Block Hall, 21 South William Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 21 South William Street by Carter Horsley

This 7-story, Tudor-style building at 21-23 South William Street was converted to a residential condominium in 2005.

It has 31 apartments and is known as Block Hall.

The building was acquired in early 2004 for about $4.5 million by the Kennelly Development Company from the Block Hall Development Company. The 25,000-sq. ft. building had been owned since 1967 by John Herzog, who in 1988 founded the Museum of American Financial History.

Originally erected in 1927 as a private club, the building at one time was occupied partially by the Italian Alps Restaurant.

It is on a handsome street that also houses the very impressive Banca Commerciale Italiana and the Wall Street Inn. The building also fronts on Stone Street, an official historic landmark district of 19th Century buildings, many of which house restaurants and caf¿s. Stone Street was the first paved street in Manhattan.

The building has a rooftop garden and a fitness center. Its apartments have high ceilings and appliances by Viking, Miele and Liebherr.

The building has a three-story-high mansard roof and projecting porches.

The building is convenient to the Financial District and the Staten Island Ferry.

An article by James Zug in the January 2002 edition of theatlantic.com recalled the New York premier of Wallace Shawn s 1996 play, The Designated Mourner, at 21 South William Street:

"We walked past a hodgepodge of club debris - heavy dishes stacked on a bar that receded into darkness, stuffed moose heads gazing dully from a reading-room floor - and climbed rickety stairs to the fifth floor. The first half of the play was acted out in a room dominated by an old bed. The audience of thirty sat in moth-eaten velvet armchairs covered by blankets. For the second act a production assistant led us two floors up to an old squash court. A couch for the actors, sat in the center of the court, facing thirty folding chairs in two rows along the front wall."

The building is also known as 45-47 Stone Street.

James P. Kennelly is president of Kennelly Development Company LLC., which developed The Sycamore residential condominium at 250 East 30th Street and started construction on a residential condominium tower at 303 East 51st Street where a crane collapsed March 15, 2008 killing seven people.