In the town of New York yet accustomed to superlatives, it is the biggest transformation of offices into housing ever. Imagine a building of nearly 110,000 m² on 50 floors culminating at 200 meters and which has housed bankers and financiers for nearly 80 years in the Wall Street district, in the south of Manhattan. It was not until 2014 that developer Harry Macklowe bought the premises for 585 million dollars, determined to transform them into a giant condominium of more than 500 apartments.
Aged 85 today, the bubbling entrepreneur who simultaneously bought 7 skyscrapers in Manhattan in 2007 (before having to sell them in the midst of the crisis) is still teeming with projects and is launching yet others on the Miami side. It is true that after a resounding divorce from the one who was his wife for 59 years, followed by a remarriage with the French Patricia Landeau, the businessman has regained all his ardor of yesteryear.. For this Wall Street project, the businessman had spotted the upcoming transformation of the old business district before others.
Tourist attraction
While the offices of banks and financial companies were already beginning to empty, he bet that this area of Downtown would soon attract a rather young and family population. A winning intuition since today the South street seaport sector just a stone’s throw away has become a popular tourist attraction as well as a lively district, appreciated for its restaurants and places to go out. The American cooking star Jean-Georges Vongerichten did not make a mistake there by installing several of its establishments on site.
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Despite this favorable momentum, the simultaneous marketing of 566 apartments, from studios to 4-bedroom apartments at prices starting at 1.2 million dollars and soaring to tens of millions, is not easy. While the work is well on its way to completion, this incredible site is showing off its finery. There is in particular the fact that 47 apartments have a superb private terrace. And there is the One Club which will bring all the residents together. It will have a spa and a 25-meter indoor swimming pool on the 38th floor (see slideshow) without forgetting a large landscaped terrace and a space dedicated to events and entertainment on the 39th floor. Proof of Harry Macklowe’s flair, long before the pandemic, he had planned telecommuting corners in many of the apartments in the building, not to mention a large coworking space in the common areas.
And for larger budgets, the residence will also have a state-of-the-art sports club covering 6,500 m², not to mention the top-level penthouse, currently being finished for the structural work. This triplex, located in the crown of the building, takes the place of an old and huge elevator shaft. For the needs of the transformation into housing, windows imitating those of the rest of the building had to be drilled in this formerly blind part. But the game is worth the effort: this exceptional accommodation will have more than 10 meters of ceiling height! As for the tariff, it is not yet officially fixed but figures of the order of 40 to 50 million dollars are mentioned.
French decorator and department store
And to bring a little more life and glamor to the apartments, two of them have been entirely fitted out by star decorators. One was entrusted to the French Cyril Vergniol and his company Stylagos, unaccustomed to this kind of exercise, he who rather decorates the entire residences of a wealthy clientele (including the private dwellings of the owner of the building). He nevertheless delivered a fine exercise in style and eclecticism by calling on many European influences without forgetting an American touch. “I was given almost carte blanche, he explains, the only request having been to give an impression of space.” The other was entrusted to the firm Yellow House, in a much more purely American style (see slideshow). Even if the places are primarily aimed at a local clientele, foreigners, Asians and Europeans remain a clientele to seduce for pied-à-terre. Moreover, the Big Apple, which had been one of the cities to lose population the fastest during the health crisis, was also the one to recover the slope the fastest. The population has even increased significantly compared to pre-covid.
And since promoter Harry Macklowe is also a man of commercial stunts (he installed the first Apple Store in New York with a very lucrative deal), the shops will not be forgotten in this huge building with no less than 16,000 m² devoted to these activities. In particular, there will be a vast Whole Foods Market of 4000 m², an essential brand in food distribution. Without forgetting an internal delivery service to the building. As for the Art Deco nugget of the building, the superb “Red room” (see slideshow) from the building’s former lobby, it will not feature in the common areas but will also house shops. This is a French supermarket which will deploy several brands representing European elegance. The contract not being finalized, the Macklowe Properties teams refuse to communicate a name, but it seems that we are talking about a sign present on the boulevard Haussmann, in Paris, or even the one that begins with a P. .. A suspense that should end in the coming months.
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