The Commodore's Slipcover

New York, NY - Franny Wentzel - Monday, February 16th, 2009 : goo

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The Commodore Hotel was built in the early 1920s as part of the 'Terminal City' project centered around Grand Central Terminal. No great shakes as a work of architecture but it had a killer location and lived a long life as a railroad hotel...

By the 1970s New York City's economy had cratered with nothing being built and the city on the verge of bankruptcy. At the same time the defunct Penn Central was trying to shed its real estate holdings including its remaining 'Terminal City' hotel properties...

Enter a fresh-faced young developer named Donald Trump who saw potential in the soon to close Commodore hotel located right next door to the Grand Central Terminal. He decided that what was needed was a total makeover...

With a 20 year tax abatement from the city assuring financial viability and an agreement by the Hyatt chain to manage the new hotel, he had his architect design a 'slipcover' of reflective glass to install over the original masonry façade as this mid-project photo reveals.

In what was then a city of tired architecture, his glitterglass remod was a hit and within a couple years was making double the per room rate the old Commodore was making and running at near full occupancy and incidentally kicking off the start of the great NYC real estate boom of the 80s.

As a sidenote, one of the provisions of Hyatt's management contract is the fact that they have to get permission from 'The Donald' to open even so much as an airport motel in the NY metro area. He had that put in to protect his investment in what was his first major project and it's one of those things he made sure to highlight in his will.

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