South Star, 80 John Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 80 John Street by Carter Horsley

In 2006, this 24-story building was converted from rental apartments to residential condominiums, almost a decade after it had been converted from offices to rental apartments.

The building, which is now called the South Star, was the former Travelers Insurance building and its rental and condominium conversions were undertaken by WSA Equities, a real estate investment firm located in Garden City, N.Y. William Achenbaum is a principal of WSA Equities.

Stephen B. Jacobs was the architect and Andi Pepper was the designer for the new conversion.

The beige-brick building has a 4-step-up entrance and a 5-step-up vestibule.

It has a polished granite base beneath a four-story limestone base the top of which is a very attractive frieze with chevron designs that unfortunately has been punctured by some not-so-discrete air-conditioners.

The building is distinguished by its angled masonry spandrels that give the façade a fine sense of texture, highlighted by the green windows sills.

The building has five setbacks and is at the southwest corner at Gold Street and it occupies the angled blockfront on Gold Street between John and Platt Streets.

It is diagonally across from an attractive food market store and there are numerous other residential conversions of office buildings in the immediate vicinity such as 59, 85 and 99 John Street.

This is an attractive and relatively quiet street in the financial district and is convenient to the South Street Seaport and the Civic Center.

The building, which was erected in 1927, has an entrance canopy, fitness center and a garage with direct elevator access, a live-in superintendent, and no sidewalk landscaping.

It has about 145 apartments ranging in size from studios to three-bedroom units. The lobby is attended by a concierge and has 12-foot-high coffered ceilings.

Apartments have 10-foot-8-inch ceilings, 6-inch-wide Brazilian cherry flooring, double-pane windows, individual heat and air-conditioning, and apartments on the top 7 floors have Bosch washers and dryers.

Kitchens have cherry wood cabinetry with glass panels, granite countertops with full-height backsplashes, Sub-Zero stainless-steel refrigerators with bottom freezers, Bosch 4-burner, glass cooktops, Bosch stainless steel built-in convection ovens, GE stainless steel microwaves, and under cabinet lighting.

Master bathrooms have 18-inch-square porcelain wall and floor tiles, mahogany wood vanities with honed marble tops and white porcelain under-mounted sinks.