Residential tower plan for 15 Union Square West

[krulltime]

Plans to convert 15 Union Square West


http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1163622683_usw15.jpg


15-NOV-06

Brack Capital Real Estate USA has acquired the six-story, 80,000-square foot Amalgamated Bank Building at 15 Union Square West on the southwest corner at 15th Street for $80 million and reportedly plans to erect a residential condominium building on the site.

Bill Shanahan of CB Richard Ellis was the broker in the transaction.

According to an article in today’s edition of The New York Post by Lois Weiss, “Perkins Eastman Architects have been hired to handle the architecture while Vicente Wolf will work on the modern interior flairs.”

The article included a statement from Brack Capital that the building “will be woven into the urban tapestry of Union Square Park, evoking its colorful lie and history.” A call to Brack Capital seeking further details today was not returned.

The bank is relocating and the building can be demolished or expanded by 20,000 square feet under existing zoning.

In an article in the July 2, 2006 edition of The New York Times, Christopher Gray wrote that “the politest thing to say about the blocky white blob of a building at the south corner of 15th Street and Union Square West is that it’s homely,” adding that “buried beneath the 1953 façade is the 1870 building of Tiffany & Company,” a cast-iron building designed by John Kellum. Tiffany moved from this location in 1903 to 401 Fifth Avenue at 37th Street and is now at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Perkins Eastman’s other New York projects have included 455 Central Park West.

Brack Capital Real Estate’s other New York projects have included the Element, the Olcott on West 72nd Street, 90 West Street and 230 Riverside Drive.


Copyright © 1994-2006 CITY REALTY.COM INC.

[londonlawyer]

I hope that it's torn down. It's ugly.

I am really amazed though that the horrible building near McDonald's and Starbucks on the northwest side of the square are standing. What a waste of prime real estate. They're probably owned by something like the Estate of Sol Goldman in which kids may be fighting and preventing the sale of horrifically dilapidated properties in prime areas.

[antinimby]

Be patient london, those will get redeveloped in due time. Not every eyesore can be wiped out at once.

Anyway, back to this building. What a shame to hear that this building was once elegant and home to Tiffany.

The 50's and 60's are forgettable periods architecturally.

[lofter1]

In an article in the July 2, 2006 edition of The New York Times, Christopher Gray wrote that “the politest thing to say about the blocky white blob of a building at the south corner of 15th Street and Union Square West is that it’s homely,” adding that “buried beneath the 1953 façade is the 1870 building of Tiffany & Company,” a cast-iron building designed by John Kellum. .

That ^^^ article is posted in this thread (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=107325&postcount=11) ...

Kellum's Tiffany cast iron building (bottom):

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/07/02/realestate/02scap.jpg

[Fabrizio]

Wtf...omg! Could you imagine being a Village queen back in 1953 and seeing that happen to your favorite building?

[londonlawyer]

That's depressing. Then again, years from now, people will look back at the building on B/Way and 72nd and note that only philistines in 2006 could have stripped a beautiful building and replaced it with crap.

[Fabrizio]

Yep.

[lofter1]

Just so you know he was no slouch, John Kellum was also the architect for the Tweed Courthouse (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/resources/man_tweed.shtml) at 2 Chambers Street ...

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/finearts/nyc/cityhall/image/tweed5.JPG

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/finearts/nyc/cityhall/tweed.html

and 502 Broadway (formerly home of Canal Jeans, now Bloomingdales SoHo) ...

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/finearts/nyc/soho/image/502_broadway.JPG

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/finearts/nyc/soho/502broadway.html

John Kellum was also the original architect for Garden City, Long Island (http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs602a,0,6436798.story) when being developed by Alexander T. Stewart in the 1860s.

***

[pianoman11686]

What a shame. I don't even want to think of how many similar anonymous gems have met a similar fate.

