More than three years after it opened for sales, the Skylofts at 145 Hudson Street in TriBeCa remain unoccupied.

The 14-story Art Deco-style industrial building was erected in 1928 and designed by Renwick, Aspinwall & Guard and was long known as the Hudson Square Building because it overlooks a large open area of that name that would became part of the road network of approaches and exits for the Hollard Tunnel a few blocks to the north.

In 2000, Joseph Pell Lombardi, an architect long active in residential conversions of older commercial properties, converted the top of the yellow-brick building from industrial use to residential condominiums. The lower floors were converted to commercial condominiums.

The top four floors were converted to 8 condominium loft apartments and called the Sky Lofts and were designed by Rogers Marvel Architects PLLC.

The top of the building has duplex penthouses that are among the most spectacular in TriBeCa. The conversion was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, but subsequently it discovered that the penthouses were 20 feet high, rather than 13 feet as approved.

The commission held another hearing after the discrepancy was discovered and because maintenance equipment had already been installed atop the penthouses it ordered that the penthouse configuration be modified to minimize visibility concerns. Another issue not involving the landmarks commission but the City Planning Commission was the building's requirement to provide rooftop recreational space.

The concierge at the building told CityRealty.Com today that the residential sections of the building are not yet occupied.

An article in today's New York magazine by S. Jhoanna Robledo entitled "Prisoners of Hudson Street" reported that "the finished lofts sit empty, collateral damage in a colossal misunderstanding among preservationists, the developer, and the city's maddening process for approving conversions."

"In the end, the penthouse will be dismantled to make way for an acceptable - that is, less visible - replacement," the article continued, adding that James Carpenter is the designer now responsible for the alteration.

The beige-brick building, which is surrounded by a "sidewalk shed," has a large lobby and arched windows on the next to the top floor of the original building and its facades are modulated by narrowly spaced piers at the corners framing the broad center windows.

This building occupies the full block frontage on Hudson Street between Hubert and Beach Streets and is wonderfully complemented by a new and exquisite, 16-story, residential condominium building directly behind it at 7 Hubert Street along a two-block narrow alley known as Collister Street.

Stanley Scott is the developer of the Sky Lofts at 145 Hudson Street. Its 8 condo lots ranged in size from about 4,000 to 5,000 square feet and were priced initially at $3,500,000 to $4,500,000 and the penthouses have about 5,000 square feet of indoor space and about 1,650 square feet of terraces and ranged in price from about $5,900,000 to $6,900,000. The lofts have ceilings about 12 feet high and the lofts have wood-burning fireplaces, Subzero refrigerators, and white oak floors.

Calls by CityRealty.com today to the brokers handling the building were not returned.