The views from music mogul Russell Simmons’ condo are crystal balls into the future of Lower Manhattan. One view from the 11th-floor condo at 114 Liberty Street overlooks Ground Zero, including the soon-to-open 7 World Trade Center and the space that may in a few years cradle the Freedom Tower. Another view stares down on the renovations to Liberty Plaza Park, set to re-open in the summer. Yet another – this one from one of three terraces – looks out at new buildings on the Jersey Shore across the Hudson.
But perhaps the shiniest crystal ball is the view from the roof right above Simmons’ condo. From there it’s possible to see dozens of blocks uptown to the MetLife Building on 42nd Street – and all the bustle of the city in between.
With plans for as much as 10 million square feet of office space and at least 11 new residential buildings either planned or recently opened in Lower Manhattan, the area could in a few years be jumping again – transformed from a neighborhood that shuts down after dusk to one also bustling with activity 24-7. Whoever plunks down the $8.2 million or thereabouts for Simmons’ condo could be a part of that, says Lisa Maysonet, a senior vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman who’s brokering the condo’s sale for Simmons and his wife, the designer Kimora Lee Simmons.
“I tell people this place is for a visionary,” Maysonet said as she stood at the top of the spiral wood staircase separating the condo’s two (indoor) floors. “Because this neighborhood’s going to be completely different years from now.”
Simmons, a Queens native who co-founded Def Jam Recordings and helped shepherd hip-hop into the mainstream, bought the condo in the late 1980s and tried to sell it in 2001. Just as he neared a sale to Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, the September 11 attacks happened across the street. The condo was severely damaged, and the views went quickly from beautiful to profoundly melancholy.
Four years passed. The condo was renovated, re-emerging with a sweeping floor plan punctuated by at least five bedrooms and five bathrooms, with 12-foot ceilings and as many as 40 windows. And with a bit of trivia: Bill Clinton once dined there.
Now, back on the market since November, Maysonet hopes to sell the condo soon. The views, it’s clear, are one of her most potent selling points.