Armani is coming to the New York Stock Exchange. Not because designer Giorgio Armani’s company has gone public, but because one of his firms is redesigning an early 20th-century office building just around the corner from the Big Board.
Some are taking this effort as another sign the Financial District is an increasingly friendly area for a high-end, full-service residential address.
Armani/Casa, the designer’s home décor company, is redoing the 35-floor landmark art deco-styled skyscraper with multiple tiered set-backs that served as the founding headquarters of Chase Manhattan Bank. Its new name, 20 Pine The Collection, is a bit of a mouthful, but the building will offer a distinctive, mostly manly aesthetic that reflects its Wall Street environs.
The 409-unit building gets all the requisite amenities and a few new ones thrown in. (Turkish steam bath, anyone?) Its color scheme and choice of fabrics will be in keeping with the Armani concept: subtle off-tones, organic materials, and clear lines that will draw upon the original art deco theme.
But the project’s size puts it among the largest condo projects in Lower Manhattan, and that raises questions about the demand for luxury living in the area. Brokers say the project’s developer, Shaya Boymelgreen, is taking his game to the next level in pairing with the Armani line, but they also wonder if the condos are hitting the market after its peak, in what some might still see as a fringe neighborhood.
Boymelgreen has been there before. Sales at 15 Broad Street, otherwise known as Downtown by Philippe Starck, saw contracts signed on half of the building’s 326 units within a month after sales began in August 2004. Three months ago, Boymelgreen decided to add 56 more apartments to the project’s original units.
Boymelgreen said Armani signifies a “chic elegance” that combines well with the aesthetics of 20 Pine.
“If you look closely, 20 Pine is really a marvelous example of art deco architecture,” Boymelgreen said, pointing to the building’s Egyptian cornices and tiered design.
“By going with Armani, [Boymelgreen is] taking it to an even higher level than the Philippe Starck building,” said Barak Dunayer, president of Barak Realty. “But, still, 400 units in the Financial District; I’d be a little nervous.”
That’s because it’s not yet a true 24-7 neighborhood. There is 85 million square feet of office space, much of it in antiquated building stock that’s spectacular classic architecture, but rife with spatial limitations. More than 1,500 residential units have come to market since 2002, according to the Alliance for Downtown New York; full residential amenities haven’t yet followed, however.
“These are buildings with limitations on layout, window size and ceiling height,” said Joseph Benz, president of Metro Spire, a commercial and residential brokerage. And yet there are going to be more than 2,000 new residences coming to market in 2006, according to the Alliance.
Renters have found value here, said Clifford Finn, Citi Habitats’ director of new development. Developers believe they can find buyers there, too.
Other properties, like the Cipriani Club Residences at 55 Wall Street, have also sought to raise the bar and pull residents in from all corners of Manhattan and beyond.
“I think we are looking at a brave new experiment – whether brand can pull home buyers in – and I think it will,” Benz said. “But there aren’t that many luxury brands out there that can pull this off, though. Can you picture ‘kitchen by Prada’ and ‘closets by Chanel?'” he asked. “That’s a stretch; but ‘home by Armani?’ I’ll buy that.”
Kevin Bergin, director of the interior design studio at Armani/Casa, said the building will be “deco-inspired but quite serious and more masculine than feminine.”
While the Cipriani Club, designed by architect Calvin Tsao, draws more literally upon a classic `20s styling, Armani Casa will use the period as a point of inspiration for a more contemporary design, Bergin said.
Apartments on floors five to 24 will feature 10-foot beamed ceilings and ebony hardwood floors with open kitchens. Bathroom vanities will be finished in Brazilian woods. Dark bronzes will be in play in the large open spaces in the building such as the hammam, the building’s Turkish steam bath, and the 25th-floor terrace lounge with a reflecting pool.
The building will also feature a 33-foot-high lobby area where the bay entrance will be doubled in size and magnified by a clear glass façde that looks out onto the plaza across the street. Nine penthouse apartments on the top floors will be custom designed for their owners.
Marketer Michael Shvo wants people to equate the real estate of 20 Pine The Collection with luxury goods. He put together a 112-page magazine packed with advertisements for luxury goods, such as Brioni leather briefcases and Ferrari sports cars, as well as photos of models that call as much attention to themselves as the building interiors they purport to be showcasing.
“Buyers are not just looking for you to put in a Subzero refrigerator because that’s just not enough anymore,” Shvo said. “They want the lifestyle. They want to come in and feel they’re a part of something.”