The Loft, 30 Crosby Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 30 Crosby Street by Carter Horsley

30 Crosby Street in SoHo is one of the best known and expensive residential buildings in New York City but not because of high visibility, nor prestigious address, nor great views, nor exclusive neighborhood, nor architectural distinction.

A seven-story former manufacturing building, 30 Crosby was erected in 1890 and converted to 13 condominium apartments by Landmark Development, of which Edward Baquero and Stephen Touhey are partners, in 2000.

Joseph Pell Lombardi was the architect for the conversion.

Bottom Line

An understated and quite discreet and handsome conversion of a former manufacturing building on a very quiet, cobblestone street in SoHo, the Loft features apartments that are large and have wood-burning fireplaces.

Description

The red-brick building has nice green metal window exterior shutters and an entrance marquee that flares upward toward the street. Its elegant lobby has a chandelier.

The building has sidewalk landscaping.

Amenities

The building has a 24-hour concierge, a party room, bamboo gardens and an aromatherapy system in the lobby.

It has neither a garage nor a sun deck.

Apartments

Apartments have professional-caliber kitchens. There are eight 4,100-square-foot lofts, three maisonette duplexes with private gardens, and two penthouses.

One of the apartments has a 19-foot-long entry foyer that leads to a 39-foot-long gallery that opens onto a 48-foot-long living/dining room with a wood-burning fireplace and an open kitchen with an island and a breakfast nook.  The apartment also has four bedrooms and a 16-foot-long media room.

Another apartment is a two-bedroom unit that has a small foyer that leads to a 47-foot-wide living room with a wood-burning fireplace and a 17-foot-long open kitchen with an island and a dining alcove.

Apartment M1 is a three-bedroom, duplex unit with a 42-foot-long living room with a wood-burning fireplace and an open kitchen.  The lower level also has a 21-foot-long den/media room, a 32-foot-long office and a 23-foot-wide garden.

An article by Sarah Bernard in the April 10, 2000 issue of New York magazine noted that "in a building where duplex penthouses go for $7 million, tar paper is not an option" for roof decks. "Instead," the article continued, "the deck's sides will soon be covered with titanium–inspired by the Bilbao Guggenheim–and its floor tiled with San Cristobal marble." "It's hard to find that right shade of vanilla with the red veining," Ms. Bernard quoted Landmark Development's Edward Baquero, who is a partner with Stephen Touhey, "who personally traveled to the Dominican Republic in search of the perfect slab."

The article maintained that 30 Crosby was then "the current winner in the signifier sweepstakes, adding that "In addition to the Bilbao borrowings, there are wood-burning fireplaces outside on the penthouses' terraces, wide 'rain' showerheads, a 'smart garbage' recycling system that automatically sorts paper and plastic, Bosch appliances, bamboo gardens in back, and a combined wine cellar and tasting room where residents can store at least 1,000 bottles of their favorite vintages or dine around a farmhouse table in front of yet another fireplace."

The building also has a "retro-futuristic lobby" designed by Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz and the article quoted Mr. Baquero as stating "Honestly, I think we're a little nuts. But you exceed people’s expectations...and that's how you win the game."

The wine cellar is called Enoteca and was designed by Christine Hawley, the wife of Michael Aaron, the CEO of Sherry-Lehman, the famous Upper East Side liquor store. An April 16, 2001 article by Matthew DeBord in The Wine Spectator described the facility as the most impressive of the city's new "cellars," stating that it "evokes central Italy." "The Enoteca achieves its cozy effect through precise detail. The basement has been revamped with false vaulting, iron gates, wood-inlaid flooring, cement rising sink, limestone fireplace, reference library and a tasting room that residents can reserve for personal use. Temperature-controlled storage options are tied to individual apartments and included with the purchase price. The maisonettes and most of the lofts get large cabinets, each of which holds 1,000 bottles, while the penthouses and one of the lofts receive spaces that can accommodate 3,500 bottles....A maisonette buyer indicated that the Enoteca was one of the property's chief attractions, second only to its location."

History

The building was originally a corset factory on Crosby Street and a showroom building on Broadway in 1890.

The building, not surprisingly, is quite trendy and has received well more than 15 minutes of fame over its storied history.

The December 23, 2002 issue of The New York Observer had an article by Blair Golson that Lenny Kravitz had bought a townhouse at 157 East 35th Street on the market for $1,485,000 and had sold it for $1,760,000 before buying his penthouse at 30 Crosby Street. The article reported that the 35th Street townhouse was now on the market for $8.5 million, and added that Mr. Kravitz's penthouse was "last reported on the market in January for $16 million." "In that apartment, Mr. Kravitz earned notoriety for a massive renovation by designer Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz that included suspended staircases, a communal shower in the second floor and a urinal in the master bathroom."

In the April 26, 2004 edition of The New York Observer, Gabriel Sherman wrote an article that noted that the Kravitz apartment "landed an offer at close to the $13.95 million asking price," noting that "In October, 2003, the four-time Grammy Award-winning musician slashed an additional $1 million off the asking price" and "according to sources, the bidder on the five-bedroom, eight-bathroom spread in the Loft, the illustrous building at 30 Crosby Street, is a finance executive who fell for the rock 'n' roll refuge." The article maintained that Kravitz had transformed the penthouse into "a study in rock 'n' roll design," adding that the apartment "features a gourmet stainless-steel and marble kitchen, ceilings reaching 30 feet, a billiard room, a media room, a glass-enclosed terrace with a hot tub and living room that features the apartment's signature detail - an undulating wall that spits fire. A glass staircase leads to the upstairs master bedroom and the three guest bedrooms, while a second glass staircase accesses the roof deck and its built-in grill."

"Over the years," the article continued, "the home has reportedly been the downtown crash pad for Mr. Kravitz's celebrity friends, including Denzel Washington and, most notably, Nicole Kidman. During Ms. Kidman's sojourn in the sumptuous spread, a romance was sparked between the rocker and the lissome Aussie. The couple dated before repeatedly calling it quits this winter."

"Raucous Courtney Love bought a fourth-floor loft in January 2001 for $2.6-million, and promptly sold the place for $3 million the following year," it stated.

The New York Observer's interest in the building continued unabated and on June 14, 2004 it reported that Nicole Kidman was renting a 4,000-square-foot loft in Soho on Crosby Street while deciding whether to move into her own $8 million loft at 176 Perry Street in the West Village, a building designed by architect Richard Meier. The article coyly maintained that the source declined to give the specific address of the building where the actress was renting a loft "but did confirm that her loft is not in the celebrity-addled 30 Crosby Street development, where the lissome Aussie rented Lenny Kravitz's triplex in 2003."