Trying to distinguish their condo projects from an increasingly crowded Manhattan marketplace, many developers are using floor plans as marketing tools to give their buildings an added edge.
Creative uses of space have taken many forms, from “flex” floor plans that let buyers customize their space, to conversions that capitalize on quirky features like a seven-sided building, as well as new projects that closely echo classic prewar designs.
To appeal to buyer demand, Dawn Tsien, president of new developments at Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, encouraged Emmut Properties, the developer of a 16-unit residential condominium project at 159 Bleecker Street, to utilize flexible floor plans to stand out from other area offerings.
“We told the developer in marketing the property, the ability to transform a space from something that is more cookie-cutter to more usable space that is flexible is beneficial and this was something the developer responded to,” says Tsien.
More than 50 percent of the building’s units have the “flex” option. “We have areas which, either because of lot line windows or the configuration of the building, provide available space but not as a legal bedroom. In general, people want something different and for room to grow within a space,” says Tsien.
Josh Guberman, CEO of Core Development Group, which is developing Union Square Lofts, a two-building, through-block project located at 10 East 14th Street and 5 East 13th Street, sought to create distinct environments within each of the project’s seven apartments.
“Entertaining, dining, and cooking takes place in the front portion of the units, then when you move to the rear of the units you have all of these private, quiet spaces, and this was part of our approach,” Guberman says. “We wanted to create more of a lifestyle plan.”
Designing large unit sizes made this possible, he said. “We could have done 18 to 20 units. But we felt we wanted to differentiate ourselves in a very crowded market from vanilla-shelf projects, so what we set out to do is, when someone walks in, they see the forethought that was put into creating a home,” Guberman says.
Unusually shaped buildings are another way to avoid cookie-cutter apartment layouts.
Prospective buyers considering one of 65 condos in Tribeca Summit at 415 Greenwich Street have the opportunity to buy not only two-bedroom lofts and duplex penthouses but so called “bay homes” as well. The project, a conversion of the former Summit Warehouse, makes use of former loading docks in creating the expansive 2,500- to 4,200-square-foot condos with high ceilings.
“Because we had such large floor plates, we saw an opportunity to do something creative,” says developer Ethan Eldon. “We combined the first floor and the second floor and then we cut mezzanine levels in between so the living rooms have in excess of 15-foot-high ceilings and the kitchen and other ground level space will have 10-foot-high ceilings. It allows for a variety of living with the ability to do activities on different floors.”
Eldon said, in addition to location, most buyers are perhaps most interested in space. “We wanted to provide three different living opportunities for people and that is why we provided the bay homes, the simplexes, and penthouses, but all of them are large spaces, and we specifically designed them larger than most lofts would be. People are really dissatisfied with some of the confined units on the market today,” he says.
A project converting 147 Waverly Place in the West Village to condos had to contend with another unusual structural detail — a heptagonal, or seven-sided, building. Some of the 20 half- and full-floor condos in the building feature as many as seven exposures, a definite draw for buyers who want views. The potential downside of working with a seven-sided building is that rooms could have unusual shapes, but that was minimized.
“The comment that people make when they come into the building is that we don’t have any quirky-shaped rooms,” says Mary Ellen Cashman, an agent with Stribling & Associates, who is marketing the building. “I think often when you are working with a building that is an interesting shape you get these quirky-shaped rooms that are impossible to furnish and uncomfortable to live in.”
Stribling and BKSK Architects had weekly meetings over the course of several months in order to fine-tune the floor plans. “We looked at plan after plan until we met their marketing goals as well as all of our design goals,” says Joan Krevlin, an architect and partner at BKSK. “We didn’t have a large floor plate but we wanted the spaces to feel as big as possible. We were able to put bathrooms and service areas in the core of the building so that bedrooms and the living areas could be along the perimeters.”
Because of limited floor space, common hallways were eliminated. Instead, the building was outfitted with two banks of elevators so elevators open to each individual apartment.
“The building from the outside appears to be much larger than it is,” says Cashman. “Once you are inside you begin to realize the footprint of the building is not enormous. We wanted to get the most out of each floor and one way we achieved this was to not use any of our existing square footage with common hallways.”
Layouts in other new projects try to preserve the past to lure buyers — though with some modern features.
Fifteen Central Park West, developed by Zeckendorf Development, has already set a record, at $45 million, for the most expensive New York City apartment sale ever. The development will be entirely clad in Indiana limestone, an homage to material used on historic New York monuments such as the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center.
Floor plans at 15 Central Park West capture prewar attributes influenced by “classic six” and “classic seven” layouts. Developer Arthur Zeckendorf describes the floor plans as “prewar units in design but with modern features.
“We were prewar down to the floor plans with the exception of our bathrooms are much bigger, our kitchens and other amenities are modern,” says Zeckendorf. “When one thinks of prewar they usually think of large living rooms that are rectangular in shape and easier to furnish. You also have a foyer that feeds into various rooms.”