[lofter1]

And, finally, some newspaper articles from 1871-72 on John Kellum's death (July 24, 1871) and the contest surrounding his will:

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/KELLAM/2004-01/1074570893

[lofter1]

ps: John Kellum also did the original 5-story 565 Broadway building on the SW corner of Prince / Spring
(now home to Victoria Secrets and site of the original "Real World" 1993 shoot for MTV (http://www.realworldhouses.com/realworld1.html)):

http://www.dube.com/samples/565Broadway.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

June 12, 2007

Peel Off the Layers, and Tiffany Peeks Out

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/11/nyregion/history190.jpg
Tiffany & Company
The facade as it was when
Tiffany & Company was still there.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/12/nyregion/buildingA190.jpg
Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times
The work at 15 Union Square West
proceeds under black netting.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/12/nyregion/building_Construction190.jpg
Reconstruction at 15 Union Square West has revealed
some traces of a former occupant of the building: the
curved third-floor windows of the old Tiffany cast iron facade.
The jeweler left Union Square in 1905


By DAVID W. DUNLAP

Hidden beneath decades of modernization, the physical past often re-emerges to tell its story of old New York.

Rarely does it come with an aura of robin’s egg blue.

But construction at 15 Union Square West has revealed part of the cast-iron facade of the five-story building that housed Tiffany & Company during the glittering end of the 19th century.

“Just when you think the past is consumed, it rears its lovely head,” said Stephen E. v. Gottlieb, an architect who was among the first to recognize the Tiffany cast iron.

Don’t go looking for diamonds. All you will find is a white-brick building under black-shrouded scaffolding. However, there is a sliver of original architecture to be seen along the 15th Street side, where the 20th-century brickwork has been removed.

Perhaps most recognizable from the Tiffany era are the gently curving third-floor windows.

Tiffany, founded in Lower Manhattan in 1837, moved to Union Square in 1870 to keep pace with the seat of fashion. It built in cast iron, The New York Times reported at the time, “as a preventive of fire, in consideration of the vast treasures” within.

While the company was at Union Square, Charles Tiffany bought the 287.42-carat gem that came to be known as the Tiffany Diamond. But the store carried more than rocks.

“Wandering through Tiffany’s spacious galleries in Union Square,” The Times said in 1873, “and stopping to admire the marble or bronze copies of the antique, a piece of majolica, a Limoges enamel, or a superb set of Henry Deux brass work, it is difficult to realize the fact that one is actually in a place of business and that each and every one of the beautiful objects of art can be your own, if you only have the cash wherewith to pay for it.”

(That was a big “if” then. It is a big “if” today.)

Feeling that Union Square had coarsened, Tiffany decamped in 1905 for Fifth Avenue and 37th Street. Twenty years later, the Union Square building was taken over by the Amalgamated Bank. In 1953, after a passer-by was fatally injured by a piece of loose cast iron, Amalgamated had the structure stripped and reclad.

According to city permits now posted at the construction site, the plan is to remove the facade entirely, add seven floors and convert the building to apartments.

So keep your eye on 15 Union Square West. More will undoubtedly be revealed. This is New York City. More will always be revealed.


Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

[lofter1]

This building is in a historic district with oversight by LPC ...

Normally when any original historic building structure is found during a renovation within a historic district the discovery must be reported to LPC --and work usually stops while an investigation is made of the existing conditions.

Today after I read the Times article I went by 15 USW -- At @ 1PM workers were going full tilt gutting the place.

And original structure could be seen within the brick.

It will be interesting to see if LPC steps in and does anything to save the original Tiffany building here.

(Doubt it)

[lofter1]

A picture partially showing the old Tiffany Building at 15 USW from 100 + years ago ...

Rockwood's New York City Location (http://www.georgerockwood.com/rockwoodlocation.htm)

... Below is a photograph of Union Square, where Rockwood's building sign can be seen at 17 Union Square West (red arrow), his studio location during the late 1870s until about April 1891 ... The large five story building across the street is Tiffany & Co. ...

http://www.georgerockwood.com/images/unionsqrescanarrow.jpg

Below a modern view of Union Square

http://www.georgerockwood.com/images/unionsquaremodern1web.jpg

***

[Skylimitone]

To bad we can't implode in NYC. Demolition takes quite some time.

