33-story, 128 meter skyscraper hotel was designed by McKim, Mead & White, built at a cost of $30 million, and opened on October 1, 1927.
In 1958, Hilton Hotels purchased the property and opened a Trader Vic's within it on April 14, 1958. Hilton later renamed the hotel the Savoy Hilton. Hilton sold the hotel to Webb & Knapp, Inc. in May 1962, for $25 million. Webb & Knapp resold the hotel to British Commercial Property Investments of Toronto later that year. 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. Owners announced plans for the hotel's demolition on August 21, 1964 leading to a significant public outcry and protests. 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. The hotel remained open through the duration of the 1964/1965 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.