Harry Macklowe isn’t going for ultra-luxury at his office-to-residential conversion at 1 Wall Street. But that doesn’t mean the developer isn’t planning at least one over-the-top aerie.
A penthouse measuring 12,965 square feet will sit atop the 51-story Art Deco tower, where Macklowe is developing a total of 566 units, according to floor plans filed with the New York state Attorney General’s office. Spread over three floors — plus a 381-square-foot terrace at the top of the building — the “mansion in the sky” will have four bedrooms and four baths, plus a library, dining room, chef’s kitchen and a full-floor living room and lounge. Since the building’s floor plates get narrower at the top, each floor will be roughly 4,000 square feet.
Although the offering plan did not include prices, Macklowe has said condos on the lower floors will ask between $2,000 to $2,500 per square foot, while units in the top third of the building would ask between $2,800 and $3,000 per foot.
Assuming he sticks to that pricing and doesn’t tack on a premium for the penthouse, the top unit could ask north of $38 million — a relative bargain.
Floorplan for the 52nd floor at One Wall Street (Click to enlarge)
At Silverstein Properties’ 30 Park Place, activist investor Jesse Cohn paid $30 million, or $5,000 per foot, for a 6,000 square foot duplex in May. And last year, at Macklowe’s own 432 Park, Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Al Hokair reportedly bought the top penthouse — measuring 8,255 square feet — for nearly $88 million, or $10,600 per foot. Vornado’s 220 Central Park South has an 8,000-square-foot penthouse currently asking $100 million, or $12,500 per foot.
In addition to the penthouse, 1 Wall Street has moderate units comprised of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments. The building itself has two towers, the 51-story landmarked tower and a 30-story South tower. According to the plans, units will be designed with one of two finishes, modern or mid-century. CORE is marketing the property.
Initially, the conversion was supposed to be 65 percent rental apartments. But in March, Macklowe scrapped those plans amid a weakening rental market, and decided to go all condo. Amid a soft ultra-luxury market, he also said prices at 1 Wall Street would be far less than, say, 432 Park Avenue.
“We know that the demand for $10,000- or $12,000-a-foot units is very slow,” he told Bloomberg at the time. “We also know that there’s a great need for housing in the $2,500- to $3,000-a-foot range.”
The building will have a total of 678,000 square feet of residential space plus an 166,000-square-foot commercial unit. Residential amenities spread across four floors will include a playroom, dog spa, 75-foot pool, golf simulator, library, private dining rooms and indoor and outdoor lounges plus common terrace, according to the offering plan.
Macklowe remains in talks to land an $850 million construction loan for the tower from JPMorgan Chase. The developer was initially looking to borrow $1 billion, but in March, decided to increase the equity by $200 million and seek a smaller construction loan.