Located on the northeastern edge of midtown where the bustle of business gives way to the gentility of the Upper East Side, this project sits, fittingly, atop a mixed-use complex that houses the offices and studios of Bloomberg media and a major retail center. Opened in 2005 and occupying the upper 25 floors of the 54-story tower and with their own entrance, the 105 condominium residences at One Beacon Court are set apart from and above the throng. From this perch residents enjoy spectacular views, west toward Central Park and midtown, or east toward the 59th Street Bridge and the East River. They also have ready access to the neighborhood below, with Bloomingdale's across the street and Terence Conran's only U.S. store and his acclaimed restaurant, Guastavino's, in the historic anchorage vaults of the nearby Queensborough Bridge.

To span these uses, which occupy an entire block between Lexington and Third Avenues and 58th and 59th Streets, the architect, Cesar Pelli, has created a building that balances corporate sleekness with graceful livability. The glass tower is given dimension and style with setbacks and multiple indentations. It sits on a glass pedestal that houses the Bloomberg studios home, incidentally, to the city's first spiral escalator and the cavernous retail area that includes H&M clothing, Home Depot, and the famed Le Cirque restaurant.

Kitchens are sleek with white, double-stacked cabinetry with lighting underneath as well as stainless steel utensil racks, Brazilian Pannafragoia granite floors, Italian Basaltina stone countertops, Sub-Zero 600 series refrigerators, Wolf ranges and Miele dishwashers and washers and dryers. Bathrooms have Absolute Black granite floors framed in a Buttucino Fiorito marble and set into a Yellow Ramon limestone border, Buttincino Fiorito marble wainscoting and Kohler water closets.