[lofter1]

They aren't demolishing all of 15 USW, but rather stripping off the entire facade (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=2&allisn=0001375066&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=) which was added in the 1950s over the original 1870s Tiffany building -- and then adding-on / re-doing for the "new" 12-story 185' tall residential building (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?passdocnumber=1&passjobnumber=104618549&requestid=3).

So far they have gutted the interior (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?passdocnumber=1&passjobnumber=104640603&requestid=15) and also demo-ed a portion of the building (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=12&allisn=0001360040&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=) (at the west end of the site along 15th Street).

The entire brick facade which was added in the 50s is now off. What is revealed (although hidden behind the construction netting) is the old 1870 cast iron facade (in comparatively good but rumpled condition) which has a steel exo-skeleton added in the 50s and which held the brick facade.

It is a shame that they are not restoring the original Tiffany facade and using that as a basis for the new Perkins Eastman design for the building. On year ago the developer, Brack Capital Real Estate, said of the plan (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3601/is_15_53/ai_n16884377):

The transformation of the building will acknowledge its history and architectural significance, with a contemporary flair. The original building was designed by John Kellum, one of the primary architects of the Old New York County Courthouse at 52 Chambers Street, better known as the Tweed Courthouse.

[Skylimitone]

I'm sorry they did say reconstruction. Dismantling/Demolition (not sure of the correct term for the process used in NYC), does take a while. I'm impatient about 50 West street for example.

[Fahzee]

I dunno about this one.....

(taken from Curbed.com)

[lofter1]

I'm still on the fence for this one, too -- at least until I see some more detailed renderings ... and something that shows the actual height of the tower.

Ond does have to wonder how good it can be when even the marketing website refuses to show a full and clear picture of the building :confused:

[stache]

It looks like they are trying to keep as many of the original window arches as possible.

[lofter1]

I noticed that ^ when I walked by yesterday.

But with the glass now going up over the entire original building (some has gone up on the lower floors along USW) it's not clear how much of what's underneath will be visible. The construction netting makes it really hard to figure out how this is going to end up looking.

[stache]

I'm guessing we will see the arches at night in silhouette.

[lofter1]

That ^ could be a nice effect.

[brianac]

Big Deal

An Ironclad Development

By JOSH BARBANEL

Published: January 27, 2008

DO you prefer your cast iron under dark glass? Or under white brick?
In Union Square, a condominium conversion is turning cast-iron arches, long hidden behind white brick, into a selling point for glass-walled apartments. In 1869, when Tiffany & Company began putting up its new five-story building in the then-fashionable and now once-again-fashionable Union Square, The New York Times described it as a “monster iron building” with everything composed of iron (though the iron was painted to look like stone).

“It promises to be when completed the largest, handsomest and most imposing iron edifice in the city or the continent,” a reporter observed.
But Tiffany moved away in 1905. In the early 1950s, after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a loose piece of cast iron, the ornate facade was stripped and covered in the facade du jour, white brick.

That changed after Brack Capital, a residential developer, bought the property, on the corner of East 15th Street, for $30 million in 2006 and began stripping off the white brick. There were fears that the old facade would be soon lost forever.

Instead, the developers and the architect, Eran Chen, decided to turn the cast iron into an unusual feature of the new condo. They chose to wrap shaded glass around the original structural cast iron elements, including huge arches. (The more ornate details of the facade had been demolished when the white brick was put in).

“We tried to encase the cast iron in glass as if it was a piece of art,” said Shlomi Reuveni, who is leading the marketing efforts at the building. Last summer, Mr. Reuveni, who specializes in new developments, left the Corcoran Group, and took a team of colleagues to work for Brown Harris Stevens.

The new facade will show the forms of the original cast-iron arches on the street and will open up large views of Union Square Park, particularly from the 16-foot-high living rooms where occupants step through the arches for unobstructed views of the city beyond. Prices start at about $4 million.

The curtain wall will create a dark square box, but the developers have threaded new steel through the base to support six additional stories on top, with apartments broken into irregularly stacked glass cubes with private terraces.

