The Summit Hotel
569 Lexington Avenue | Turtle Bay | built 1961
Open on the map10 entries
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1913
Oscar Hammerstein builds an opera house on the future hotel site
Before the Summit Hotel, the site held a theater that Oscar Hammerstein built in 1913 as an opera house. Marcus Loew soon acquired it and used the large auditorium for vaudeville shows and, later, films. The entrance was on Lexington Avenue while the auditorium itself lay mid-block toward Third Avenue, and a single-story shop measuring 50 by 100 feet stood north of the entrance at the 51st Street corner.
“Built by Oscar Hammerstein as an opera house in 1913, it was soon acquired by Marcus Loew who used the spacious auditorium to present vaudeville shows…”
- 1960
Lapidus bends the Summit into an S inside a fast-rising concrete frame
Ground was broken in June 1960 for the Summit, the first New York hotel with a reinforced concrete frame. Lapidus later wrote that bending the plan into an S let him make the building longer, with more rooms, and that his clients were happy. The engineers reported that it rose faster than any reinforced concrete building before it. Farkas & Barton engineered the structure, with Diesel Construction as general contractor.
“…ground was broken in June 1960. The structural engineer was Farkas & Barton, and the Diesel Construction Company was general contractor…”
- 1961
Groucho Marx is the first occupant of the Summit's Presidential suite
The Landmarks report says the opening of the $25 million Summit Hotel in 1961 was treated as an important event. Its top three floors held five suites, named Presidential, Continental, Summit, Sunset and Villa Este, each with floor-to-ceiling glass and a terrace of its own. Groucho Marx was the first person to occupy the Presidential suite.
“The first occupant of the Presidential suite was Groucho Marx.”
- 1961
Critics greet the Summit with jokes, including that it is 'too far from the beach'
After the Summit opened, writers used the hotel to weigh Morris Lapidus's work. Walter McQuade of The Nation was the one who put into print the much-repeated quip, said to be overheard, that the location was too far from the beach, though he was generally positive and called it a prime example of the Miami Beach style. Interiors editor Olga Guelf criticized the interior scheme but called the overall design daring, capable and relatively successful.
- 1961
The Summit Hotel opens on the site of the Loew's Lexington Theatre
Loew's Theatres demolished the Loew's Lexington Theatre in 1960 and built the Summit Hotel, designed by Morris Lapidus with Harle & Liebman in the Miami Modern style. The 800-room hotel opened on August 1, 1961, after a $25 million construction project, and was Manhattan's first new short-term hotel since the Waldorf Astoria opened in 1931. Its S-shaped design had a facade of marble, glazed brick and tile in dark green and turquoise, and a tall illuminated sign of seven oval disks that originally spelled Summit.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1962
CBS devotes an hour to Lapidus as critics trade jabs over the Summit's curves
In September 1962 CBS News gave Morris Lapidus and his Manhattan work a one-hour television show. Architectural Forum editor Peter Blake condemned the curving design, saying there should be no more snake dances on Lexington Avenue. Moderator Mike Wallace asked why buildings all had to be square boxes of red or white brick. Philip Johnson declined to criticize Lapidus and said he would watch the architect's career.
- 2000
A $17 million renovation restores the blue-green facade and renames the hotel
The hotel had been called the Loews New York since 1991. Under Jonathan Tisch, Loews Hotels began a $17 million renovation in 2000 that restored the blue-green facade. The hotel was renamed the Metropolitan, and a lobby redone in the 1990s was redone again. Loews sold it in 2003, and it joined the DoubleTree chain in 2005.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2005
The city designates the Summit Hotel a landmark after two hearings
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Summit Hotel, by then the Doubletree Metropolitan, a city landmark on May 17, 2005, after hearings on March 29 and April 21. Twelve witnesses spoke in favor at the first, among them the Landmarks Conservancy, Historic Districts Council, Docomomo-US and the Municipal Art Society, while the owner took no position. The report calls it an important work by Lapidus that had gained admirers since its criticized 1961 debut.
- 2020
The hotel closes for good during the pandemic
The DoubleTree Metropolitan shut for good in 2020, as tourism suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hawkins Way Capital bought it in January 2022 for $146 million, less than half what the previous owner had paid. A student dormitory, Found Study, opened there in late 2022, and CUNY leased space in it before buying 578 dorm rooms in April 2025.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2022
Hawkins Way buys the closed hotel for far less than before and turns it into a dormitory
Hawkins Way Capital purchased the DoubleTree Metropolitan from RLJ Lodging Trust in January 2022 for $146 million, less than half of RLJ's earlier outlay, as tourism lagged during the pandemic. A student dormitory called Found Study opened in the building in late 2022, taking women relocated from the Webster Apartments, and CUNY leased space while its Brookdale campus was redeveloped. In April 2025 CUNY bought 578 of the dorm rooms for $86 million.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- 569 Lexington AvenueWikipedia
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