The Heywood, 263 Ninth Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 263 Ninth Avenue by Carter Horsley

The Heywood is a very handsome, 10-story building at 263 Ninth Avenue on the southwest corner of 26^th Street in Chelsea.

 It was erected in 1913 and for decades was occupied as a printing house and was converted in 2005 to 50 condominium loft-style apartments by Henry J. Justin.

 In 2004, Mr. Justin, the head of H. J. Development Corporation, had converted another nearby industrial property at 130 West 30^th Street into the Cass Gilbert residential condominium.

Bottom Line

With its central Chelsea location at 26th Street, it is convenient to many art galleries, boutiques, restaurants and the High Line. There is good public transportation at 23rd Street.

Description

The building is distinguished by its very large, multipane windows and large cornice.

Amenities

The building has a roof deck, a 24-hour doorman, basement storage and is pet-friendly. 

 It has no garage, no fitness center and no balconies.

Apartments

The building has four duplex ground-floor apartments and four of the five penthouses are duplex units. 

Apartments have 12- to 13-foot-high ceilings and very large windows as well as four-inch-wide white oak flooring, central heating and air-conditioning and washers and dryers.

Kitchens have white oak cabinetry, Sub-zero refrigerators and limestone countertops.

Master bathrooms have marble countertops, tub decks with large soaking tubs, and Toto water closets.

Apartment 8A is a one-bedroom unit that has an 11-foot-long entry foyer that leads pas a 10-foot-wide pass-through kitchen to a 21-foot-long living/dining room and a 14-foot-long home office.

Apartment 1B is a one-bedroom duplex unit with a 14-foot-long foyer that leads past an open 16-foot-long kitchen to a 31-foot-living/dining room and a 16-foot-long bedroom.  The lower level as a 42-foot-long recreation room.

Apartment 2E has a foyer that leads past an 11-foot-long open kitchen to a 30-foot-long living/dining room.  It has a 16-foot-long bedroom and an office.

History

The building reportedly has four feet of concrete between its floors, leading Aileen Grossman, its director of sales, to tell Steve Cutler of therealdeal.com in October, 2007 that “the city could go under, but this building will stay.”  “In Manhattan, most people like to sheetrock their ceilings,” he continued, adding that he had four guys, arms flailing eight houses a day, putting close to six coats of PlasterWeld, StructureLite, a full coat of gypsum and four coats of compound.