A Classical Revial-styled library built at the turn of the 19th century is getting new life as —you guessed it— residential condos. The three-floor structure at 61 Rivington Street, between Elizabeth and Allen, served as a branch to the oh-so progressive New York Public Library system. The dignified building features a rusticated stone base, a red brick facade, recessed bay windows, black spandrels, Corinthian pilasters, and a stone entablature and parapet. The Gilded Age structure was built to enlighten the once-assumed incorrigible slum-dwellers of the Lower East Side. How noble.
After serving some time as a dance hall and a restaurant, the building was acquired in 2018 by Horizon Group for $8.4 million with the intent of repositioning the building into eleven spacious condos averaging around 1,200 square feet. The design firm at the helm is the growing and adaptable Issac & Stern Architects who have found a niche in interpreting pre-war stylings into contemporary structures. While the existing building will be returned to mint condition, a glassy, unapologetically modern addition will rise above. A recent pass by the quaint side-street site shows that steel that will frame the three-story topper has begun to rise.
After serving some time as a dance hall and a restaurant, the building was acquired in 2018 by Horizon Group for $8.4 million with the intent of repositioning the building into eleven spacious condos averaging around 1,200 square feet. The design firm at the helm is the growing and adaptable Issac & Stern Architects who have found a niche in interpreting pre-war stylings into contemporary structures. While the existing building will be returned to mint condition, a glassy, unapologetically modern addition will rise above. A recent pass by the quaint side-street site shows that steel that will frame the three-story topper has begun to rise.
In this article:
September 2020
Aside from sprucing up the facade, the team will make the interiors suitable for high-end habitation. Building permits
filed back in 2018 show there will be between two and three residences per floor from level one through four, and two full-floor units on five and six. The sole rendering of the project, produced by Picksell Studio
, show that the upper-floor spreads will have terraces.
A story by the local blog Bowery Boogie
alludes that the building will be known as The Horizon at Rivington. A submitted but yet to be approved offering plan from July 2020 declares a sellout of $25.3M which pencils out to an average of $2.3M a pop. The building will join other successful nearby boutique condos like 150 Rivington Street, 215 Chrystie Street, and 204 Forsyth Street. Horizon, the developer, has been been part of a number of rental and condo developments throughout the city that include 100 Norfolk, Galerie LIC, and 251 First Street
.
Would you like to tour any of these properties?
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