The Lowell Modern

Kensico Properties and the Chartouni family, owners of the Upper East Side's Lowell Hotel, are converting a 1960s office tower at 509 Madison Avenue into a 96-room companion hotel. The plan cleared City Planning Commission approval in February 2026, but construction had not been confirmed as started and no opening date has been set.

The place

509 Madison Avenue sits at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and East 53rd Street in Midtown, a short walk from the original Lowell Hotel on the Upper East Side.

The concept

The Lowell Modern is a genuine office-to-hotel conversion — a 1960s, 249-foot office tower losing its Art Deco-era facade for a new glass curtain wall and gaining nine additional floors, developed by Kensico Properties and the Chartouni family, who already own and operate the nearby Lowell Hotel. The scheme covers roughly 139,000 square feet including 3,300 square feet of ground-floor retail. The project cleared New York City Planning Commission approval in February 2026 after a special-permit filing and ULURP review that began in late 2025; interior demolition of the office building had already started ahead of that approval.

Dining & wellness

Not yet announced. No restaurant, bar or spa concept has been confirmed for the property.