Worldwide Plaza, 393 West 49th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 393 West 49th Street by Carter Horsley

Worldwide Plaza is a very handsome, full-block, mixed-use development bounded by Eighth and Ninth Avenues and 49th and 50th Streets on the former site of Madison Square Garden.

It is dominated by the very handsome, 50-story office tower at 825 Eighth Avenue that is separated by a mid-block plaza from a 38-story, 268-unit condominium tower and a 7-story, 386-unit courtyard apartment building that fronts on Ninth Avenue.

The mid-block condominium apartment tower has an address of 350 West 50th Street.  The low-rise building has an address of 393 East 49th Street and is also known as 720-740 Ninth Avenue.

Madison Square Garden moved to its current location between 31st and 33rd Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

The plaza is elevated and has a fountain and globular sculpture and small eating kiosks.

It is a pale beige masonry structure in contrast to the red masonry low-rise buildings on the block. 

Both the residential tower and low-rise buildings have pyramidal tops to thematically relate to the top of the big office building that was designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings Merrill and was meant to recall the great pyramid to of the New York Life Insurance Company Building on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 26th Street.  The top of the insurance company building’s is gilded, but these are not.

Frank Williams was the architect of the residential buildings in this project that was completed in 1989 by William Zeckendorf Jr., Victor Elmaleh and Frank Stanton.

Bottom Line

This very handsome development led to a major renaissance of the Theater District, Times Square and the Clinton District and in addition to its health club and garage, the complex has excellent public transportation. 

Description

The mid-block plaza between the condominium tower and the office building has a fountain with a sculpture, "The Seasons," by Sidney Simon, a founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, and two food kiosks with outdoor seating and landscaping.

The tower has a canopied entrance with a revolving door and a very impressive and large wood-paneled lobby.

Amenities

The complex has a Bally Total Fitness sports club and pool, doorman and concierge services, a garage, and laundry rooms.

Apartments

Apartment 3W is a one-bedroom unit with an 8-foot-long foyer that leads past a 7-foot-long, pass-through kitchen to an 18-foot-long living room with a curved window wall and a 17-foot-long terrace.

Apartment 5GG is a one-bedroom unit with an 8-foot-long foyer past an 8-foot-long, pass-through kitchen into a 22-foot-long angled living room.

Apartment 5C is a duplex, two-bedroom unit that has a foyer that leads into a 24-foot-long living room with a pass-through, 10-foot-long kitchen and a very large terrace.

Apartment 5PP is a duplex, one-bedroom unit with a 9-foot-foyer that leads into a 20-foot-long living room with a 7-foot-long, pass-through kitchen and an 11-foot-long terrace.  Upstairs, is a 15-foot-long bedroom wrapped on two sides by a very large terrace.