Georgica, 305 East 85th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 305 East 85th Street by Carter Horsley

The Georgica is a very attractive, L-shaped, 58-unit, residential condominium tower at 305 East 85th Street that wraps around a property on the northeast corner of 85th Street and Second Avenue.

The 21-story building was designed by Cetra/Ruddy and developed by the Ascend Group LLC, of which Robert Kaliner is a principal.

Bottom Line

This handsome glass-clad residential tower is cantilevered slightly over two of its neighbors.  It has a rooftop swimming pool and is not far from shopping and good public transportation on 86^th Street.

Description

The handsome building has floor-to-ceiling windows, some balconies, an entrance marquee and is brawnly cantilevered and two sides.

Amenities

The building has a 24-hour concierge, a rooftop swimming pool, a refrigerated package room and a lobby with marble flooring and limestone walls.

There is excellent bus service and shopping in the area and an express stop of the Lexington Avenue subway is at 86th Street.

Apartments

Kitchens have Miele appliances and an angled marble stove hood and a Bosch washer/dryer.

The building has ceilings that range in height from 9 to 11 feet 4 inches. Many apartments have fireplaces and many have terraces or balconies.

Apartment 5C has a foyer that leads past a 13-foot-long bedroom and a 13-foot-long library/den to a 23-foot-long living/dining room with a pass-through kitchen and a 17-foot-long master suite with a 16-foot-long dressing room.

Apartment 15D is a three-bedroom unit that has a large foyer that leads to a 21-foot-long corner living/dining room with a pass-through kitchen.

Apartment 16A has a foyer next to an enclosed kitchen that leads to a 27-foot-long living/dining room with an adjoining 15-foot-long library and a terrace.  There is a 21-foot-long master suite with a 15-foot-long sitting room and a terrace as well as three other bedrooms.

Penthouse B is a four-bedroom unit that has a foyer that leads to a 30-foot-long living/dining room with a terrace adjacent to a large eat-in kitchen.

History

The site formerly consisted of three, 5-story, walk-up apartment buildings and was acquired for $42,250,000 from a joint venture of The Lincoln Property Company of Dallas and Equity Residential, a real estate investment trust in an auction conducted by Eastern Consolidated. 

The project used air rights purchased from the building at 1648 Second Avenue that houses the Heidelberg Restaurant, one of the few remaining German restaurants that made the Yorkville neighborhood centered about 86th Street west of Lexington Avenue famous.

Location

The building was the third major new residential tower under construction in the area at the same time. The Related Companies was erecting the Brompton on the southeast corner of 86th Street and Third Avenue and Extell development was building the Lucida on the southeast corner of 86th Street and Lexington Avenue.