Carter's Review

The very handsome, 7-story, pre-war apartment building at 78 Irving Place on the southeast corner of 19^th Street on the “block beautiful” in the Gramercy Park area was erected as a rental in 1920 and was sold in 2014 to Irving Place Investors LLC, which plans to convert its 14 apartments to 7 residential condominiums.

PKSB Architects, of which Sherida B. Paulsen is a principal, has designed the conversion and Hailey Development Group LLC is doing restoration work, which will include new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and an enlarged elevator.

Bottom Line

A very handsome, pre-war, mid-rise building is being converted to a few large apartments on one of the city’s most famous “beautiful” streets and very close to Gramercy Park and some very fine restaurants, in other words, heaven.

Description

The building has a four-step-up entrance over a moat on the side-street with an elaborate entrance surround.

The white-brick building has a two-story stone base with corner quoins and a cornice.

There is a fire-escape over the building’s entrance and some bay windows.

The property comes with a charming adjoining, one-story. 1,200-square-foot, carriage house painted black with a large multi-paned window and a stepped roof with a circular hole in the center flanked by attractive “tie-backs.”

History

According to a June 18, 2013 article by Katherine Clarke in therealdeal.com, “Silverstone Property, a Manhattan-based real estate investment company,” acquired the 14-unit rental property for $17.9 million, or $1,115 per square foot.

The seller was a partnership of two brothers operating under the name of Renrose Realty, which had owned the property for more than 40 years, the article said, adding that Silverstone was an affiliate of Madison Realty Capital.