95 Wall Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 95 Wall Street by Carter Horsley

This 22-story, glass-clad office building at 95 Wall Street was designed in 1970 by Emery Roth & Sons and acquired by The Moinian Group in 2004 for $130 million for conversion to rental apartments.

The project is known as Dwell on Wall by Yoo, a design group headed by Philippe Starck, the French designer who did the unusual interiors at the Royalton Hotel on West 44th Street and 15 Broad Street.

The 500,000-square-foot building had been used for many years by JP Morgan.

Avinash K. Malholtra was the architect for the conversion, which added about 500 rental apartments. The building is also known as 96 Front Street and 97 Water Street.

Bottom Line

With its flamboyant design flourishes in the lobby and on the roof deck, 95 Wall’s chandeliers may make you want to send out for champagne and shout “Ain’t Wall Street Grand!”  While this building is not an architectural masterpiece, there are plenty nearby on Wall Street.

Description

The bronze glass building has an arcade and a revolving-door entrance. 

The lobby has a large chandelier above the concierge desk next to a large mirror and the nearby elevator bank has two slightly smaller chandeliers.

The roof deck has large sides, large chess pieces and empty frames.

An article by Steve Cutler in TheRealDeal.com quoted Julieann Humphryes, the Yoo London office studio manager, as stating that "Joe Moinian wanted it designed to be like a showcase, like a jewel - very intense," adding that "We did all the furniture that sits in [the] lobby in gold plating, from the reception desk to the chairs to the sofas. They're all shiny sculpted gloss metals in a dark chocolate, which matches the bronze color of the 1970s building. Then we've added some bulls and bears to relate to the market to remind you of the location....We've created a carpet that's going to be made of over-scaled dollars - coinage - that is going to be inlaid into the floor....It feels like a lot of the turn-of-the-century steel-tiled floors that you get in old Soho - part of original Victorian-age architecture."

Amenities

There is a residents' lounge penthouse with a fireplace and a breakfast area with complimentary breakfast and a landscaped terrace.

The building has a 24-hour concierge and doorman, valet services, a live-in superintendent, on-site parking and a fitness center.

Apartments

Apartments come in two Yoo styles: classic, which has refined dark wood floors and kitchen cabinetry with Creme de Marfil countertops; and nature, which has light wood floors and cabinetry and Venatino marble countertops. Classic layouts are on the lower floors and nature layouts on the upper floors.

Kitchens have Jenn-Air cooktops and convection ovens and wood-paneled Liebherr refrigerators. Bathrooms are lined in marble and have "vessel" sinks and glass sconces.

Kitchens also have Swarovski crystal chandeliers. At 15 Broad Street, Starck put an enormous chandelier in a relatively low-ceiling lobby so that it was only a few inches above the floor.

Apartment 917 is a studio unit with a 9-foot-long dining area next to an L-shaped open kitchen and a 21-foot-long living area.

Apartment 1210 is a studio unit that has an entry foyer that leads past a 12-foot-long open kitchen to a 18-foot-square living space.

Apartment 2212 is a two-bedroom unit that has a long entry foyer that leads to a 23-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen.

Apartment 320A is a three-bedroom unit that has a 13-foot-long entry foyer that leads to a 28-foot-long gallery that opens onto a 32-foot-long living room and a 12-foot-dining room and an open pass0-through 12-foot-long kitchen.

History

UDR Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Denver, agreed to buy the rental apartment building at 95 Wall Street from the Moinian Group in August, 2011, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal by Dawn Wotapka.

UDR was founded as United Dominion Realty Trust in 1972 and by 2000 it owned more than 100,000 units in 63 markets, the article said, adding that in March 2008 "it sold about 40 percent of its portfolio, dumping more than 25,000 units in less-stellar markets including Arkansas and South California."

The 95 Wall Street deal marked the fourth Manhattan deal in 2011 for UDR. In an interview, Tom Toomey, the company's chief executive, said "we think it's a good time to buy New York." "The financial district is coming back," Mr. Toomey said. "The restaurants will come, the retail will be there. With all that vibrancy, I think it's going to be a great spot to have rental properties."