Ariel East, 2628 Broadway: Review and Ratings

Review of 2628 Broadway by Carter Horsley

Ariel East is 37 stories and has 64 apartments and was designed by Cetra/Ruddy. It has 7 setbacks facing Broadway and is distinguished by its reflective-glass favade with red "piping" accents.

Bottom Line

Ariel East, for which Extell purchased development rights from St. Michael's Church on Amsterdam Avenue, and Ariel West were completed in 2007. The towers significantly altered the northern skyline of the Upper West Side that had previously been dominated by the Riverside Church at 120th Street and Riverside Drive, the Master Apartments on Riverside Drive at 103rd Street and the Columbia Apartments at 275 West 96th Street.

Description

Ariel East is one of two tall residential condominium towers erected in 2007 by the Extell Development Company across from one another on Broadway between 99th and 100th Streets.

Ariel West is a 31-story tower with 73 apartments at 2633 Broadway and it was designed by Cook & Fox. It has a few setbacks and a slab form. It is a mid-block site that was formerly occupied by a Gristede's store.

The 400-foot-tall Ariel East has no balconies but terraces on the 8th, 16th, 21st, 27th, 33rd and 36th floors.

Amenities

Residents at Ariel East have a private theater, swimming pool, billiards lounge, La Palestra fitness center, garden, and children's playroom. There is also a pet spa.

History

The project involved the acquisition of about 70,000 square feet of air rights from St. Michael's Episcopal Church at 225 West 99th Street.

A March 5, 2006 article by William Newman in The New York Times said that Extell bought 19,148 square feet of development rights for Ariel West in April, 2006 from the owners of four townhouses on 99th Street west of Broadway.

Extell has also developed the Orion at 350 West 42nd Street and the former Stanhope Hotel at 985 Fifth Avenue and the Chelsea condo conversions Altair 18 at 32 West 18th Street and Altair 20 at 15 West 20th Street. Gary Barnett, a principal of Extell, was a principal in the recent purchase of a large property at the southern end of Riverside South, the huge development by Donald Trump.

Location

Ariel East is adjacent to the Art Deco-style Metro Theater.