TriBeCa Space, 25 Murray Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 25 Murray Street by Carter Horsley

The attractive property at 25 Murray Street in TriBeCa occupies the full blockfront on Church Street between Murray and Warren Streets. It contains 74 residential condominium apartments that were priced initially from about $950,000 to $2,800,000 and range in size from 1- to 4-bedroom units.

A development of TriBeCa Mews LTD, which is associated with Thurcon Properties, the building has a two-story stone façade with rustication on the first floor and rusticated quoins at the corners and around two center bays on Church Street. The retail base on Warren Street has a deep, arched arcade.

The 12-story building has a red-brick façade on Church Street between the third and sixth floors and two setbacks above the sixth floor. The 6-story base is quite handsome although the setback roof addition is very boxy and bland.

It has a three-step-up entrance with glass doors leading into a very large and interesting lobby with red-brick walls and flooring and several large architectural elements recalling 19th Century industrial buildings in the area.

The building is one block to the west of City Hall Park and is convenient to public transportation and numerous restaurants.

An article by Carl Glassman in the May 2, 2008 edition of the TriBeCa Trib noted that "after more than seven years of construction, the building was completed six months ago." "It is an assemblage of five buildings, topped by a massive addition, that all together make up an imposing complex. Corcoran first began marketing the apartments in Spring 2006. Since then, buyers in contract have been left waiting and wondering when they might move in. Many could wait no longer and pulled out of their contracts," Mr. Glassman wrote.

An article July 7, 2008 by David Jones in therealdeal.com said that "the developer of a long-delayed TriBeCa condo building is slated to face three angry buyers - including the daughter of World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein - in court on July 2," adding that "the suit alleges that the developers Brad Thurman and his father, Harold, delayed closings dozens of contracts...so that frustrated buyers would back out of their agreements." The article said that the suit alleges that "the developers then planned to take advantage of the thriving Downtown loft market and resell the units at highter prices." The article said that Lisa Silverstein, a senior vice president at Silverstein Proeprties Inc., had signed an agreement in August 2006 to purchase four apartments on the 9th floor of the building for about $6 million. The article said that the developer "vehemently denied the charges."