The historic building that’s home to Wall Street power lunch hangout Harry’s has a new owner.
SomeraRoad purchased a commercial condo unit above the popular steakhouse at 1 Hanover Square for $6 million, records show. The New York-based developer plans to spend up to $19 million more to convert it to boutique offices, according to CEO Ian Ross.
Harry’s will continue to own and occupy its space in the basement. The rest of the building can accommodate up to 25,000 square feet of rentable office space, Ross said.
1 Hanover Square
The seller was the nonprofit India House, a century-old social club that bought the building in 1921 for $650,000, according to contemporary news reports.
Built in 1854, the four-story brownstone is surrounded by modern day high-rises. It was the site of the country’s first cotton exchange and served as the headquarters of Hanover Bank in the early 20th century.
1 Hanover Square
For decades afterward, it was occupied by the India House, whose members included former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. It was landmarked by the city in 1972.
In the early 1970s, Harry Poulakakos and his wife, Adrienne, opened Harry’s Bar in the basement, launching the building into a place of mythic status among Wall Street traders in the 1980s and ’90s. The restaurant made an appearance in Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel “The Bonfire of the Vanities” and in the 2000 serial killer flick “American Psycho,” starring Christian Bale.
SomeraRoad has been active outside New York City in recent years, opening offices in Nashville, Indianapolis and Austin. In February, the firm reportedly secured $525 million from the Bank of Montreal to refinance a portfolio of 50 industrial properties spanning 27 states.