The 867-foot-high mixed-use tower at 8 Spruce Street will have more than 600 different apartment layouts, according to an article in yesterday's edition of The New York Times by Fred A. Bernstein.

"That could be a headache for the building's rental agents, who will begin showing units by the end of the first quarter next year, said MaryAnne Gilmartin, an executive vice president of Forest City Ratner," the developer of the skyscraper, the article said.

The article noted that "potential renters may want to see dozens of units before selecting one to live in," she said, adding that "Several hundred apartments, on the building's lower floors, will hit the market" when leasing starts and that "additional sections of the building will be rented as they are completed over the course of about a year."

Ms. Gilmartin said "she thought rents might be about $80 per square foot per year" and the article said "that would put the rent for the smallest apartment at 8 Spruce Street - a 450-square-foot-studio - at $3,000 a month."

She said she would not be surprised to get preemptive offers for some of the top-floor apartments and that Forest City Ratner was even considering leaving one or more floors unfinished - something rarely if ever done in a rental building - for tenants who would like to customize their units, the article said.

"If the apartments do command high rents, it will mean a big payday for Forest City Ratner. One reason is that the company received tax abatements, under a program originally meant to stimulate construction of affordable housing. (In 2006, Community Board 1 passed a resolution criticizing the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development for giving the 20-year abatement to a building with no affordable housing component)," the article said.

The 76-story tower has been designed by Frank O. Gehry who told The Times that Bruce Ratner, the developer, offered to extend the stainless steel cladding of the top of the tower all the way to the ground but that he felt that a brown masonry facade would be more appropriate for the 630-seat school in the tower's base. "I wanted to make the base part of the neighborhood," the architect said, the article continued.

"Mr. Gehry said he wanted dispel a rumor that the building's south side is completely flat because he needed to cut costs. 'It cost exactly the same,' said Mr. Gehry, who produced a geode from a shelf in his office to demonstrate the effect he was going for: a rough volume with one very smooth surface," the article said.

The building, which was formerly known as Beekman Tower, is the tallest residential building in the city and has become a major element of the Lower Manhattan skyline.

The picture at the right was posted October 2, 2010 by NYkid17 at wirednewyork.com.