Workers are now cutting out a rear corner of the building, removing some fluted cast-iron columns, to create more windows. In all, there will be 36 apartments, 27 in the cast-iron section and 9 on top, including a 3,400-square-foot duplex penthouse, with a pool downstairs.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[krulltime]

:rolleyes: Trying to be creative with those setbacks but I don't think this one looks that promising. This one will have to surprise us with the final product.


Former Tiffany building at 15 Union Square West being enlarged


http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1201554774_usw15b.jpg


28-JAN-08

Brack Capital Real Estate USA is adding 7 stories to the 5-story building at 15 Union Square West to create 36 condominium apartments.

The building was originally a cast-iron building designed in 1870 by John Kellum for Tiffany & Co.

Eran Chen of Perkins Eastman is the architect for the conversion that will retain the original ceiling heights of 16 feet on the lower floors as well as the cast-iron arches on those floors. The building will be wrapped in a black zinc and glass facade and its top floors will be set at different angles and have terraces.

Many of the apartments will have fireplaces and a controlled home environment simplified by Total Home Technology by Creston with blinds, lighting, and temperature engaged by customized touchpad.

The building will have a fitness center with a pool, private storage facilities, valet parking, and concierge service by Luxury Attache.

The residences at 15 Union Square West include two bedroom homes ranging from 1,763 to 2,189 square feet and three bedroom homes that range from 2,370 to 3,164 square feet.

Vicente Wolf is designing the interiors.

Brack Capital Real Estate USA, of which Moshe Dan Azogui is the president, last fall acquired the building, which used to be the Amalgamated Bank Building on the southwest corner at 15th Street, for $80 million.

In an article in the July 2, 2006 edition of The New York Times, Christopher Gray wrote that "the politest thing to say about the blocky white blob of a building at the south corner of 15th Street and Union Square West is that it's homely," adding that "buried beneath the 1953 facade is the 1870 building of Tiffany & Company." Tiffany moved from this location in 1903 to 401 Fifth Avenue at 37th Street and is now at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Perkins Eastman's other New York projects have included 455 Central Park West.

Brack Capital Real Estate's other New York projects have included the Element at 555 West 59th Street, the Olcott at 27 West 72nd Street, 90 West Street, the majestic 90 West Street, the Cass Gilbert designed landmark damaged during 9/11, 230 Riverside Drive, 240 East 27 Street, 150 East 85 Street, The Chartwell House at 1760 Second Avenue, the 298-room Hilton Garden Inn located at 63 West 35th Street, The Greystone, a 420-unit luxury rental apartment at West 91st St. and Broadway and a new boutique hotel on Grand Street.


http://www.cityrealty.com/new_developments/

[brianac]

Condos at Former Tiffany Headquarters Hit the Market

'Palace of Jewels' Showcases Christie's Art at Opening Party

By BRADLEY HOPE (http://www.nysun.com/authors/Bradley+Hope)
Staff Reporter of the Sun
February 21, 2008

http://www.nysun.com/pics/71609_main_large.jpg
Brack Capital
A rendering of the planned redevelopment at 15 Union Square West.
The white brick building will be covered in a black shroud
until its façade is completed later this year, but the marketing
of its 36 apartments begins this week.


The buzz over the redevelopment of the former headquarters for Tiffany & Co. is reaching a fevered pitch as the new condominiums finally hit the market. The white brick building at 15 Union Square West will be covered in a black shroud until its façade is completed later this year, but the marketing of its 36 apartments began this week.

"This building is hot right now," a broker and principal at A Fine Company who viewed the building recently, Andrew Fine, said. The model apartment "is my dream apartment, and I've seen quite a few," he said.

Architect John Vellum, who designed the Tweed Courthouse near City Hall, built 15 Union Square West — dubbed the "Palace of Jewels" when it housed the luxury jeweler — in 1869. In the 1950s, the building lost its reputation as an architectural icon when its detailed cast-iron façade was covered with brick.

Brack Capital, which bought the building from Amalgamated Bank in 2006 for $30 million, is adding six stories to the existing structure and restoring the original façade, excavated from under the brick, and encasing it in dark glass.

