LOL... In practice the BRA only approves 'crap' like this. This design is pure Boston.Originally Posted by czsz
I'm not talking about the BRA, which I agree can be patently indulgent of vile crap. I can't recall its name, but there's an independent civic design commission of some sort which usually has some decent aesthetic insight. They know their place in the city power structure and keep relatively quiet, but from time to time demand a spire or crown or decent lighting for major projects.
Of course, my fantasy New York version would be far more punishingly aggressive.
Ok... I'm finding your posts make me chuckle.
Wow! I just confessed that I "chuckle". Run that word through your head a few times and see if it is something I should be proud of.
Review
The sales office at 25 Hudson Street opened on July 1. They have a hilarious model of the building that shows exactly how bland and out of context the building really is. What's more, there are now 250 units instead of the originally announced 200.
The apartment plans are typical and resemble many of the rental buildings in the vicinity - in other words, more economy than the luxury they keep on talking about. Ceiling height is a typical 9-ft, with only two floors - the 2nd and 28th, if I remember correctly - that have slightly higher 11-ft ceilings.
No word yet on whether the glass of the building facade will be reflective - a la Gwathmey Siegel's hideous Astor Place - but I presume this will be the case given that each corner in the tower consists of two units that look directly into the adjacent apartment.
The sales office is a mock-up of the building lobby, and already showed signs of age when I went to see it the day it opened. The "chinchilla mink" marble flooring that they keep on bragging about looks like cheap white marble with skid marks all over it and resembles one of those dizzying "Seeing Eye" prints.
A youth center takes up almost all of the southern "pavillion" building, with its own pool. Residents have access to a separate skylit pool on the sixth floor, along with a decently-sized fitness room and lounge.
The interior courtyard, with its puny waterfall, resembles the plaza design of a New Jersey suburban office building. Boxed in on three sides by the building and on the fourth by the dog run, it will be nothing but dead space during the cold half of the year.
There's no direct access to the very limited underground parking spaces. The sales agent happily suggested that the parking needs of the residents would be more than covered by the proposed underground parking of the development one block to the south, while carefully omitting the fact that the condo tower across Warren Street of the same development would dwarf even 200 Chambers Street and obstruct all the southern views.
Given the lackluster design and poor material quality, the people behind 200 Chambers Street should get up off their high horse and quit insisting that it's a premier luxury building. But I'm told that 50 units sold over the first weekend - the cost-per-sf is way below market - so maybe I should just shut up and let people blow their millions.
Last edited by monknyc; July 10th, 2005 at 08:38 AM.
I really don't like this building...too big, too bland, too everything but good in any way.
This piece of garbage wouldn't be so offensive if it weren't in such a promiment location.
Hopefully it won't turn out to be the "Confucius Plaza" on the Hudson.
PS: Anything with a doorman, fitness center and stainless steel appliances is laughingly labeled as "luxury" by the marketing morons who rule NYC real estate. But if you're fresh out of grad school and starting your big job in NYC then this undoubtedly will be an upgrade.
MonkNYC-
That review was priceless! I hope you continue toi review new buildings and their Sales Centers. Talk about an education!
200 Chambers
I understand that they are on their 8th price amendment after two weeks of sales and they've sold out 55% of the apartments. Can anyone confirm what the price jump was after all the amendments?
Last edited by tribecalou; July 19th, 2005 at 08:43 PM.
Is it possible that a these posts requesting and or talking about pricing and sales volume be relegated to another area of the forum? We're talking about the construction, zoning, architecture and building. Purchasers, investors and realtors focus on totally different issues and the posts become more akin to sales pitches and personal advice giving, which PMs would ideally serve. I know I'm off topic, but can we state whether this is or is not the place for this information to be discussed?
And at the risk of feeling the wrath of fellow posters and moderators, I have to point out that once again it is a person posting for the first time or posing as a first time poster. Maybe I am missing something, but, for my own education, please tell me if this (New York Skyscrapers & Architecture) is the appropriate forum for these posts as opposed to "New York Real Estate". I recall this being dicussed in "Forum Issues", but "single issue" posters don't venture out of their threads often.
Last edited by BrooklynRider; July 20th, 2005 at 09:51 AM.
From The Real Deal:
New luxury condos near Ground Zero selling
A 30-story luxury condo building in Tribeca designed by architects Norman Foster and Costas Kondylis has sold more than 40 percent of its 258 units within three weeks of the start of sales on July 4, The Real Deal has learned. Developed by Jack Resnick & Sons, 200 Chambers Street – a few blocks north of Ground Zero – will have one-, two- and three-bedroom condos ranging from about $750,000 to more than $3.3 million
Some large renderings at Permasteelisa Group's site.
http://www.permasteelisa.com/
Project Gallery-New York-Jack Resnick & Sons.
I can't see Foster in this building, but I can see Kondylis.
I guess it's enough to have a starchitect's name attached to the building for the price premium.
Thud.
Move over Verizon box -- you've been replaced as the worst building downtown.
This thing is horrendous.
CHAMBERS' CHAMBERS
By MAX GROSS
September 3, 2005
ALONG the southern tip of the West Side Highway, an enormous blue sign juts up in the air advertising condominiums going up at 200 Chambers St. At the bottom of the sign is the tagline, "Sales office opening soon" - always the harbinger of a long wait before making a deposit on any U-Hauls. Well, the sales office actually opened at the beginning of July, and long wait or not, condo sales at 200 Chambers are as brisk as Nobu's dinner traffic.
The 30-story, 258-unit building isn't slated to open until the fall of 2006, but 48 units were sold in its first three days on the market.
"We identified this site five years ago ... and we started the bidding process in mid-2001," says Scott Resnick of developer Jack Resnick & Sons. Back then, the empty lot was earmarked as part of an urban renewal plan, and the Resnicks planned to just put up a 13-story condo. But, Resnick says, "After the dust of 9/11 settled literally [and] figuratively, we wanted to be a part of the revitalization."
In addition to the condo, the developers are creating a 30,000-square-foot community center (complete with an Olympic-size pool) and a new preschool for P.S. 234.
The condo building was originally designed by the British architect Lord Norman Foster and finished by Costas Kondylis; it looks to be an ultramodern glass-and-steel structure. There will be doormen and concierges, a landscaped garden and an on-site garage. The studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units range in size from 573 square feet up to 2,300 square feet, with units starting at $500,000 and going up to around $3 million.
The neighborhood, home to now iconic restaurants like Nobu and Odeon, is getting primed for a revival on multiple levels. Hudson River Park is being redeveloped, and there's been talk of a Whole Foods store opening in the area.
"Everything is here," says Jacqueline Urgo, executive vice president at The Marketing Directors, which is handling 200 Chambers.
Urgo was so impressed by the building that she bought a two-bedroom. "I said to my kids, you're going to get a pool, get a gym ... they can't wait!"
Copyright 2005 NYP Holdings, Inc.
Its not great, but its mostly glass, that said it could be a lot worse.
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