On The Rise: How Architects - and Buyers - are Changing the New York Skyline
THERE WAS A TIME not so long ago that the most appealing commissions for the upper echelon of architects were commercial towers. Not so anymore. In the ongoing race to fill New York's changing skyline, a clear pattern has emerged: Corporate commissions are waning, and the likes of Zaha Hadid, Sir Norman Foster, and Renzo Piano are all scrambling to get their piece of the New York residential skyline.
"Some of it is market demand; some of it is the ability to express more creatively," says Michael Shvo, a broker-turned-developer who currently has more than $3.5 billion in projects under development in New York City. "More often than not, commercial design has many business requirements and components coming from anchor institutions or user groups that must be met, so design tends to respond in a more conventional fashion." In other words, architects have much more creative freedom in their designs for residential buildings.
Among Shvo's projects are 555 Broome by Renzo Piano, a Pritzker Prize winner; 239 Tenth by Peter Marino, the perpetually leather-clad rebel of the architecture set; and 125 Greenwich by Rafael Vinoly, whose tower at 432 Park Ave. at 1,396 feet high, promises to be the tallest residential tower in the
Western Hemisphere and rivals the Twin Towers in vertical influence. Though more diminutive in comparison, 125 Greenwich is still imposing at just shy of 900 feet, and nearly complete, it has given Vinoly a presence not before seen in the city. "Celebrated architects have proven to drive interest and pricing to a residential project, but pricing has elevated to a point where buyers are extremely discerning," says Shvo. "Like art, a home can be as much a passionate purchase as it is a financial investment. The general trend is that today's buyers are savvy and well-versed in the trends and elements that create long-term value."
Among those elements-in addition to dwelling in a starchitect's new prize-are amenities shifting away from the requisite grand porte cochere, concierge, and spa, with more 21st-century concerns coming to the forefront, among them new technology, walkability, green design, finishes, and, in the city, views.
"Without exception, the current crop of new residential towers in New York City are locked by their tight sites into the rigid Manhattan street grid," says Robert C. Whitlock, a principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox, who is breaking ground on 111 Murray Street, a 58-story residential tower in Tribeca slated for completion in 2018. "All of those towers can only provide views that are based solely on their locations within the city." The large site at 11l Murray, says Whitlock, affords views to the Woolworth Building, City Hall, and the Hudson River on one side, with two other corners framing the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and midtown. The kitchens at 111 Murray will feature custom Molteni cabinets and custom fixtures designed by David Mann in collaboration with Dornbracht; appliances will be from Wolf, Sub-Zero, and Miele. At the Annabelle Selldorf-designed 200 Eleventh with sweeping views of the Hudson River, the Sky Garage-a highrise car elevator system-allows parking in the sky for most of the apartments. The penthouse, which includes a chef's kitchen outfitted with Sub-Zero, Miele, and Liebherr appliances, is on the market at $19.9 million.
At 30 Park Place, a Four Seasons residence downtown designed by Robert A. M. Stern under the tutelage of the Silverstein Properties, "view kitchens" include white-oak cabinetry by Bilotta and appliances by Gaggenau. A partial-floor penthouse is reportedly hitting the market for $32.5 million; full-floor penthouses are rumored to be released soon.
Hadid's 11-story tower, 520 West 28th, is her first in New York and is adjacent to one of the city's most desirable attractions, the reinvigorated High Line. Another High Line neighbor is Foster's 551W21, with full-floor, 6,200-square¬foot apartments. One57, by the architect Christian de Portzamparc with interiors by Thomas Juul-Hansen, include kitchens by Smallbone of Devizes. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is building 252 E. 57th in midtown, with interiors by Daniel Romualdez, who custom designed the Eggersmann kitchens.
In each of these luxury developments, buyers can choose to sign off on a turnkey apartment or select bespoke finishes as they see fit, which remains an integral option to many. "In the niche of ultra luxury, it's about knowing the intimate deta9s of the buyer, which dictates what we deliver in each project," notes Shvo. "Every design choice we make at every detail on a project is based on a very specific, and varying, buyer. Unique design provides the exclusivity of truly bespoke real estate and drives buyers' desires to own an irreplaceable product."