The result, as seen in renderings, is an architectural structure preserved in a black glass cube with a series of irregularly arranged glass boxes on top.

Earlier this month, the developer held a preview of the building, with more than 300 guests invited to look at a model apartment. In a nod to the high-end buyers it hopes will be drawn to the development, Brack Capital also previewed 10 pieces of art at the party that will be auctioned by Christie's in April as part of its "First Open" postwar and contemporary art auction.

The exhibition included a Thomas Struth color print that is expected to sell for between $50,000 and $70,000, a George Condo oil on canvas expected to sell for between $30,000 and $40,000, and a Robert Rauschenberg fabric collage expected to sell for between $12,000 and $18,000.

"In the past, we have shown paintings privately in the homes of potential clients," the head of sales for postwar and contemporary art at Christie's, Jonathan Laib, said. "This is something new, though. It's the kind of marketing that can really assist someone in going the distance at the auction. They can see it on a wall, like it would be in their own home."

For Brown Harris Stevens, which is marketing the building, the party was also an opportunity to access people with considerable disposable income.

"There is a common denominator in purchasing beautiful art and real estate," the broker leading the marketing of the building, Shlomi Reuveni, said.
Representatives of Christie's and Brack Capital said they want to make the collaboration a regular occurrence.

Prices at the building, which began sales on Tuesday, start at $4 million for a 2,700-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment. Threebedrooms start at about $6 million, and the ceilings in many of the apartments are 16 feet. Already, there has been a strong interest from foreign buyers and those wishing to own larger spaces, Mr. Reuveni said.

"One thing we are hearing from buyers right now is a tremendous interest in combinations," he said. "They want big apartments."

The amenities of the building also hark back to an earlier era of wealth. Valet parking will be offered, for instance.

Mr. Reuveni said the building has worked out a deal with a nearby parking garage to reserve a number of parking spaces, and it is working out the logistics for residents to be able to pick up and drop off their cars in front of the building.

Interior designer Vicente Wolf is overseeing the interiors and the lobby. The building also is outfitted with a 24-hour doorman and concierge service, a 50-foot, two-lane pool, a gym, and a Pilates studio, Mr. Reuveni said. Residents will be able to control blinds, lighting, and temperature on one keypad, and apartments on the top six floors will have outdoor space.

Copyright 2008 The New York Sun.

[Skylimitone]

http://www.15usw.com/

There's a pretty clear rendering under 'residences'.

[Peteynyc1]

15 Union Square West Revealed

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, by Joey
http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_15usw1.jpg
Earlier, we expressed our chagrin at 15 Union Square West's password-protected website (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/01/16/secrets_abound_at_15_central_park_union_square_wes t.php). Well, it didn't take long for some Curbed commenters to crack open the safe of Brack Capital's luxury condo conversion of the 1870 home of Tiffany & Co. Behold! Initial thoughts: Is that some original arched detail near the bottom? Hard to tell. As for the top? We'll go ahead and call it "modern." The building's interior design is being handled by Vicente Wolf Associates (http://www.vicentewolf.com/index_.html). The swimming pool may blow your mind. Today, some of the sweet, sweet renderings we dug up. Tomorrow we'll look at some floorplans.
http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_15usw2.jpg
First, some history. Here's the original 15 Union Square West. Looks a little different, no?
http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_15usw3.jpg
Yellow is a dangerous color to prominently feature around a swimming pool. Just saying.
http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_15usw4.jpg
Fairly standard luxury condo kitchen.
http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_15usw5.jpg
Frosted glass so that going potty seems sexy.
http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_15usw6.jpg
This may be the lobby. Classic!
http://curbed.com/archives/2008/01/16/15_union_square_west_revealed.php

