The Astor, 235 West 75th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 235 West 75th Street by Carter Horsley

This large, gray-brick apartment house at 235 West 75^th Street occupies the entire Broadway frontage between 75^th and 76^th Streets and is one of the handsomest apartment complexes on the Upper West Side.

It was built in 1901 by William Waldorf, son of John Jacob Astor 2^nd and the builder of the Waldorf section of the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel that stood on the present site of the Empire State Building.

Mr. Astor built the two 8-story buildings at the south end of the Broadway frontage to designs by Clinton & Russell.  The third, 12-story wing was erected in 1913 and was designed in compatible style by Peabody, Wilson & Brown. 

The building was subsequently acquired by HFZ Capital Group of which Ziel Feldman is a principal and he planned to convert its 199 rental apartments to 100 condominium units in 2015.

Pembroke & Ives is the interior designer.

Bottom Line

A very handsome, pre-war apartment complex on Broadway at the center of the Upper West Side.

Description

A quite stately, grey-brick ensemble of two 8-story wings and one 12-story wing with a connected one-story base.

The wings share a second-story stone façade and limestone quoins and ornate cornices.  The lower wing also has some central balconies and projecting bays.

The top floor of each wing has escutcheons between the windows.

Amenities

The building has a 24-hour concierge, a fitness center, and a children’s playroom.

Apartments

Residence T is a three-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer that leads to a 27-foot-long corner living room with a pass-through kitchen and a washer-dryer unit and two fireplaces.

Residence A Penthouse is a two-bedroom unit with a 26-foot-long living room, and open kitchen and a four-step-up, very large, wrap-around terrace.

Residence A is a one-bedroom unit with a large entry hall that leads past an open, pass-through kitchen to a 15-foot-long living room.

Apartment 8H is a one-bedroom unit with a 17-foot-long living room with a fireplace and a pass-through kitchen.

Apartment 7Q is a one-bedroom unit with an angled entry foyer that leads past an open, pass-through kitchen to a 20-foot-long living room with a fireplace.

Apartment 7W is a studio unit with an 18-foot-long living room with a bay window and an enclosed kitchen.

Residence E is a studio unit with an 18-foot-long living room with a wood-burning fireplace and a sleeping alcove.

History

The building became the 584-room West Side Towers, a single-occupancy hotel that was once described by New York State Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz as “an incredible chamber of horrors.”

In 1977, Herbert Mandel bought the property for $2 million and began a conversion under the city’s J-51 program to 220 rental apartments.