Seen from across 23rd Street
The
Hotel Chelsea (also known as the
Chelsea Hotel and
the Chelsea) is a hotel at 222 West
23rd Street in the
Chelsea neighborhood of
Manhattan in New York City. Built between 1883 and 1884, the hotel was designed by
Philip Hubert in a style described variously as
Queen Anne Revival and
Victorian Gothic. The 12-story Chelsea, originally a
housing cooperative, has been the home of numerous writers, musicians, artists, and entertainers, some of whom still lived there in the 21st century. , most of the Chelsea is a luxury hotel. The building is a
New York City designated landmark and on the
National Register of Historic Places.
The front facade of the Hotel Chelsea is 11 stories high, while the rear of the hotel rises 12 stories. The facade is divided vertically into five sections and is made of brick, with some flower-ornamented iron balconies; the hotel is capped by a high
mansard roof. The Hotel Chelsea has thick
load-bearing walls made of masonry, as well as
wrought iron floor beams and large, column-free spaces. When the hotel opened, the ground floor was divided into an entrance hall, four storefronts, and a restaurant; this has been rearranged over the years, with a bar and the
El Quijote restaurant occupying part of the ground floor. The Chelsea was among the first buildings in the city with
duplex and
penthouse apartments, and there is also a rooftop terrace. The hotel originally had no more than 100 apartments; it was subdivided into 400 units during the 20th century and has 155 units as of 2022.
The idea for the Chelsea arose after Hubert & Pirsson had developed several
housing cooperatives in New York City. Developed by the Chelsea Association, the structure quickly attracted authors and artists after opening. Several factors, including financial hardships and tenant relocations, prompted the Chelsea's conversion into an
apartment hotel in 1905. Knott Hotels took over the hotel in 1921 and managed it until about 1942, when David Bard bought it out of bankruptcy. Julius Krauss and Joseph Gross joined Bard as owners in 1947. After David Bard died in 1964, his son Stanley operated it for 43 years, forming close relationships with many tenants. The hotel underwent numerous minor changes in the late 20th century after falling into a state of disrepair. The Krauss and Gross families took over the hotel in 2007 and were involved in numerous tenant disputes before the Chelsea closed for a major renovation in 2011. The hotel changed ownership twice in the 2010s before
BD Hotels took over in 2016, and the Chelsea reopened in 2022. (
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