The very handsome former office building at 25 Broad Street will be marketed as a rental apartment building after its conversion to a residential condominium by Kent Swig ran into difficulties, according to an article today at crainsnewyork.com by Amanda Fung.

In 2005, Mr. Swig paid $260 million for the 21-story Italian Renaissance revival-style bank building, the article said, intending to convert it to residential use but "the conversion quickly ran into trouble as sales stalled and the developer defaulted on his loan" and "sales finally halted in 2009."

The article said that "Lehman Brothers - which filed for its own bankruptcy in September 2008 - is the senior lender on the project, and began foreclosing on the property shortly after its own demise. It's unclear whether Lehman has completed its foreclosure proceedings on the 346-unit property."

Rose Associates has been retained to exclusively market and lease apartments at The Exchange at 25 Broad St, the article said, and Robert Scaglion, Rose's senior managing director of residential marketing, said that "the building will retain its original name," adding that "apartments were renovated to high condo level and amenities are being upgraded."

"This is the second hard-luck assignment the firm has picked up in the Financial District. In January, Rose was tapped to market the unsold apartments at William Beaver House, which was also originally supposed to be a condo, the article added.

The buildings amenities include a gym, a stretching yoga area, a golf simulator, a common prep kitchen, game room and television lounge.

A spokesman for Mr. Swig declined to comment, while Mr. Scaglion at Rose also declined to comment on the tower's current owners, the article said, noting that the building will be ready for occupancy in June.

.

The 21-story building, one of the most impressive in Lower Manhattan, was erected as the world's largest building in 1902. It is located on the southeast corner of Broad Street at Exchange Place and is one block south of the New York Stock Exchange.

It was designed in 1899 by Robert Maynicke and his plans were revised the next year by Clinton & Russell in a Beaux-Arts style. Clinton & Russell would later design the major Art Deco-style skyscraper at 70 Pine Street.

The building is distinguished by its very handsome facade and entrance and its stunning and huge lobby. It has a three-story rusticated limestone base and a five-step-up entrance.

The building was converted from offices to rental apartments by Crescent Heights in 1997 after it had remained vacant for several years in the wake of the stock crash of 1987.

In 2005 it was acquired by Swig Equities LLC who filed plans to convert it to residential condominiums with a total offering price of about $432 million.

In their wonderful book, "The A.I.A. Guide to New York City, Fourth Edition" (Three Rivers Press, 2000), Elliot Willensky and Norval White observed that the building is "worthy of the best on Park Avenue."

The building was designated a city landmark in 2000.

In the spring of 2007, Swig Equities sought permission from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to "decertify" the landmark status of 25 Broad Street so that it could "shave off" its rear wing and transfer that volume to a site it owned at 45 Broad Street. The transfer would add 12 stories to a planned 35-story building at 45 Broad Street and the reduction in mass at 25 Broad Street would remove 36 apartments.

The application was approved but subsequently the new building project at 45 Broad Street was put on hold in the wake of the fiscal crisis that began in late 2008.