The Porter House - 366 West 15th - Conversion/Addition by SHoP Architects

**Kris** · May 24th, 2003, 08:32 AM

May 25, 2003

Condominium Project in Meatpacking District

By JOSH BARBANEL

The Porter House, a new condominium rising 10 stories above the rapidly changing area known both as Gansevoort Market and the meatpacking district, takes its name from the cut of steak. Completing the circle, that cut of meat had, long ago, taken its name from a type of building.

The 22-apartment luxury development on the corner of Ninth Avenue and 15th Street offers high ceilings, large layouts and asking prices of $1.1 million for the smallest two-bedroom apartments.

The lower part of the $22 million project is a careful restoration of a brick Renaissance Revival warehouse built for Julius Wile, wine importers, in 1905. Until recently the building was owned and occupied by a furniture manufacturer.

The old part of the condominium is topped with four new sleek full stories with a facade of zinc and glass that cantilevers eight feet over the top of an adjoining building, and two partial floors that wrap down on the back of the old six-story structure. The zinc panels are to be laced with vertical lights that will glow softly in the evening light.

The old is celebrated with the meticulous resawing of hundred-year-old yellow pine beams for use as windowsills, the new marked by brushed-chrome appliances and Italian cabinets.

The building was designed by Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP/Sharples Holden Pasquarelli, a firm of young architects that has built a reputation for innovative designs, some of which, like their winning design for the Museum of Sex in New York, have not yet been built. Mr. Pasquarelli's firm made sure the Porter House project would be built, however, by recruiting a developer, Jeffrey M. Brown, to put together the deal, and joining it as minority partners.

The project, at 366 West 15th Street, is at the end of a block of row houses and six-story apartment buildings. The building was allowed to rise to 10 stories after the developers purchased the air rights — in effect, the unused development potential — from two adjacent Ninth Avenue properties.

The project will have 5 one-bedroom apartments; 13 two-bedrooms, some with studies or terraces; 3 three-bedrooms and a four-bedroom duplex with a private rooftop deck. Prices range from $735,000 for one-bedrooms to $4.15 million for the penthouse. Taxes and maintenance on a typical two-bedroom costing $1.3 million are about $2,700 a month.

The Porter House was named after the porterhouse cut of steak to link the marketing of the building to the Gansevoort Market, according to Bruce Ehrmann of Stribling Marketing Associates, which is selling the condominium units. The name of the steak, in turn, is widely attributed to porter houses, coach stops that served steak and ale in the 1800's. *

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

**Kris** · May 24th, 2003, 09:10 AM

The firm's Flash site has a rendering and more info (under 366 West 15th St): http://www.shoparc.com

**TLOZ Link5** · May 24th, 2003, 04:44 PM

That was one of the residential projects featured in TONY's New York in 2020 issue in December.

**NYatKNIGHT** · May 27th, 2003, 11:27 AM

I was wondering what that was. It is well underway.

**Edward** · June 28th, 2003, 08:38 PM

The Porter House, a new condominium rising 10 stories above the rapidly changing area known both as Gansevoort Market and the meatpacking district, takes its name from the cut of steak. 28 June 2003.

**ablarc** · July 4th, 2003, 08:40 PM

What a delightful and disparate melange of buildings, each impressive in its own way and dynamite juxtaposed! Red brick leviathan looms over little ol' New York with a seriously glitzy window pattern on the newcomer in between. Let's hope they don't demolish the corner and ruin it all.

Intersection needs a little rethinking, though: a tiny little traffic-calming island with three trees and a bench?

How's the food at Nick's City Diner?

**ZippyTheChimp** · December 2nd, 2003, 08:33 PM

Dec 01, 2003. The Porter House, view north on 9 Ave at 14 St

**billyblancoNYC** · December 3rd, 2003, 12:30 AM

Originally Posted by Christian Wieland

The firm's Flash site has a rendering and more info (under 366 West 15th St): http://www.shoparc.com

Building's looking good. Sorry, off topic a bit, but on the SHoP site, it shows a new Arts building for Columbia U on 125st. Is this happening? Kinda cool design.

**Kris** · March 17th, 2004, 10:52 AM

http://slate.msn.com/id/2096551

**krulltime** · March 17th, 2004, 12:51 PM

I love that building! Why didn't they build it higher?

**TLOZ Link5** · March 17th, 2004, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by krulltime

I love that building! Why didn't they build it higher?

Zoning.

**Edward** · May 2nd, 2004, 09:35 PM

The old part of the condominium is topped with four new sleek full stories with a facade of zinc and glass that cantilevers eight feet over the top of an adjoining building, and two partial floors that wrap down on the back of the old six-story structure. The zinc panels are to be laced with vertical lights that will glow softly in the evening light. 1 May 2004.

**TLOZ Link5** · May 3rd, 2004, 01:57 AM

I was walking through the Meatpacking District today with HROkabe and we noticed Porter House was completed. Love the lighting scheme.

**Alvin** · May 3rd, 2004, 12:19 PM

I agree, I live on 15th (between 8 and 9) the lighting scheme is unique and interesting. However, at times, it seems like there is too much ambient light from the building. You can really tell when you look at the south facade of the the Port Authority Building