Manhattan House
200 East 66th Street | also 1257 2nd Avenue, 1127 3rd Avenue, 232 East 66th Street | Lenox Hill | built 1951
Open on the map10 entries
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1946
New York Life buys the old car barn block at auction for $1.6 million
In November 1946 New York Life Insurance bought the block that would hold Manhattan House at public auction, paying $1.6 million in cash, a price described in the landmark report as modest. Horse cars and trolleys had been stored there since the 1860s, and architect Henry J. Hardenbergh enlarged the Italianate car barn in the 1890s with extra stories, steep mansard roofs and towers. That earlier building was torn down between August 1947 and the summer of 1948.
“New York Life acquired the land for Manhattan House at public auction in November 1946…”
- 1949
New York Life breaks ground on Manhattan House with a thousand applications already in
New York Life held a groundbreaking ceremony for Manhattan House on April 6, 1949. By then the company had already received more than a thousand applications from people hoping to rent there. The general contractor was the Cauldwell-Wingate Company, and the project was expected to cost between $11 million and $14 million.
“…groundbreaking ceremony for the development on April 6, 1949; at that point, the insurance company had already received over a thousand applications…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1950
Model apartments furnished by B. Altman open for viewing
Topping-out ceremonies took place in May 1950. A month later the first model apartments went on display, furnished in an 18th-century style by the department store B. Altman's staff, who chose the pieces. Tenants began arriving that October, and the remaining apartments were completed in early 1951.
“…model apartments, decorated with 18th century furnishings chosen by the staff of the B. Altman department store, went on display…”
- 1950
Grace Kelly, Jackie Robinson and other notables move into the new building
When residents began moving into Manhattan House in October 1950, early tenants included the building's own architect Gordon Bunshaft, clarinetist Benny Goodman, actress Grace Kelly, baseball star Jackie Robinson, and furniture designer Florence Knoll.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1951
New York Life completes Manhattan House, a white-brick modernist block
Manhattan House, finished in 1951 for the New York Life Insurance Company, was designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Mayer & Whittlesey. Its residents over the years included Grace Kelly, Benny Goodman, Jackie Robinson, the designer Florence Knoll and Bunshaft himself.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1952
The AIA's New York chapter names Manhattan House the city's best new apartment building
In May 1952 the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects picked Manhattan House as the best apartment building put up in the city over the previous two years. Its awards committee admired the building's scale, looks, detailing and materials. It also noted that Manhattan House gave neighboring streets a share of outdoor space that most buildings kept to interior courtyards.
“…the New York Chapter of the AIA selected Manhattan House as the finest apartment building constructed in New York during the past two years…”
- 1960
A private jam in the solarium brings together Benny Goodman and the King of Thailand
A 1960 New York Times report described a private jam session for forty guests in the building's solarium. The musicians included Benny Goodman, the clarinetist who lived at Manhattan House, drummer Gene Krupa, pianist Teddy Wilson and a saxophonist who was the King of Thailand. Goodman died in his apartment here in 1986.
- 2005
New York Life sells Manhattan House for about $623 million, a record per apartment
In October 2005, around the 21st, the building passed from New York Life to a pair of buyers: N. Richard Kalikow, a developer, and Jeremiah W. O'Connor Jr., an investor. Reports put the price at $623 million or $625 million, roughly $1.072 million an apartment, then the most ever paid per unit for a Manhattan rental building. About half the tenants had rent regulation or rent control and paid $1,800 a month, while the rest paid market rents as high as $20,000.
“…sold Manhattan House to developer N. Richard Kalikow and investor Jeremiah W. O'Connor Jr. for $623 million or $625 million…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2007
The city designates Manhattan House a landmark
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Manhattan House a city landmark on October 30, 2007. Investors had bought the building in 2005 for about $625 million, and its conversion from rentals to condominiums, which cost $1.1 billion in total, was completed in December 2015.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2015
A $1.1 billion conversion turns Manhattan House into condominiums
Developers N. Richard Kalikow and Jeremiah O'Connor bought Manhattan House from New York Life in 2005 for roughly $623 million and began converting the rental building to condominiums. Lawsuits, tenant disputes and the 2008 financial crisis delayed the project, which O'Connor finally completed in December 2015 after investing $1.1 billion.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Manhattan HouseWikipedia
Nearby
- New York Zendo Shobo-Ji223 East 67th Street | 3 entries
- Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital210A East 64th Street | 2 entries
- 210 East 68th Street4 entries
- Julia Richman Education Complex300 East 68th Street | 7 entries
- Park East Synagogue163 East 67th Street | 11 entries
- Church of St. Vincent Ferrer869 Lexington Avenue | 16 entries