One of the larger and most important conversion projects in TriBeCa (The Triangle Below Canal) is River Lofts on most of the block bounded by West, Laight, Washington and Vestry Streets. 

The handsome project consists of a 19^th Century, 6-story building at 416-424 Washington Street, and a new, 13-story building at 92 Laight Street.  The two buildings, which are connected, are across Laight Street from the very attractive earlier residential conversion of the "Sugar Warehouse" at 79 Laight Street. 

The River Lofts, as the entire project is known, has 68 condominium apartments ranging in size from 1,100 to 3,900 square feet.  The lower building has 30 apartments and the tower 38. 

The conversion of the lower building was completed in 2003 and the tower was erected the next year. 

Tsao & McKown and Ismael Levya were the architects for River Lofts. Shaya Boymelgreen was the developer.

BOTTOM LINE

River Lofts, which has a prime location in TriBeCa surround by numerous handsome conversions of warehouses to apartment buildings, combines a 6-story building in an historic district with a new 13-story tower connected by a skylit corridor.  The tower overlooks the Hudson River and the project is across West Street from an entrance to the very lovely Hudson River Park.

The condominium apartments have high ceilings and top-of-the-line kitchen appliances.

DESCRIPTION

The red-brick warehouse structure at 416 Washington Street has arched windows and fifth floors and a handsome scalloped cornice with a shed awning around its first floor. 

The new and larger red-brick tower at 92 Laight Street facing the Hudson River has a two-story stone base with arched windows on the second floor and a shed awning around its first floor. Its top floor is setback.

AMENITIES

The complex has a 24/7 concierge, a fitness center and direct elevator access to its garage.  It also has a bicycle room and private storage. 

This project is across West Street from an entrance to the very lovely Hudson River Park and esplanade.

APARTMENTS

Apartments have high ceilings, wood-framed windows, Brazilian walnut plank floors, and Varenna Kitchens with Subzero, Miele and Bosch appliances. 

Apartment 2H at 416 Washington is a two-bedroom unit with a 12-foot-wide den off the 10-foot-long entry foyer that leads to a 33-foot-long living/dining area with an open kitchen.

Apartment 4G at 416 Washington is a three-bedroom unit with a 12-foot-long entry foyer that leads past an 8-foot-wide study to a 34-foot-long living/dining area with an open kitchen. 

Apartment H at 92 Laight is a two-bedroom unit with a 26-foot-long living/dining area with an open kitchen. 

Apartment 2D at 92 Laight has a 20-foot-long foyer that leads to three bedrooms, each with entry to a 41-foot-long terrace and a gallery that leads to a 26-foot-long living/ding area with an open kitchen. 

Apartment 10D at 92 Laight is a three-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer and a long gallery that leads to a 24-foot-long living/dining area with an open kitchen. 

Apartment 12A at 92 Laight has a 26-foot-long gallery that leads to three bedrooms and a 20-foot-long foyer that leads to a 27-foot-long living/dining area with an enclosed kitchen and a 15-foot-long den/guest room.

HISTORY

A sugar refinery was built at 416 Washington Street by Thomas R. Jackson in 1882 and sold the next year to John Castree.  In the early 20^th Century, part of the building was operated as a bonded tea warehouse by George L. Hartford. 

Brewran West Associates, an affiliate of the Carl Marks Real Estate Group and the Claremont Group, bought part of the site in 1989 from the American Savings Bank that had foreclosed on a mortgage on a partially completed commercial building on the site. 

Brewran sought to develop the site for more than a decade, contemplating at one time a hotel and then seeking a zoning variance on a parking lot on the site to change its zoning from manufacturing to residential to offset the costs of renovating a dilapidated warehouse on the site. 

Brewran West Associates ultimately won its variance, but then sold the site, consisting of three adjacent parcels, to Africa Israel Investments Ltd., an Israeli investment fund, for about $26.5 million. 

The three parcels were 256 West Street, 259 West Street and 416-424 Washington Street. 

The warehouse at 424 Washington Street was in the TriBeCa Historic District and therefore, as a landmark, could not be demolished. 

Africa-Israel Investments' other projects include 15 Broad Street, 60 Spring Street and 88 Leonard Street in Manhattan and Empire Stores between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges in Brooklyn facing the East River. 

River Lofts won an Excellence in Historic Preservation Award from the Preservation League of New York State. 

CELEBRITIES

Residents at River Lofts have included Meryl Streep and Gwyneth Paltrow, the actresses, and Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC commentator.