Youngwoo & Associates, a real estate concern here headed by Young Woo, is reported to be in contract to purchase the great former Cities Service Building at 70 Pine Street that is now known as the AIG building.
An announcement by CB Richard Ellis, the brokerage firm representing the troubled insurance concern, said that Youngwoo with the backing of Kumho Investment Bank of Korea has signed a contract to buy the 952-foot-high skyscraper and an adjoining 16-story building at 72 Wall Street which is connected by a skybridge for about $100 a square foot.
According to an article in today's on-line edition of The New York Observer by Dana Rubenstein, the two buildings have a total of 1.4 million square feet of space.
Youngwoo is the developer of the residential condominium project under construction at 200 11th Avenue that has been designed for each apartment to have its own garage room on its own floor. Youngwoo is also bidding for the development rights to Pier 57 on the Hudson River.
An article by Steve Cuozzo in today's edition of The New York Post maintained that "Whoever's negotiating to buy AIG's magnificent 70 Pine St. headquarters tower along with 72 Wall St. from the bailed-out insurer should know that people are watching: namely, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission."
Mr. Cuozzo noted that "surprisingly, the iconic 70 Pine St., steeped in Art Deco detail and a commanding skyline presence since 1932, is not a designated city landmark; thus, it enjoys no protection from demolition or ruinous changes."
Mr. Cuozzo quoted David Childs, the architect who is the new chair of the Municipal Art Society, that 70 Pine Street is "one of the prides of the city" and "needs whatever protection it can have."
Mr. Cuozzo wrote that Peg Breen, the president of the Landmarks Conservancy, yesterday asked the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to consider the skyscraper for designation. He also wrote that commission spokesperson Elisabeth de Bourbon said that Robert Tierney, the commission's chair, and his staff "have been looking at it for some time," adding that "it is meritorious, but it's a matter of taking the next step, which would be to have a conversation with the new owners."
Mr. Cuozzo noted that the skyscraper was designed by Clinton & Russell and Holton & George and 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."
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 massing of the tower lends itself to a mixed-use conversion that might include residential uses.
An announcement by CB Richard Ellis, the brokerage firm representing the troubled insurance concern, said that Youngwoo with the backing of Kumho Investment Bank of Korea has signed a contract to buy the 952-foot-high skyscraper and an adjoining 16-story building at 72 Wall Street which is connected by a skybridge for about $100 a square foot.
According to an article in today's on-line edition of The New York Observer by Dana Rubenstein, the two buildings have a total of 1.4 million square feet of space.
Youngwoo is the developer of the residential condominium project under construction at 200 11th Avenue that has been designed for each apartment to have its own garage room on its own floor. Youngwoo is also bidding for the development rights to Pier 57 on the Hudson River.
An article by Steve Cuozzo in today's edition of The New York Post maintained that "Whoever's negotiating to buy AIG's magnificent 70 Pine St. headquarters tower along with 72 Wall St. from the bailed-out insurer should know that people are watching: namely, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission."
Mr. Cuozzo noted that "surprisingly, the iconic 70 Pine St., steeped in Art Deco detail and a commanding skyline presence since 1932, is not a designated city landmark; thus, it enjoys no protection from demolition or ruinous changes."
Mr. Cuozzo quoted David Childs, the architect who is the new chair of the Municipal Art Society, that 70 Pine Street is "one of the prides of the city" and "needs whatever protection it can have."
Mr. Cuozzo wrote that Peg Breen, the president of the Landmarks Conservancy, yesterday asked the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to consider the skyscraper for designation. He also wrote that commission spokesperson Elisabeth de Bourbon said that Robert Tierney, the commission's chair, and his staff "have been looking at it for some time," adding that "it is meritorious, but it's a matter of taking the next step, which would be to have a conversation with the new owners."
Mr. Cuozzo noted that the skyscraper was designed by Clinton & Russell and Holton & George and 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."
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 massing of the tower lends itself to a mixed-use conversion that might include residential uses.
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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