A Former Office Tower Goes Big for Residents

An office building in the financial district has launched cubicles and thrown most of its original facade, giving way to more than 1,000 new rental apartments and dotted services.

The building in 25 Water Street, now known as Soma for South Manhattan, previously hosted JPMorganhase, the National Enquirer and the New York Daily News. Cochies developed by GFP Real Estate and Metro Loft, along with Rockwood Capital, Soma is the largest residential building in the country that will become offices to date, with 1,320 apartments. (Metro Loft and a partner are also turning Pfizer’s former headquarters in Midtown, which will surpass Soma with 1,602 apartments).

Nathan Berman, the founder of Metro Loft, said that converting buildings eliminates “the millions of feet of space that are essentially obsolete.”

“They can no longer compete as office buildings, and we are a bar, more or less, outside the races,” he said.

As remote work increased the coronavirus pandemic, many offices in occupied areas such as Manhattan were empty, and developers saw more and more vacant office buildings such as opportunities to create homes. Iconic structures such as the Flatiron building are becoming luxury condominiums, and the former headquarters of Goldman Sachs in Broad Street began the lease last year.

They are likely to be more conversions on the horizon. Last year, the city approved a broad housing plan, known as “Ciudad del Si”, with the aim of creating 80,000 new homes, which has facilitated office to residential conversions. (Soma was not a project of the city of Yes, but he was the first to use the new housing tax incentive of 467 m of the state of New York, which was proposed in association between Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul, and provides property tax exemptions for conversions).

The conversions offer a significant challenge for developers, and with more than 50 units per floor, Mr. Berman compared Soma with a puzzle. The original brick building looked like a Punch IBM card, with scattered windows around the facade. The converted building has more windows and flowers of the original brick along with a new addition of 10 floors in the upper part, taking it to 32 floors. “It was almost like making a new building inside an old building,” said John Cetra, co -founder of Cetraruddy, an interior architecture and design firm.

Studio Apartments starts at $ 4,000 per month, and three rooms start at $ 10,000. According to the building’s publicist. Some studies are spacious with separate homemade offices, since zoning regulations mean that they are not legal rooms. Twenty -five percent of the apartments have reserved as affordable, and the housing lottery will close on May 5. The Compass Development Marketing Group is handling the lease.

With around 100,000 square feet dedicated to comfort, there are many advantages. Residents can walk down to a fixed atrium, where there is a dedicated janter service. Catching a smell or something fresh? An aroma called “green bamboo” is pumped into the air.

Residents who seek to relax can take advantage of the SPA, equipped with a dry infrared sauna, salt room and a relaxation room with Chaise Longues. Those who try to stay active can take a racket or pickleball basketball to play on the courts, or go to the almost 18,000 square feet gym, which has a study of Pilates and Yoga. There are also two pools inside and another on the 25th floor, and a social hall with a two -lane bowling alley, virtual reality room and sports simulator.

The first residents moved in February, and for some, such as Vivian Ayala, those comforts were a draw. “Being in New York and living in our small boxes, I think it is very important to have such incredible spaces outside our apartments to enjoy the city so it is for social environments and personal space,” said Mrs. Ayala, 40.

The newly single, Mrs. Ayala wanted a change of Hudson Yards, where she had lived for five years. In Soma, he signed a lease in a study with an office at home, where he now lives with his Pomerania, Leo.

“No one had lived here before, since it was an office space,” he said, “so I love the idea of ​​everything: a full blank and a new beginning.”

The interviews below have a slightly edited leg to obtain length and clarity.

Brian Steinwurtzel, Co-Co-Est

How would “City of Yes” have changed “this project?

If City of Yes had existed, we would have a leg capable of creating more apartments here. Many more apartments. The old regulations had problems around density. Because of that, we end up having to produce ferwer apartments on some floors as we get used to it.

Mr. Berman, Founder, Metro Loft

What made this project particularly complex?

The challenge here in making conversions is that this building is the closest to an impossible conversion as I can. Its floor plate has more than 40,000 gross square feet with only two sides of legal light and air. Technically, designing this floor plate efficiently is a great challenge. Overcome thesis deficiencies and create a product like this was incredible.

Mr. Cetra, co -founder or Cetraruddy

What is the difference between designing a new versus building convert an old one?

In a new building, you would not see 52 different apartments on a floor. It would be much more standardized, so you have less creativity abroad, but what you have is an incredible amount of creativity inside. And you also have things like high ceilings, heights from floor to ceiling, all those elements that you simply do not see in new constructions.

Sarah Patton, co -director of a new development for Compass Development Marketing Group

Is the financial district becoming more residential?

Absolutely. I think part of the challenge is called Fidi. When we were naming the building, the reason we ended up by naming Soma is because we wanted it to be bigger than Fidi. It has a very European feeling. There are excellent boutiques, excellent retailers, excellent services, and I think people who live here have come to appreciate it.