The Sovereign, 425 East 58th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 425 East 58th Street by Carter Horsley

When it was erected by Sigmund Sommer in 1974, the Sovereign at 425 East 58^th Street startled the Sutton Place community with its enormous bulk that stretches along the south side between First Avenue and Sutton Place of the Manhattan approach to the Ed Koch Queeensboro Bridge, the city's most picturesque. 

Its stepped-plan design, which would several years later be used at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue at 56th Street, created many corner windows and because it was 48 stories high the building afforded most of its residents spectacular views of midtown, the bridge, the United Nations and the East River. 

It originally had 376 rental apartments and now has 360 cooperative apartments. 

The Sovereign is one of the Manhattan’s largest "luxury" towers and its many major views remain fantastic. 

It was designed by Emery Roth & Sons. 

It gained considerable attention for housing for several years the city's most expensive restaurant, The Palace, on its north side.

Bottom Line

A giant, staggered apartment slab across 59^th Street from the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge with a large supermarket in its vaulted spaces, this handsome development dominates the Sutton Place neighborhood and has great views.

Description

The brown-brick, mid-block tower is set in large plazas on the side-streets. 

It was quite distinguished looking for a high-rise residential tower at the time because of its stepped plan, its landscaping and its strong horizontal banding.

Amenities

The building has a driveway, a 24-hour valet garage and a concierge and is close to several small parks just to the east. It is not close to subways but there are cross-town buses on 57th Street. 

The building is pet friendly.

Apartments

Each apartment has wrapped-around corner windows and its own laundry room and butler’s pantries and half have a large balcony. 

Each “wing” of the building is served by two elevators and has only two apartments per floor.

There was no uproar about any shadows it might cast since it was on the north end of this area and actually helped to serve as a noise buffer from bridge traffic. Moreover, it brought a lot of new, affluent residents to the area. 

Each unit had its own washer and dryer and many had balconies. 

Apartment 3738F is a duplex with a 14-foot-long entrance gallery on the upper level that leads to a 24-foot-long living room with a 12-foot-long corner dining alcove next to a 23-foot-long, enclosed kitchen.  The lower level also has a 21-foot-long media room open to the living room.  The lower level has a 12-foot-long entrance gallery that leads past a home office and staircase to a 31-foot-long family room and three bedrooms. 

Apartment 20D is a three-bedroom unit that has a has a 20-foot-long dining room at the entrance next to a 20-foot-long enclosed kitchen and a 29-foot-long living room with a 12-foot-wide terrace. 

Apartment 7E is a two-bedroom unit that has a small foyer that leads to a 17-foot-long gallery that leads past a wet bar to a 27-foot-long living room with a 13-foot-wide terrace and a 22-foot-long library with a Murphy bed.  The gallery also leads in the other direction to a formal 20-foot-long dining room next to an enclosed 17-foot-wide kitchen. 

Apartment 4A is a two-bedroom unit with a 16-foot-wide entrance gallery that leads t a 27-foot-long living room with a balcony facing north and a 20-foot-long dining room facing south next to an enclosed 8-foot-wide butler’s pantry and a 10-foot-long windowed kitchen.  The apartment also has a maid’s room. 

Apartment 34F is a one-bedroom unit that has an 11-foot-long entrance gallery that leads to a 25-foot-long living room and an adjoining open 15-foot-long dining room next to a 10-foot-long kitchen and 9-foot-wide pantry. 

History

Several years after it was completed, a different developer erected a slightly lower and much smaller tower that directly abuts the Sovereign's western façade, which had been blank. The adjoining building is capped with a pitched roof that is a bit incongruous with the Sovereign's neat and utilitarian lines, but on the whole it fits in fairly well and could actually be described as contextual. 

The Sovereign has a simple, but potent presence, while the other tower is nice but corny. 

Together, however, they present an imposing wall to this very important gateway. 

Several more buildings sprouted including one black monolith by Sheldon Solow, who topped out a second neighboring tower in 2013.  

Despite its proximity to the bridge, its entrance on 58^th Street is rather quiet. 

Sigmund Sommer was a well-known owner of race horses and his other properties included the office buildings at 600 Third Avenue, 767 Third Avenue and the West Building at 280 Park Avenue and in 1973 he acquired 23 residential buildings on the East Side and in Greenwich Village from Bing & Bing Inc., one of the city’s best known real estate concerns. 

Mr. Sommer acquired the former 7-story Mary Manning Walsh Home, a residence for the elderly, that occupied in the site in 1968 for about $3 million from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.