While hundreds reveled at Thursday night’s all-out bash for The Pierre hotel’s 95th anniversary, some of the building’s tenants in the floors above haven’t been feeling quite as celebratory.

The festivities for the 600-plus-person crowd included aerialists, a fashion show, a dance performance, a Disciples Escoffier ceremony, a Marilyn Monroe impersonator and more. In keeping with the Red Diamond Anniversary Gala theme, there were displays of glass-encased red diamonds and other sparklers as well as photos and video footage of the hotel’s famous guests, such as Audrey Hepburn, Coco Chanel and others. Throw in a performance by Princess Lockerooo and what seemed like no shortage of bars and food and it was a lot to take in. 

Hosted in partnership with Fashion 4 Development, the event’s first sign of the hotel’s heritage was parked outside at its Fifth Avenue entrance — the Rolls-Royce that Elizabeth Taylor used to leave in the same spot.

But the loud crowd belied what has been a months-long battle among shareholders who live at The Pierre. 

As images of Sophia Loren, John Huston, Jackie Onassis, Bill Clinton, Barbra Streisand, Cher and other notable guests flashed on a screen behind her, Fashion 4 Development’s founder Evie Evangelou said, “The Pierre hotel is an institution in New York City. It has welcomed celebrities, philanthropists and presidents. It is really a landmark just life Tiffany’s and Rockefeller Center. The Pierre hotel needs to stay The Pierre hotel. It would be a pitiful shame to allow The Pierre to dissolve in any form, because of all it’s done for New York for 95 years. And I’m going to fight for it.”

The Pierre, a New York City landmark, is owned by the 795 Fifth Avenue Corp., which is run like a co-op with each shareholder holding residential leases for one or more of its 77 residential units. Shareholders own a number of shares that are proportional to the size of their residential units. For 20 years, Taj Hotels, the Indian luxury hotel chain, has been managing the hotel’s operation on a daily basis and providing select basic services to residents and patrons.

Two years ago, the board said it was negotiating a lease renewal with Taj for it to make additional investments in the building. But according to a lawsuit that was filed earlier this month in Manhattan Supreme Court by a few parties — including Tory Burch’s Autumn River LLC — four members of the board switched course to focus on a sale of the building. If approved, that could lead to the eviction of all shareholder residents, including some who are in their 80s and 90s. The next court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2.

The lawsuit claims that the petitioners have been stonewalled by the board regarding the sale process, information about a “mystery [proposed] buyer,” and the status of the negotiations. The petitioners’ lawsuit challenged the contemplated sale and questioned why the board had executed a term sheet with Sabre Park Avenue LLC, which the term sheet identified as being owned by Khashoggi Holding Co.

Requests to Khashoggi Holding Co. for comment were unreturned. Executives at Taj declined to comment.

On Nov. 11, the Pierre Shareholder Alliance sent a letter to Pierre hotel residents highlighting its opposition to the proposed sale. The undersigned were Autumn River LLC, the Beverly Sommer Revocable Trust Agreement II, Dwight LLC, OSF Flavors Inc., Skye Holdings LLC, Tina Benito, Lois Chiles and Austin Hearst. They are seeking transparency and said they have exercised contractual and legal rights to get basic information that all shareholders are entitled to receive but the board has yet to provide any documents.

In addition to the loss of their homes, which is said to be a requirement within a year of the deal closing, the group flagged in their letter what they deemed an uncompetitive process that leaves the board with no recourse to veto the buyer’s decision, according to the term sheet. The alliance challenged the short timeline that would enable the buyer to close the transaction within 60 days of signing an exclusivity agreement with The Pierre. That would mean the board would be required to sign what is said to be about a $2 billion sale contract on or before Dec. 30.

The alliance said in September the term sheet was approved by four of the seven board members, with David Johnson, Bruce Karatz, John Levin and Douglas Daft voting in favor. Mimi Sternlicht and Fred Elghanayan subsequently joined the board, upping the total to nine members. Now that the board has nine members, a majority vote is in question. Levin declined to comment. Johnson, Karatz and Daft could not be reached for comment. Reached Monday, Sternlicht said, “I can’t speak to you about that. Thank you,” before ending the call. Elghanayan could not be reached for comment.

The alliance wrote that any sale requires the approval of two-thirds of the board, and the group claimed is has repeatedly asked the board to vote on whether a majority of its nine members agree that the term sheet is in the residents’ best interest. The Pierre Shareholder Alliance also said that the board has not provided expenses for the legal and real estate advisers that have been involved with the negotiations of the sale.

Contrary to an assessment that claimed the building was falling down, some tenants believe the hotel just needs refurbishment.

Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces acquired the hotel in 2005 and initially poured $100 million into renovations for what is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. Taj operates it on a day-to-day basis. While reinvestment in hotels and residences is a recurring requirement for real estate owners and investors globally, Taj is said to be looking into a substantial refresh of the hotel that would amount to an estimate of more than $300 million. Taj is said to be committed to maintaining its affiliation with The Pierre and its relationship with shareholders. The building’s infrastructure also is said to need attention which, as is the case with all buildings, would not be a onetime endeavor. Typically, luxury hotels invest between 4 and 5 percent of their gross revenue annually in capital expenditures, as well as repairs and maintenance.

The French Classical building was designated a historic landmark by the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission in 1981. The commission does not have any involvement with the purchase or sale of designated landmark buildings.

At a board meeting this fall, tenants were said to be given envelopes with significantly undervalued estimates for their properties compared to current fair market values. Some tenants are pushing back on what they consider to be a bad financial deal that would result in any proceeds of the sale being given to shareholders, based on the number of shares that each shareholder owns. That would not take into account recent renovations, historical details, or the sweeping views of Central Park and the city’s skyline from the higher floors. Claims that the board was exploring alternative deal structures had not been shared with the alliance, according to the letter the alliance sent earlier this month. 

The tenants aren’t the only ones in limbo. The Pierre employs about 550 members of the Local 6 Hotel, Restaurant & Club Employees & Bartenders Union, UNITE-HERE. An estimated 150 other staffers including elevator operators, housekeeping personnel and others also work there and are facing the uncertainty.

Most of the tenants and Taj were believed to have been caught off guard when informed about the potential sale of the property in September. Taj is also a shareholder of The Pierre, since it owns four units in the building.

As for how everything will shake out, that will be up to the shareholders. They have different interests and objectives and vary in residency from longtime tenants to more recent. While some may be keen to cash in on their value of their homes, others may not be financially motivated. As one waiter, who has worked there for 30-plus years said Thursday night, “It’s home — it’s a family.”

As a sign of the hotel’s history, vintage ads, including one with the slogan “Meet Me at the Pierre,” were on display at Thursday night’s event, as well as an antique Fifth Avenue street sign, a rotary telephone, a typewriter, and E.B. White’s ballad of The Pierre that was published in The New Yorker in 1930. One veteran staffer recalled starting at the hotel decades ago. “It was a different atmosphere. It’s still a good hotel. They want to fix up the building. Everybody is on standby. Hopefully, it will be good.”

Another employee, who is also a Local 6 union member, said all he knows about the potential sale is what he sees in the press. He said, “It’s a trend in New York City — hotels are closing and opening, closing and opening. As of now, they haven’t said anything to us. I am hopeful that it will stay a hotel. It’s a landmark — it’s so special. We are all uncertain right now, but we work with the flow. Hopefully, things will remain the same, or we will move to a better place. There is so much history here.”