Opened in 1911, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a style inspired by the Renaissance, conceived as a replica of Carlton Hotel in London, and became one of the city’s leading landmarks. That same year, a major expansion was announced: an eighteen-storey section was added, along with a lower wing intended for a ballroom, private dining rooms, and a banquet hall, increasing the hotel’s capacity by roughly one third. In the early 1920s, the brand came to include about fifteen hotels worldwide, although the chain later declined in the United States, and the Ritz-Carlton in New York was demolished in 1951 to build an office building. Decades later, the name was used again in the city: in 1982 a renovated hotel on Central Park South was renamed the Ritz-Carlton; its period under that brand ended in 1997 and the building later became residential. In 1999, the chain also acquired the former Hotel St. Moritz and, after a deep renovation, reopened in 2002 as a hotel-and-residential complex under the name Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.