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``It turned out to be much more of a restoration job than we expected,'' says Henry Stolzman, of Pasanella + Klein/Stolzman + Berg Architects. The ornate 1902 building had been designed as rooms for affluent bachelors. When Stolzman started work, these generous spaces on the upper eight floors were intact, while the lobby floor seemed so cleanly swept of Beaux-Arts detail during a 1960s alteration, it appeared to belong in a different building. But, as drywall and suspended ceilings came down, layer after layer, the original lobby emerged from behind--complete with much of its molding and even small single-bulb ceiling lights. Stolzman, who did two previous hotel conversions, was pleased. He had not been relishing the difficult task of melding period feeling and 1990s sensibilities in a total redesign.
The owner, Gotham Hospitality Group, caters to guests seeking...