corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street, near Pershing Square Plaza, and abuts the Park Avenue Viaduct to the west. The land lot covers about , with a frontage of on Lexington Avenue and on 42nd Street. The hotel shares the city block with Grand Central Terminal to the west, the MetLife Building to the northwest, and the Graybar Building and 450 Lexington Avenue to the north. Other nearby buildings include the Pershing Square Building and Bowery Savings Bank Building to the southwest, the Chanin Building to the south, the Socony–Mobil Building to the southeast, and the Chrysler Building to the east. The New York City Subway's Grand Central–42nd Street station, serving the , is located directly underneath the Hyatt Grand Central, and the Lexington Avenue Line platforms cut diagonally underneath the hotel. There is a subway entrance at the base of the hotel on Lexington Avenue, with a stair and an elevator. The site was formerly occupied by the Hospital for Crippled Children. Before the hotel opened, the site occupied an entire city block, which was bounded by Depew Place to the west and 43rd Street to the north. The New York Central Railroad acquired the site in November 1910 as part of the construction of Grand Central Terminal. Architecture The Hyatt Grand Central New York was originally known as the Commodore and was designed by Warren & Wetmore. The Fuller Company was the hotel's general contractor, although the project also involved numerous other contractors and engineers. Donald Trump and Hyatt renovated the hotel in the 1970s to designs by Gruzen & Partners and Der Scutt. Commodore Hotel When the Commodore opened, it contained 2,000 rooms and was either 26 or 28 stories high. There were also five basement stories. Because of superstition surrounding the number 13, the hotel did not have a thirteenth floor, nor did it have any rooms, mailboxes, elevators, or other fixtures with the number 13. The Commodore's facade was largely made of buff-colored brick with architectural terracotta trim; the first three stories were clad in Indiana Limestone. The hotel's lowest three stories occupied the entire site. Above the third story, the hotel was shaped like a "H", with light courts to the north and south. At the top of the facade was a cornice with copper faces. The design of the nearby 245 Park Avenue was intended to complement not only the Commodore's original