Merchant’s House penthouses
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The Real Deal New York
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Although the developers tried to keep as much of the original building intact, the sixth floor was in rough shape and needed to be rebuilt. In its place, the developer constructed penthouse units with oversized terraces. This two-bedroom, two-bathroom south-facing penthouse contains a 1,400-square-foot interior and a 1,900-square-foot terrace. Its asking price is $799,000. Above, from left: a few of the penthouse from the terrace and a look at the terrace from inside the unit.
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On the ground floor, this space will ultimately be transformed into the building's courtyard. The perimeter of the garden will be used to cordon off individual terraces for several of the first-floor units.
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With its last graduating class coming through in 1970, PS90 has stood empty at 220 West 148th Street for 40 years. Today, L M Development Partners is reimagining the space as a condominium residence, after closing construction approval with the city in 2008.
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Of course, the parts of the building that were maintained needed a little extra TLC. The builders hired master stone masons from Sri Lanka to remove the parapets and reinstall them when the construction process was over. Gargoyles, like these, were also removed and then reinstalled during construction to avoid being damaged.
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Another challenge was dealing with the quirks of an older building. Unlike modern developments, some of the windows are asymmetrical. As Anne Carson, an L M project manager, pointed out, the developers had to work around these details sometimes. "It's not like a new building where you can put your window wherever you want," the project manager explained.
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Project manager Mentor Haxhija said extra measures have to be taken to ensure the preservation of the building during construction. "When you're dealing with a building with a[n original] facade, you can't just demolish it at once," Haxhija said. Also a problem: the vegetation growing out of the walls after several decades of abandonment.
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Even more challenging, perhaps, is upgrading the front walk for modern use. The ground level has been dug out so that the building will be wheelchair accessible -- something that was not a consideration when the school was first built over a century ago -- and an elevator has been installed in the lobby. Another detail they didn't have in 1907, a video access system, is currently being installed at the front gate.
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Although many in the community expressed an interest in the conversion, Halstead Property Development Marketing agent Sidney Whelan said that they haven't caught much flack. "Obviously, since it closed 40 years ago, they've come to terms with it not being a school," Whelan explained. The development team expects to have the building's temporary certificate of occupancy confirmed in May. (Image from an earlier date. Source: PS90)
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17 of the building's units are currently in contract, like this 1,400-square-foot, two-bedroom model unit, which has an asking price of $710,000.
