161 Hudson Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 161 Hudson Street by Carter Horsley

This 9-story former warehouse at 161 Hudson Street at Laight Street in TriBeCa was erected in 1911 and converted to residential condominiums in 2004 by Saddle Rock Equities. It has 24 apartments and amenities that include a part-time doorman and full-time super. It is ideally situated near the Hudson River Park, the best restaurants, and the 1/2/3, A/C/E, J/Z, Q/N/R, and 6 subway lines.

Bottom Line

This elegant, mid-rise TriBeCa building was home for many years to Jon Stewart, the television commentator and the Wetlands Preserve nightclub.

Description

The building has a large cornice and a bandcourse above the second floor.

Amenities

The building has a part-time doorman, a superintendent and a roof deck.

Apartments

The penthouse has about 5,802 square feet of interior space, a 600-square-foot terrace and a 1,200-square-foot roof deck was sold by Jon Stewart, the late-night television commentator, for $17.5 million to Kisban LLC in 2014.  Mr. Stewart had bought it for his Stanley Monkey Trust, named after his pet cat and pitbull terrier, in 2005 for $5.8 million.

Apartment 4B is a three-bedroom unit with an 11-foot-wide entry foyer that leads past a 10-foot-long breakfast area across from an 11-foot-long open kitchen with an island to a 37-foot-long great room.  The unit also has a 14-foot-wide media room next to the great room.

Apartment 2A is a three-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer that leads to a 15-foot-long corner den, a 25-foot-wide living/dining room with an open, 18-foot-wide kitchen with an island.

Apartment 6C is a three-bedroom unit that has a 22-foot-long living room next to a 17-foot-long dining room adjacent to a pass-through kitchen.

Apartment 2B is a three-bedroom unit with a small entry foyer that opens onto a 20-foot-long dining foyer and a 13-foot-long open kitchen and a 33-foot-wide living room.

History

This former food warehouse was acquired in 1989 by Larry Bloch, who had owned a printing business in Santa Monica, California, and was a fan of the Grateful Dead rock band.  Mr. Bloch opened a nightclub in the building that was known as Wetlands that according to an article by James. C. McKinley Jr., in the November 3, 2012 edition of The New York Times, “became a center of the burgeoning jam-band scene, presenting acts like Phish and the Dave Matthews Band.”  Mr. Bloch, who died in 2012, wanted to create a club “to encourage people to become active in environmental causes.”  The article noted that “a carved wooden sign near the entrance of the club, an earthly two-level establishment, carried Mr. Bloch’s motto: ‘We Labor to Birth Our Dance With The Earth.’”

In 1997, Bloch sold the club to Peter Shapiro, then 23 years old, who continued to operate it until 2001.