Rector Place, 225 Rector Place: Review and Ratings

Review of 225 Rector Place by Carter Horsley

Residential condominium apartment sales began in the spring of 2007 at 225 Rector Place, the former Parc Place rental apartment building in Battery Park City. 

Richard J. DeMarco, of Montroy Andersen Design Group Inc., is the architect for the conversion, which involved reflooring and the installation of soaking tubs in the bathrooms. Clodagh did the interior design. 

Full-service building amenities include a state-of-the-art two-story fitness center, yoga studio, indoor pool, steam room, residents' lounge, and fully furnished roof deck with grilling area and beautiful park and river views. It is located near Rector Park, the riverfront esplanade, Brookfield Place, and several subway stops.

The 23-story building was erected in 1986 and was designed by Gruzen Samton Steinglass (now Gruzen Samton LLP) for the Related Companies, which sold the 289-unit property in 2005 to YL Real Estate Developers along with Columbus Green at 101 West 87th Street for $165 million. 

Related had received tax breaks when it erected the building in exchange for making 20 percent of the units available for moderate-income tenants and in 2002 Related extended that protection to the year 2019.

Bottom Line

This building was described as "the most understated and most appropriately detailed of the Rector Park group" by Elliot Willensky and Norval White in their book, "The A.I.A. Guide to New York City, Third Edition," (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988).

Description

The design guidelines for Battery Park City resulted in a relatively homogeneous complex of very high quality by Manhattan standards and this building is located in the most successful group around a pleasant park at Rector Place. 

The building's three lower floors are clad in limestone and the rest of the façades are clad in two-toned brick. 

This large apartment building is quite elegant. It visually divides its mass quite successfully by having a handsome roofline with two "mini" peaks and by carrying the façade of the tower straight down to the entrance without being interrupted by two bandcourses and the cornice line of its wings, a simple but excellent design solution. 

The red-brick building, which has multi-paned windows, has 18 apartments per floor in its base and 9 per floor in its tower.

Amenities

The building has a doorman, a 24-hour concierge, a garage, a children’s playroom, a live-in superintendent, a roof deck with a cooking facility and a cabana, a residents lounge with a screening room, a gym and a two-story health club with a 40-foot-long indoor swimming pool.

Apartments

All apartments have oak flooring. 

Residence N on the 3^rd, 9^th and 11^th floors is a three-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer that leads to a large living and dining area with a pass-through kitchen. 

Apartment 22J is a one-bedroom unit with a 8-foot-long entry foyer that leads past an 8-foot-long, pass-through kitchen to a 19-foot-long living room that opens onto a 9-foot-long dining alcove. 

Residence G on floors 15 through 23 is a two-bedroom unit with a 19-foot-long living room with a pass-through kitchen. 

Residence C on the 15^th floor is a two-bedroom unit with a 19-foot-long living room with an enclosed, windowed kitchen and a 31-foot-long terrace. 

Residence H is a one-bedroom unit with a 19-foot-long living/dining room with a pass-through kitchen.