The Belnord is an

apartment building An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and 86th Street on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It is a

New York City Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

and it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1980.

Construction

The Belnord was designed in 1908 by the architectural firm of

Hiss and Weekes Hiss and Weekes was a notable architectural firm in New York City that was active from 1899 to 1933 and constructed a number of landmark buildings of Beaux-Arts architecture. Run by Philip Hiss and H. Hobart Weekes, the firm was known primarily fo ...

and finished construction in 1909. The architect boasted to ''The New York Times'' that it was "largest apartment house in this country, if not in the world." It had 175 apartments for rent, housing more than 1,500 people. It is 13 stories tall and features

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

style decorative elements. One of a handful of full-block apartment buildings in New York, it features two massive, two-story grand archways that provide entrance to an inner courtyard (one of the largest in the city) with landscaped gardens. ''See also:'' Notable residents have included the writer

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer ( yi, יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער; November 11, 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Polish-born American Jewish writer who wrote and published first in Yiddish and later translated himself into English with the help ...

, actor

Zero Mostel Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in ''Fiddler on the Roof'', Pseudolus on stage and on ...

and jazz impresario Art D'Lugoff.

History

The building was acquired by

Extell Development Company Extell Development Company is an American real estate developer of residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, and mixed-use properties. Founded in 1989 by Gary Barnett, the company’s portfolio exceeds 20 million square feet. The company has ...

in 1994 for $15 million. For the next 20 years, Extell fought to deregulate the building and remove its rent-stabilized status. In March 2015, the residential portion of the building was sold to the

HFZ Capital Group HFZ Capital Group is a real estate development and investment company based in New York City. Ziel Feldman founded HFZ in 2005 and serves as chairman. As of 2019, HFZ manages more than $10 billion worth of development. History Prior to launching H ...

for $575 million. HFZ hired architect

Robert A. M. Stern Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern (born May 23, 1939), is a New York City–based architect, educator, and author. He is the founding partner of the architecture firm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, also known a ...

to renovate 95 of the building's apartments, which would be sold as condos for a total value of over $1.35 billion. The Belnord was used for exterior shots as the fictional Arconia Building in the comedic murder mystery series ''

Only Murders in the Building ''Only Murders in the Building'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman. The ten-episode first season premiered on Hulu in August 2021. The plot follows three strangers played by Steve M ...

''.

References

Notes Further reading * *

External links

* Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Residential buildings completed in 1908 Renaissance Revival architecture in New York City Full-block apartment buildings in New York City Apartment buildings in New York City New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Upper West Side 1908 establishments in New York City {{Manhattan-struct-stub