Former Roseland Ballroom Is Now Site Of 62-Story Luxury Rental Tower

Rendering of 242 West 53rd Street

Roseland Ballroom closed in 2014, leaving behind memories of numerous memorable performances (you can see a video of an entire Radiohead show from 2012) and non-performances (Fiona Apple had a meltdown in 2000) when the 92-year-old venue was demolished to make way for a luxury building. Now, the NY Times has details on what the future holds for the space.

The building, known as ARO, is a wavy tower that will be 62 stories, with the first two floors for retail and the remaining 60 for 426 apartments. The studios will "[start] at $2,800 to a duplex penthouse whose price has yet to be determined. Seventy percent of the units are studios and one-bedrooms (the latter will rent for $3,695 and up), and all have ceilings of nearly 10 feet and marble bathrooms. Apartments on the upper floors offer views of the Hudson River, Central Park and the Midtown skyline," reports the Times.

The site was purchased by Algin in 1981, and apparently the family-run company always envisioned getting rid of Roseland. Hilary Feshbach, whose father Allen Ginsberg founded Algin, told the Times, "We had a good time running it. But I think we were all ready for it to be a building, and our dad had purchased it with the mind-set that it would be a building." The Times also notes that "the name ARO is a tribute to her father, who died in 2001, as well as to the bygone venue, coined by combining the first letter in his name with “RO,” for Roseland."

ARO will also have an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a basketball court, and landscaped outdoor sun deck, according to Algin.

Some memorabilia from the venue will be displayed in the building as well, like concert posters, concert photographs, and old signage. A lot of other parts of the ballroom were left behind forever, like its old life as a part-time skating rink; here's what it looked like when it was gutted: