Development in the Riverside-West End Historic District Extension I went through several phases in the years between the 1880s and 1930s. The earliest phase between roughly 1885 and 1900 saw the construction of speculatively built row houses and flats for the middle and upper classes. By the turn of the century, developers began to focus on constructing larger apartment buildings as increasing construction costs ended row house construction, and the newly opened IRT on Broadway made the Upper West Side more accessible to the city’s expanding population. Legislation such as the 1901 Tenement House Act, the 1916 zoning ordinance, and the 1929 Multiple Dwelling Law contributed to the transformation in the scale of the streetscapes of West End Avenue, Riverside Drive, and West 79th and West 86th Streets where row houses and smaller buildings were replaced by newer, larger buildings.[1]

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309-311 West 86th Street was commissioned as a hotel in 1912 by Weymer Hinckley Waitt- a railroad engineer turned hotelier, whose company later built the Weylin Hotel on Madison Avenue. The 12-story 40,000 square foot building was designed by Schwartz & Gross and completed in October of 1914 at a cost of $250,000. Originally known as Hotel Wayne until 1953 when it was converted into the Waldorf Nursing Home. In 1962 it became a residence club for senior citizens. Following interior alterations in 1979 the building was reconverted into apartments and became a co-op known as Stetson House. In 1984 John F Kennedy Jr. and Robert Littell moved in together into a 2-bedroom sublet at 309 West 86th Street.

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309 West 86th Street is one of several Morozov projects along the historic West End Avenue ( 347 West End and 915 West End )

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Morozov was retained to provide engineering design and consulting services for the owners of the penthouse apartment. The project involved a full floor gut renovation.

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Scope of services: assisted with securing Landmarks Preservation Commission approval for installation of rooftop equipment

 

[1]Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), Riverside-West End Historic District Extension I Designation Report (LP-2463)