$2 million. By 1887, after taking three loans from New York Life, Phyfe and Campbell found that they did not have enough funds to complete the apartment block. The extent to which the apartment building was completed before the builders' bankruptcy is unclear. In February 1888, brothers Eugene M. and Frank Earle entered into a contract to lease the hotel from Phyfe and Campbell and to furnish it. New York Life concurrently foreclosed on the apartment building and that September bought it at public auction for $925,000. Shortly afterward, New York Life decided to remodel the interiors completely, hiring architects McKim, Mead & White to complete the hotel. New York Life leased the hotel to Frederick A. Hammond in 1889, and the Hammond brothers became the operators of the hotel for the next fifteen years. The first Plaza Hotel finally opened on October 1, 1890, at a cost of $3 million. The original hotel stood eight stories tall and had 400 rooms. The interiors featured extensive mahogany and carved-wood furnishings; lion motifs, representing the hotel's coat of arms; and a dining room with stained glass windows and gold and white decorations. Moses King, in his 1893 Handbook of New York City, characterized the hotel as "one of the most attractive public houses in the wide world". Despite being described as fashionable, it was not profitable. The New York Times reported in 1891 that the hotel netted $72,000 in rental income, against the $1.8 million that New York Life had spent to complete the hotel, including loans to Phyfe and Campbell. Redeveloped hotel in the early 20th century The first Plaza Hotel had been relatively remote when it was completed, but by the first decade of the 20th century was part of a rapidly growing commercial district on Fifth Avenue. Furthermore, several upscale hotels in Manhattan were also being rebuilt during that time. In May 1902, a syndicate purchased the Plaza and three adjacent lots on Central Park South for $3 million. The sale was the largest-ever cash-only purchase for a Manhattan property at the time. The purchasers were headed by Harry S. Black—who headed the George A. Fuller Company, one of the syndicate's members—as well as German financier Bernhard Beinecke. Shortly after the purchase, Black and Beinecke formed the Plaza Realty Company to redevelop the hotel. In mid-1905, Black also formed the United States Realty and Construction Company, a trust