Altair 20, 15 West 20th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 15 West 20th Street by Carter Horsley

This handsome building at 15 West 20^th Street between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas was erected in 1906 and converted to a residential condominium by Extell Development a century later.

The 11-story has 19 apartments.

It was designed by Lafayette A. Goldstone in Neo-Renaissance style.

Bottom Line

An elegant, pre-war, mid-block, commercial building in the Flatiron district that was converted to residential condominiums in 2006 with wood-burning fireplaces, a roof deck, a La Palestrina fitness center.

Description

The building has a two-story rusticated limestone base, beige-brick façades, two elaborate limestone bandcourses above the second and sixth floors, and a nice dentillated cornice.

The building has ground-floor retail and sidewalk landscaping.

Amenities

The building has a roof deck with cabanas and a grill, part-time doorman, a live-in superintendent, storage, and a La Palestrina fitness center.  The building permits pets.

Apartments

All apartments have wood-burning fireplaces.  Kitchens have SubZero refrigerators, wine coolers, Italian rosewood flooring and high ceilings.  Bathrooms have heated floors and two separate shower stalls and flat-screen, wall-mounted televisions.

The duplex penthouse has 3,223 square feet, three bedrooms and almost 2,000 square feet of terraces.  It has a limestone-clad foyer that leads to a 27-foot-long living/dining room with a floor-to-ceiling marble fireplace mantel and a Valcucine kitchen with stone countertops, green mosaic backsplash and a 5-burner Miele oven.  A library has a built-in aquarium and a upper level has a home office with a private loggia with outdoor shower and a master bedroom with vaulted ceiling.

Apartment 9B is a three-bedroom unit with a 28-foot long living/dining room with a pass-through, 10-foot-long kitchen.

Apartment 2B is a two-bedroom unit with a 27-foot-long living/dining room with an 11-foot-long, pass-through kitchen and a 10-foot-square home office.