Woo brings architecture to development

The New York Observer profiles Young Woo, whose Youngwoo and Associates purchased AIG’s 70 Pine Street and 72 Wall Street earlier this month for $140 million. Colleagues said that if any developer can succeed in this market, Woo can. He started his first business, a sweater factory, in Buenos Aires at age 16. He studied architecture at the Pratt Institute and ended up bringing that background into real estate, and has developed such buildings as the Chelsea Arts Tower on West 25th Street and the condominium at 200 Eleventh Avenue. Woo is currently competing against several other developers for Pier 57.