520 West 19th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 520 West 19th Street by Carter Horsley

The very handsome, 11-story, residential condominium building with 26 apartments at 520 West 19th Street was erected in 2008 by Bishopscourt Realty, of which Keith and John Jacobson are principals.

SLCE Architects and Selldorf Architects, which worked on the interiors of the Urban Glass House condominium at 330 Spring Street, and the interiors of the Abercrombie & Fitch store on Fifth Avenue at 56th Street, designed the building.

Bottom Line

Located on one of Chelsea’s great blocks, this handsome building is down the street from the spectacular Frank O. Gehry-designed office building for I.A.C., next to the Metal Shutter Houses designed by Shigeru Ban and across from Jean Nouvel’s curved tower with its fractured corner façade at 100 Eleventh Avenue.

Description

The mid-block building, which is distinguished by is use of "midnight blue" terracotta and a curved entrance marquee, has sidewalk landscaping.

This building has 8 two-bedroom apartments with 1,460 to 1,582 square feet, 16 three-bedroom apartments with 1,980 to 2,090 square feet, some with terraces, and 2 five-bedroom duplex penthouses with interiors and 4,054 and 4,232 square feet and terraces of about 640 square feet.

The top two floors are setback.

The lobby has terracotta-clad columns, Venetian plaster walls with granite and marble details and silver-gray terrazzo.

Amenities

The lobby is attended 24 hours a day.

There are storage units in the basement.

The building has no garage, no roof deck and no balconies.

Apartments

Apartments have floor-to-ceiling windows and fumed black oak floors.

Kitchens have Arclinea cabinetry, Marmo Grablo marble countertops, Sub-Zero refrigerator and wine cooler, Miele dishwasher and Axxis/Nexxt washers and dryers by Bosch.

Bathrooms have marble or travertine vanities, tub walls and decks, bathtubs and sinks by Kohler, toilets by Duravit, sink and tub fixtures by Grohe.

Apartment 2A is a two-bedroom unit with a 9-foot-long foyer that leads past a 9-foot-long open kitchen next to a 12-foot-long dining area that opens onto a 21-foot-long living room.

Apartment 3B is a three-bedroom unit that has a 19-foot-long foyer that leads to a 23-foot-square living/dining room with an open kitchen.

Penthouse B is a one-bedroom unit that has a 14-foot-long foyer that leads to a 20-foot-long dining room next to a 27-foot-long living room with a fireplace that is adjacent to a 20-foot-long library.  A 48-foot-long terrace has entrances from the living room and library and the apartment also has a 13-foot-long breakfast area next to a 14-foot-long open kitchen.

History

Ms. Selldorf was the architect of another Chelsea residential condominium project, 200 Eleventh Avenue. which was built around the same time as this building. That project was notable for its sculpted façade and for the fact that 14 of its 16 apartments had "garage" rooms where residents could house their car with a special freight elevator.