Riverhouse - One Rockefeller Park, 2 River Terrace: Review and Ratings

Review of 2 River Terrace by Carter Horsley

This very handsome building at 1 River Terrace in Battery Park City overlooks Rockefeller Park and its U-shaped structure is bounded by Murray and Vesey streets and North End Avenue.

The 32-story building was designed by Polshek Partnership LLC for the Sheldrake Organization.  It has 264 condominium apartments and interiors have been designed by David Rockwell.

The handsome red-brick building, which is also known as 300 Murray Street, 2-10 River Terrace and 175 North End Avenue, is located between the Irish Hunger Memorial and the two-acre Teardrop Park just to the north of the World Financial Center.

In its marketing materials, it is known as Riverhouse at 1 Rockefeller Park. River House is the name of the apartment building widely considered to be the city’s most luxurious at 435 East 52^nd Street overlooking the East River.

The building was designed to be “the greenest residential building on the East Coast” with the first residential use of double-glass wall technology in the United States. According to its press materials, “the double-glass curtain wall of the west façade defines the building’s identity: it exhibits a sense of depth, liking it to the rhythms and scale of the masonry construction, while at the same time displays the tautness of a modern glass tower.”

Bottom Line

A very sleek and large building with a flared footprint enclosed by a “teardrop” park close to the Goldman Sachs Building and the World Financial Center.

Description

The building is configured in a U-shape with a 14-story west wing facing the river; a 13-story east wing facing Lower Manhattan; and a 32-story tower facing south. The wings have landscaped roof gardens and the tower has a 4-story-high, glass-enclosed portico/lobby.

The low-wings are slightly flared outward and their curves present a subtle counterpoint with the much broader curves of the Goldman Sachs Tower just to the east.

The building has horizontal pink-brick banding, which compliments some of the façades of the nearby World Financial Center at Battery Park City, and the top of its tower has a very high-tech, multi-story screen that nicely complements the crisp detailing of its other façades.

The open slats of its open, stainless-steel entrance marquee have different tints creating a colorful entrance.

The green building has filtered air and water, non-emitting carpets and paints, and triple-layered windows, many of which are at the tower's corners.

The U-shape of the building’s footprint was prescribed to accommodate Teardrop Park south, an extension of the Teardrop Park on the adjacent site to the north.

Amenities

The building has a health club, a children's playroom, bicycle storage, a garage, a lap pool, a Public Library branch, the Poets House National Poetry Library and Library Center, a doorman, a concierge and a cold-storage room for perishable items.

Apartments

Residence J on floor 9 is a four-bedroom unit with a large entry foyer that opens onto a 38-foot-long great room with an open kitchen with an island and leads also to a 17-foot-long study. 

Apartment 29DE is a five-bedroom unit that has a very long entry gallery that opens into a 25-foot-long great room adjacent to a large open kitchen with a pass-through and a island next to a 27-foot-long sitting room. 

Apartment AB on the 29^th floor is a four-bedroom unit that has a foyer that opens onto a 20-foot-square great room, an open kitchen and a 23-foot-long dining area. 

Apartment F on the 10^th floor is a three-bedroom unit that has an entry foyer that opens onto a 27-foot-long great room with an open kitchen with an island. 

Apartment L on the 10^th floor is a three-bedroom unit that has a long entry foyer that opens onto a 27-foot-long great room with an 8-foot-wide family room alcove next to an open kitchen with an island. 

Apartment M on the 10^th floor is a three-bedroom unit with a foyer that opens onto an open, pass-through kitchen and a 21-foot-long great room. 

Residence R on the 10^th floor is a four-bedroom unit with a 16-foot-long entry foyer that leads to a 21-foot-long gallery that opens onto a 28-foot-long angled great room with an open kitchen at one end. 

Apartment 11K has an entry foyer next to a pass-through kitchen to a 17-foot-long angled great room. 

Team

The building was designed by Polshek Partnership LLC for the Sheldrake Organization. David Rockwell designed the interiors.