15 USW: Pricey, But Hey, There's Great Parking (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/02/21/15_usw_pricey_but_hey_theres_great_parking.php)
http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_2_15uswsmall.jpgDepending on your take, 15 Union Square West is either a visually striking update (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/01/16/15_union_square_west_revealed.php) to the 139-year-old former home of Tiffany & Co., or the architectural equivalent of kicking dirt on the grave of history. But no matter what side you fall on, 15 Union Square West has arrived, and it must be reckoned with. The Sun's dapper boy wonder Bradley Hope reports (http://www.nysun.com/article/71609?page_no=1) today that developer Brack Capital and Brown Harris Stevens' Shlomi Reuveni quietly began marketing the 36 apartments this week, and to build more anticipation for 15 USW's glass-wrapped iron arches (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/01/28/it_happened_one_weekend_15_usws_wrapping_rockaways _flopping_more.php), the façade will remain shrouded until it's completed later this year. Prices start at $4 million for two-bedroom units, and three-bedrooms start at $6 million. According to Reuveni, there has been "strong interest from foreign buyers and those wishing to own larger spaces," and combo jobs may be in the offing. And here's an interesting little perk: the building will have valet parking, thanks to a partnership with a nearby garage. What better way for foreign buyers to enjoy that Union Square vibe without, you know, having to actually deal with it?
· Condos at Former Tiffany Headquarters Hit the Market (http://www.nysun.com/article/71609?page_no=1) [Sun]
· Every 15 Union Square West Floorplan: Units 1-12 (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/01/17/every_15_union_square_west_floorplan_units_112.php ) [Curbed]
· Every 15 Union Square West Floorplan: Units 13-24 (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/01/17/every_15_union_square_west_floorplan_units_1324.ph p) [Curbed]
· Every 15 Union Square West Floorplan: Units 25-36 (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/01/17/every_15_union_square_west_floorplan_units_2536.ph p) [Curbed]

[pianoman11686]

I feel naughty for liking this.

[sfenn1117]

^I like it too.

[antinimby]

Good design but just doesn't look like it fits in that area.

[Skylimitone]

Looks like a Bond Street..Soho type.

[JWangSDC]

looks gorgeous to me, anyone have a clue on $$/sq ft? Seems like $2500 to me.

[Derek2k3]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2261/2302919615_07af1d1389_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2285/2302919619_7c130d861b_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2141/2302919621_2d5c23fbc3_o.jpg

[stache]

What a shame that they knocked out the old arches on the top two floors for the original remodeling. :(

[londonlawyer]

This horrible, brick tenement on the east side of Union Sq. must go. I assume that it's rent-controlled and that's why it can't be razed and redeveloped.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2141/2302919621_2d5c23fbc3_o.jpg

[ablarc]

I feel naughty for liking this.

^I like it too.

Good design but just doesn't look like it fits in that area.

looks gorgeous to me, anyone have a clue on $$/sq ft? Seems like $2500 to me.
So ... what's to like?




Am I missing something?

[Derek2k3]

A few months ago they uncovered the windows and the glass looked great. Large perfectly transparent panes revealing the old arches behind them. Judging from the rendering though, the massing of the addition seems to be a mess.

[pianoman11686]

So ... what's to like?

The way its massing is vaguely Rudolphian, if not nearly as refined.

The fact that the developer is using black glass, which seems to have run out of fashion, but has always looked great next to traditionally clad buildings.

The token of sentimentality offered by preserving a part of the building's history.

I don't know - these are a few that come to mind upon reflection, but I suppose I can't say "I like it" today because I have yet to see it in person. Let me get back to you in a few weeks. :)

[Derek2k3]

Sorry these pics don't convey just how nice the glass is.
Taken this morning in a rush.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3109/2635288758_4ab6c4ee52_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3281/2635288752_bc254e0971_o.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2067/2635288760_31b5440c3d_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/2635288744_a64e42ec7e_o.jpg

[Derek2k3]

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Restless
Union Square trashbag attire

http://www.restlus.com/2008/07/union-square-trashbag-attire.html

There's not a construction site in town that can compete with the trashbag attire of 15 Union Square West. It's been patched over for months with a motley selection of green tarps that look like they were "borrowed" during the night from nearby dumpsters.

