Mandarin Oriental Residences Fifth Avenue

G-Tech provides elevators for a historic Midtown Manhattan office-turned-luxury condo building.

Holly Golightly, the free-spirited waif with expensive tastes nearly always wearing a perfectly tailored little black dress and multiple strands of pearls (real, of course), would feel right at home in one of the 65 luxury condos at Mandarin Oriental Residences Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. That’s because the fictional character, portrayed memorably by legendary actress Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film adaptation of the Truman Capote book Breakfast at Tiffany’s, would have her every need catered to, thanks to the “legendary services of a great hotel with none of the guests,” according to marketing materials from developer SHVO.[1] Forbes described the property at 685 Fifth Avenue as NYC’s first-ever luxury turnkey residences, expressing surprise that the Big Apple was so late to a trend that has taken hold in other locations like Hawaii and California. Forbes said of the new 20-story property:

“It’s a landmark building from the 1920s and formerly housed Gucci’s headquarters. Its prime location on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 54th Street overlooking Central Park makes it the perfect location for a discerning buyer. The location steps away from the world’s best shops on one of the most famous avenues in the world will be a unique selling point for buyers, as well.

“Residences will be delivered with furniture and art, as well as Mandarin Oriental-branded toothbrushes; Frette linens on Mandarin Oriental mattresses; Aqua di Parma beauty products; Dyson hair dryers; Mason Pearson hairbrushes; Molteni kitchens; Miele appliances; and more. There will be a private restaurant helmed by Michelin-starred Chef Daniel Boulud, as well as a rooftop pool, spa, fitness center and lounge areas. Residents will have access to hotel-like amenities, including a concierge, housekeeping, personal training, pet walking and personal shopping.”

Overseen by NYC-based Marin Architects, transforming the property into Mandarin Oriental Residences Fifth Avenue represented an intricate and challenging building conversion. The original steel-and-concrete office structure was constructed in 1926, with an addition added in 2000. Over the past several years, a new expansion and renovation included converting 15 existing floors into residential and adding an additional eight floors and a mechanical penthouse. The lower five levels are still occupied by retail tenants, which remained in place throughout construction.[3] This presented challenges for the conversion contractors, including Linden, New Jersey, headquartered G-Tech Elevator Associates. “What we found most challenging was the project location, adding floors to the existing building and keeping active retail tenants happy during installation,” said G-Tech Field Supervisor Dominick Glenn.

G-Tech provided a three-unit elevator system to the property, working alongside general contractor Rinaldi Group of New York, which G-Tech Senior Project Manager Kendra Glenn said handled the cab interiors with an array of Rinaldi subcontractors. As for the system itself, it includes two overhead-traction units each traveling at 700 ft/min with 2500-lb capacity, traversing 27 floors with 23 front openings. There is also one overhead-traction unit traveling at 700 ft/min with 3500-lb capacity, traversing 27 floors with 18 front openings and eight rear openings. All three units feature a BTS Elevator Package, along with Hollister-Whitney safeties and governors, ELSCO roller guides and GAL door equipment paired with Motion Control Engineering controllers and Imperial 525 machines.

Today, chances are those living in a Mandarin Oriental Fifth Avenue condo aren’t having to wait for an elevator. That’s because, since the units were first listed in late 2022, only 13 have been sold, Curbed reported in March.[4] Several real estate experts said this pace isn’t terrible, since high-priced luxury units are typically slower to sell than their more reasonably priced counterparts.

Condos at the Mandarin Oriental property sell for multiple millions. In fact, someone paid a record-breaking US$3.88 million for a studio there in December 2023. (The asking price was nearly US$4 million).[5] A couple who bought a US$6.1-million unit in November 2022 maintain (and filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court in March 2024) that the promised luxury hasn’t been delivered, claiming, among other things, that they were charged US$100 apiece for placemats after finding their condo’s dining room with flatware for six and placemats for two. Hopefully, property management has gotten such issues resolved, or Holly Golightly might have to “speak to the manager.”

References

[1] mo-residencesfifthavenue.com
[2] Reynolds, Emma. “Mandarin Oriental Launching New York City’s First-Ever Turnkey Residences,” Forbes, December 6, 2021.
[3] marinarchitects.com/current/projects/fifth-avenue
[4] Quinlan, Adriane. “The Mandarin Oriental’s Fifth Avenue Condos are Having Problems,” Curbed, March 11, 2024.
[5] Gould, Jennifer. “Here’s How Many Millions of Dollars NYC’s Priciest Studio Unit Just Sold For,” New York Post, December 20, 2023.