Inside the building Anna Delvey could never have: New York’s mysterious 281 Park Avenue was featured in Netflix’s Inventing Anna and ruined the fake heiress, but what’s it really like?
If you’ve watched or heard about the glamorous misadventures of Delvey, then you are likely familiar with her ambitious project called the Anna Delvey Foundation or ADF. She envisioned the private members’ club and “dynamic visual arts” foundation to be housed in a historic building at 281 Park Avenue South.
Falsifying financial documents and cashing bad cheques, Delvey got caught in 2017, before she had even turned her vision into reality. While she was released from incarceration in 2021, she is now detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for overstaying her visa. But what has happened to the iconic property that she will never have?
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281 Park Avenue South is a real building
First things first, 281 Park Avenue does indeed exist. Sorokin came up with an 80-page pitch outlining her larger-than-life plans for the Anna Delvey Foundation and chose the ornate building that sits on the corner of Park Avenue South and East 22nd Street in New York.
Inventing Anna showed its exterior quite a few times, with the fraudster even touring the inside with a high-profile group including a real estate broker, a famous architect and a well-known restaurateur.
How big is this New York landmark?
Estimated to cover 45,000 sq ft, it’s no wonder Delvey had nothing but grand plans for 281 Park Avenue South. While she was exploring the historic six-storey space with her dream team on the show, the fake German socialite explained how she planned to fill the venue with rotating art exhibitions, pop-up shops, restaurants, a juice bar and even a German bakery.
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What is the story behind the building?
Inspired by the town halls of medieval Amsterdam and Haarlem, renowned architects Edward J. Neville Stent and Robert W. Gibson designed 281 Park Avenue South with a medieval-inspired facade and a steel structure. It was constructed in the 1890s and was renovated in 2019.
Also known as the Church Missions House, 281 Park Avenue South served as the Episcopal Church’s headquarters in the 20th century.
Who owns 281 Park Avenue South?
We already know Delvey would never own this towering 19th-century masterpiece of architecture, but who does own 281 Park Avenue? The man to envy is real estate magnate and avid art collector, Aby Rosen. Inventing Anna referenced the RFR Realty co-founder multiple times in the nine-episode series.
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What is currently inside 281 Park Avenue South?
Around the time Delvey was being arrested in Malibu in 2017, RFR Realty officially leased the whole of 281 Park Avenue South to Fotografiska New York. The lucky sole tenant of all six floors is a Swedish photographic organisation that also has a venue in Stockholm.
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As per Architect Magazine, Fotografiska New York currently features a cafe, wine bar and curated art bookstore on the ground floor, with a full-service, fine dining restaurant above it. An immersive series of art exhibitions occupy floors three through five, while the sixth floor hosts public gatherings.
- The new TV show Inventing Anna is produced by Bridgerton’s Shonda Rhimes and is based on a true story about a fake German heiress who might now get deported from the US
- Delvey wanted the property for her Anna Delvey Foundation, but it is owned by RFR Realty co-founder Aby Rosen and is now home to Fotografiska New York