Stonehenge Partners said today that it will convert the red-brick residential property at 555 Avenue of the Americas to about 200 rental apartments, according to an article today at therealdeal.com by Candace Taylor.
"An investment fund affiliated with Stonehenge, a residential and commercial property owner, paid $67.34 million in July for the apartment building at 555 Sixth Avenue between 14th and 15th streets. Twenty-three bids were reportedly submitted for the property, which had been used to house St. Vincent's staff and was delivered vacant. In April, St. Vincent's filed for bankruptcy," the article said.
"The firm plans to gut-renovate the building and market the units as rentals, said Ofer Yardeni, a principal at Stonehenge. Manhattan-based Office for Design & Architecture has been hired for the job, said Nancy Packes, head of Nancy Packes, Inc., which is the exclusive marketing and leasing consultant on the project," the article continued.
The article said that floor plans are still being finalized, Ms. Packes said, but most of the existing units in the 6-story building are studios and one-bedrooms, which is "already a good mix for the rental market."
Two additional stories are expected to be added to the top of the building, housing 15 to 18 larger apartments - most likely three-bedroom units - with large private terraces, the article said, adding that the Sixth Avenue side of the building will be used for retail space.
When the renovation is completed, the article continued, said, a staircase will lead from a "gorgeous courtyard" with skylights to the amenity space downstairs, which will include a fitness center and residents' lounge with a reflecting pool.
The building stretches from 15th to 16th Street on the west side of the Avenue of the Americas and was one of the first post-war buildings to sport "fire balconies." "Fire balconies" are small balconies shared by two adjoining apartments with a narrow concrete wall in the middle that does not extent fully across the depth of the balconies to permit residents in one apartment to walk around the wall to enter the adjoining apartment.
The "fire balconies" replaced the traditional and almost ubiquitous fire escapes that cover the facades of most tenements in the city and have stairs to vertically connect apartments on different floors. Both the "fire balconies" and the "fire escapes" are designed to be "second means of egress" in emergencies in buildings that do not have internal "fire stairs" in additional to regular stairways or elevators.
Interestingly, there is a smaller 6-story, beige-brick building director across the avenue on the northeast corner at 15th Street that also employs "fire-balconies" and is known as "The Left Bank." The bulk of both buildings is set back several feet from the building line making this part of the avenue appear to be much wider.
Both building's have concierges, discrete air-conditioners, garages and are convenient to public transportation.
This building, which is also known as 101 West 15th Street and 100 West 16th Street, has a six-step-up lobby, a garage, central air-conditioning, a doorman and a canopied side-street entrance.
It was developed in 1974 with 178 rental apartments. There is excellent public transportation in the vicinity.
"An investment fund affiliated with Stonehenge, a residential and commercial property owner, paid $67.34 million in July for the apartment building at 555 Sixth Avenue between 14th and 15th streets. Twenty-three bids were reportedly submitted for the property, which had been used to house St. Vincent's staff and was delivered vacant. In April, St. Vincent's filed for bankruptcy," the article said.
"The firm plans to gut-renovate the building and market the units as rentals, said Ofer Yardeni, a principal at Stonehenge. Manhattan-based Office for Design & Architecture has been hired for the job, said Nancy Packes, head of Nancy Packes, Inc., which is the exclusive marketing and leasing consultant on the project," the article continued.
The article said that floor plans are still being finalized, Ms. Packes said, but most of the existing units in the 6-story building are studios and one-bedrooms, which is "already a good mix for the rental market."
Two additional stories are expected to be added to the top of the building, housing 15 to 18 larger apartments - most likely three-bedroom units - with large private terraces, the article said, adding that the Sixth Avenue side of the building will be used for retail space.
When the renovation is completed, the article continued, said, a staircase will lead from a "gorgeous courtyard" with skylights to the amenity space downstairs, which will include a fitness center and residents' lounge with a reflecting pool.
The building stretches from 15th to 16th Street on the west side of the Avenue of the Americas and was one of the first post-war buildings to sport "fire balconies." "Fire balconies" are small balconies shared by two adjoining apartments with a narrow concrete wall in the middle that does not extent fully across the depth of the balconies to permit residents in one apartment to walk around the wall to enter the adjoining apartment.
The "fire balconies" replaced the traditional and almost ubiquitous fire escapes that cover the facades of most tenements in the city and have stairs to vertically connect apartments on different floors. Both the "fire balconies" and the "fire escapes" are designed to be "second means of egress" in emergencies in buildings that do not have internal "fire stairs" in additional to regular stairways or elevators.
Interestingly, there is a smaller 6-story, beige-brick building director across the avenue on the northeast corner at 15th Street that also employs "fire-balconies" and is known as "The Left Bank." The bulk of both buildings is set back several feet from the building line making this part of the avenue appear to be much wider.
Both building's have concierges, discrete air-conditioners, garages and are convenient to public transportation.
This building, which is also known as 101 West 15th Street and 100 West 16th Street, has a six-step-up lobby, a garage, central air-conditioning, a doorman and a canopied side-street entrance.
It was developed in 1974 with 178 rental apartments. There is excellent public transportation in the vicinity.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
6sqft delivers the latest on real estate, architecture, and design, straight from New York City.