The tarps billow and flap so violently that the crew used a hi-ranger to hold one down yesterday (below left). Is it any wonder that art sold on the sidewalk in front (below right) depicts scary, contorted New York skylines?

The 15th St side of the building is interesting too, extended past the original onto the narrow building to its right, with faux columns in white peeking through more plastic (below left). The building just to its right is the beautiful Splingler (see crown below right).

http://bp1.blogger.com/_JZxRJAesT0Q/SI96c4gpvkI/AAAAAAAACSQ/G8qGWsX3aT8/s400/uSqBldgAbsArt1_sm.jpg (http://bp1.blogger.com/_JZxRJAesT0Q/SI96c4gpvkI/AAAAAAAACSQ/G8qGWsX3aT8/s1600-h/uSqBldgAbsArt1_sm.jpg)

http://bp3.blogger.com/_JZxRJAesT0Q/SI95lGLOz-I/AAAAAAAACR4/91sU1_e3V8k/s200/uSqBldgHiRanger_sm.jpg (http://bp3.blogger.com/_JZxRJAesT0Q/SI95lGLOz-I/AAAAAAAACR4/91sU1_e3V8k/s1600-h/uSqBldgHiRanger_sm.jpg) http://bp3.blogger.com/_JZxRJAesT0Q/SI95GfVtkaI/AAAAAAAACRo/QjrV63fLmJ8/s200/uSqBldgFaux2_sm.jpg (http://bp3.blogger.com/_JZxRJAesT0Q/SI95GfVtkaI/AAAAAAAACRo/QjrV63fLmJ8/s1600-h/uSqBldgFaux2_sm.jpg)

[brianac]

15 Union Square West: A historic building gets reborn, and then some

Thursday, August 7th 2008, 9:56 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/img/2008/08/08/alg_union-square.jpg Joyce for News
The living room, with 16-foot ceilings and cast-iron stanchions.

Even if you didn't know its history or architecture, 15 Union Square West blows you away the second you walk into its model apartment.

A giant 31-by-21-foot room with 16-foot ceilings and 17-foot low-iron impeccably clear windows overlooking Union Square would normally be enough to overwhelm your real estate senses. But then you'd see the 15-foot cast-iron stanchions. Left over from the building's first life as the 1897 Tiffany & Co. (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Tiffany+%26+Co.) headquarters, they curve toward the high ceilings like your own personal Roman aqueduct.

Don't worry if you don't know what a stanchion is; I didn't either. Like the iron poles that hold together velvet ropes at a nightclub, a stanchion is an upright bar, post or frame forming a support or barrier. Eran Chen (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Eran+Chen), the architect, and Brack Capital Real Estate (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Brack+Capital+Real+Estate), the developer, decided to highlight the stanchions, making them the focal point of the apartments on the building's first five floors.

Chen, then with Perkins Eastman (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Perkins+Eastman) and now running his own firm, ODA, enveloped the stanchions in a glass structure, constructing a building within a building fronted by low-iron Austrian glass. (I didn't know this either, but low-iron glass means it's clearer, completely see-through at night, and reflective during the day. A luxury building down the street has windows that appear warped in the sun. These do not.)

As if that's not enough, Chen created a series of sky villas on top of the original building. Almost all of them have huge terraces with park views.
With interiors by New York (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York)'s Vicente Wolf (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Vicente+Wolf), one of the world's top designers, the homes have exquisite details like 2-inch-tall horizontal air slits, uniform shades that come down from the top and up from the bottom, claw-foot bathtubs, limestone and oak foyers, and shagreen finishes - made of shark skin - under the master bathroom sinks.

(Shagreen perfectly absorbs bathroom moisture and is easy to clean, something else I didn't know. Perfected by the master leather worker for France (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/France)'s King Louis XV, it's so rough, it feels smooth. Just touching it was luxury.)

Are you getting it yet? This is the finest, most complex and maybe even magical new condominium project currently for sale in New York City (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+City).

Here's its story.

