The recent purchaser of the great Art Deco skyscraper at 70 Pine Street has indicated that he is contemplating the conversion of the top 48 floors of the building to residential condominium apartments, according to an article by Adam Pincus in today's edition of therealdeal.com.
The article said that Young Woo, the head of Youngwoo & Associates, told a meeting last night of the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate Silverstein Workshop moderated by Robert Shapiro, the president of City Center Real Estate, that he believed he can get $2,000 a square foot for the residential space.
He and the Kumho Investment Bank of South Korea acquired the 952-foot-high building and neighboring, 16-story 72 Wall Street in August for $150 million, or about $105 a square foot, a remarkably low price for such a world-famous skyscraper icon. The two buildings have a total of about 1.4 million square feet of space.
The skyscraper was designed in 1932 by Clinton & Russell and Holton & George and Steve Cuozzo of The New York Post recently wrote that it is home "to some of Manhattan's most glorious interior spaces - including a private, top-floor observatory that architectural historian and former Post real estate editor Carter B. Horsley has called 'the greatest room in the world.'" Mr. Cuozzo added that he "was privileged to visit the terraced aerie with Horsley 20 years ago, and can attest to its singular capacity to awe."
Mr. Woo was the developer of the Sky Garage residential condominium project at 200 11th Avenue where most apartments have a room on their floor for a car.
The article quoted Gregory Carney of Youngwoo & Associates as stating that AIG will vacate 72 Wall Street this year and the tower by the end of next year. Mr. Woo, it continued, estimated capital costs of about $50 a square foot and tenant improvement costs of $70 a square foot for the commercial portion of the skyscraper but did not provide estimated costs for the residential portion.
Youngwoo & Associates was also designated recently as part of the development team for Pier 57 on the Hudson River.
70 Pine Street was occupied for many years by the Cities Service Company until it was acquired by the American International Group (AIG).
The early generation of Lower Manhattan skyscrapers highlighted by the Woolworth, Singer and Bankers Trust buildings had very distinctive silhouettes. The Art Deco period ushered in a new streamlined generation that were much thinner and close enough together to create the illusion of a forest arising out of the shrubbery of mere 20- and 30-story towers.
With the virtually simultaneous completion of the Cities Service Building, 40 Wall Street, One Wall Street and 20 Exchange Place, the Lower Manhattan skyline assumed a magisterial place in urban iconography.
The article said that Young Woo, the head of Youngwoo & Associates, told a meeting last night of the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate Silverstein Workshop moderated by Robert Shapiro, the president of City Center Real Estate, that he believed he can get $2,000 a square foot for the residential space.
He and the Kumho Investment Bank of South Korea acquired the 952-foot-high building and neighboring, 16-story 72 Wall Street in August for $150 million, or about $105 a square foot, a remarkably low price for such a world-famous skyscraper icon. The two buildings have a total of about 1.4 million square feet of space.
The skyscraper was designed in 1932 by Clinton & Russell and Holton & George and Steve Cuozzo of The New York Post recently wrote that it is home "to some of Manhattan's most glorious interior spaces - including a private, top-floor observatory that architectural historian and former Post real estate editor Carter B. Horsley has called 'the greatest room in the world.'" Mr. Cuozzo added that he "was privileged to visit the terraced aerie with Horsley 20 years ago, and can attest to its singular capacity to awe."
Mr. Woo was the developer of the Sky Garage residential condominium project at 200 11th Avenue where most apartments have a room on their floor for a car.
The article quoted Gregory Carney of Youngwoo & Associates as stating that AIG will vacate 72 Wall Street this year and the tower by the end of next year. Mr. Woo, it continued, estimated capital costs of about $50 a square foot and tenant improvement costs of $70 a square foot for the commercial portion of the skyscraper but did not provide estimated costs for the residential portion.
Youngwoo & Associates was also designated recently as part of the development team for Pier 57 on the Hudson River.
70 Pine Street was occupied for many years by the Cities Service Company until it was acquired by the American International Group (AIG).
The early generation of Lower Manhattan skyscrapers highlighted by the Woolworth, Singer and Bankers Trust buildings had very distinctive silhouettes. The Art Deco period ushered in a new streamlined generation that were much thinner and close enough together to create the illusion of a forest arising out of the shrubbery of mere 20- and 30-story towers.
With the virtually simultaneous completion of the Cities Service Building, 40 Wall Street, One Wall Street and 20 Exchange Place, the Lower Manhattan skyline assumed a magisterial place in urban iconography.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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