- The History: Built in 1897, the Tiffany & Co. building at 15 Union Square West (USW) was one of the most ornate cast-iron structures in the city. At that time, Union Square was a luxury commercial corridor. As the city's wealth shifted uptown, so did retailers. Amalgamated Bank (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Amalgamated+Bank) took over the Tiffany building on Union Square.

In 1952, a piece of the original cast iron fell off the building's façade, striking a Brooklyn (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Brooklyn) man who later died of his injuries. In response to the accident, Amalgamated stripped the building of all its cast iron except the stanchions. Holding up the building, they were hidden between a layer of sheetrock on the inside and white brick on the outside.

"We knew this building had something special inside," says architect Chen.

"We had to decide what to do with it. Other developers wanted to demolish it. Not Brack. We all saw an opportunity to do something incredible here."

- The Developer: Incredible meant keep the stanchions and allow the floors to be high enough so that each apartment enjoyed the full view of the park through windows as tall as the original building's ceiling height.

Most developers would have cut these floors up, forming as many apartments as possible to maximize space and profit. Brack, who renovated 90 West St. after the World Trade Center (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/World+Trade+Center) tragedy, ties preservation to profit.

"It was clear to us that we owed it to New York to bring this back as much as we could," says Issac Hera (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Issac+Hera), managing director and CFO of Brack Capital Real Estate. "The trick was to make a modern home out of something historic. This project is so special, it will be hard to let go. I almost don't want to finish it. When something is this good, you just have to show it to people. That's all. You don't even have to talk about it."

- The Architect: Eran Chen visited the site more than a dozen times, staring at it, walking Union Square, imagining what would go there. All he could think about was how to keep the original structure visible to people inside the apartments and on the street.

"Every site has a certain inherited character," says Chen. "You cannot change that. You have to have a deep understanding of what the site is and what it wants to be. We looked for the right glass that at night would be so clear, people walking by could see the stanchions. To make sure the residents could have some privacy, we put in shades that rise from the floor that are more opaque. The shades that come down from the top are not as thick. I wanted also to have as much outdoor space for the new apartments on top of the old building. It becomes a part of the park now."

- The Interior Designer: Vicente Wolf is a world traveler. He goes where most travelers do not. He has been to Ethiopia (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Ethiopia), the hills of Bhutan (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Bhutan), Madagascar (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Madagascar) and Papua New Guinea (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Papua+New+Guinea). In his knapsack and head, he brings products back.

For 15 USW, Wolf hand-drew the bathroom fixtures and doorknobs, created jointly with home hardware manufacturer Sherle Wagner (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Sherle+Wagner). A bathroom spout can weigh up to 7 pounds. The interior doorknob, called the Nugget, retails for $287.

Brack hired Wolf because he combines ancient design motifs with modern materials. He has designed for Clive Davis (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Clive+Davis). In the model apartment, Wolf topped an ancient drum with stone to match the front foyer. To accentuate height, he used recently fabricated tall and thin Egyptian vases as decorative objects.

"I do not accept what is common experience," says Wolf, who has authored two photography books. "Seeing things in different parts of the world frees me from local convention."

- The Sales: In a tough market, 15 USW is 45% sold, with daily calls to its marketer, Brown Harris Stevens (BHS) Select, to see the sky villas on top. The lower apartments fronting the park are all but sold, selling from $4 million to $6 million per unit.

By withholding from sale the three-bedroom model apartment and the two-bedroom unit next door, BHS Select can market the units as one single five-bedroom, six-bath, 5,000-plus-square-foot home with 70 feet of windows facing Union Square Park (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Union+Square+Park). The potential apartment is being marketed at $12 million.

"This would be one of the premier apartments in New York," says Shlomi Reuveni (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Shlomi+Reuveni), senior managing director of BHS Select. "This entire building is proof that when everything for a project works - location, finishes, design, amenities, history - it will sell, and fast. Did I mention the amenities? There's a two-lane 50-foot lap pool made of Bisazza stone.

That's unheard of for a building of this size. And valet parking."

Enough already. We said it's the best. I don't even know what Bisazza stone is.

Go to www.15usw.com (http://www.15usw.com/) for more information

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[stache]

Looks very elegant.