Beekman Tower

Kind of a seedy location, no?

It's not opening for months yet

Across the street from Pace University and City Hall Park is really that seedy? If that's considered seedy, then you would need to include the lower east side, the west side in the 30's and 40's (the Port Authority, anyone?), and parts of Harlem as well.

you're right. these are all seedy. don't forget those new buildings next to the amsterdam houses on the uws as well.

It's kind of no-man's land. I laughed when I saw that they're going to try to get $80 / ft.

October 5, 2010
New Gehry Tower Prepares for RentersBy FRED A. BERNSTEIN
For years, New York developers have been trying to maximize the value of residential properties by hiring celebrity architects. At Philip Johnson’s Urban Glass House, Richard Meier’s Perry Street apartments and Jean Nouvel’s 100 11th Avenue, the architects were chosen in part to raise condominium prices.

Now the developer Bruce Ratner, of Forest City Ratner, is about to determine if a big-name architect can do the same for rental apartments. His new tower at 8 Spruce Street, just south of the Brooklyn Bridge, was designed by Frank Gehry, who gave it an undulating skin that ripples like the Statue of Liberty’s gown, but in stainless steel rather than copper.

At 867 feet, 8 Spruce Street (which for a time was known as Beekman Tower) is the tallest residential building in the city, surpassing the Trump World Tower, which would make it notable even without Gehry’s distinctive facade.

In an interview Mr. Gehry demonstrated how the folds were conceived by pinching the sleeve of his black turtleneck shirt between the fingers of his hand. But what is important to him, Mr. Gehry said, isn’t how the folds look but what they do to the interiors, which unfold in a riot of angled alcoves and bay windows, no two exactly the same.

With more than 600 different apartment layouts, potential renters may want to see dozens of units before selecting one to live in. That could be a headache for the building’s rental agents, who will begin showing units by the end of the first quarter next year, said MaryAnne Gilmartin, an executive vice president of Forest City Ratner.

Several hundred apartments, on the building’s lower floors, will hit the market at that time, she said. Additional sections of the building will be rented as they are completed over the course of about a year.

Ms. Gilmartin said that, after looking at other high-end rental buildings, including Silver Towers on West 42nd Street, she thought rents might be about $80 per square foot per year.

That would put the rent for the smallest apartment at 8 Spruce Street — a 450-square-foot-studio — at $3,000 a month.

But Ms. Gilmartin said that if demand was strong enough, the company would have no qualms about raising the prices “even over the course of a single day.”

She said she also would not be surprised to get preemptive offers for some of the top-floor apartments. Forest City Ratner was even considering leaving one or more floors unfinished — something rarely if ever done in a rental building — for tenants who would like to customize their units.

If the apartments do command high rents, it will mean a big payday for Forest City Ratner. One reason is that the company received tax abatements, under a program originally meant to stimulate construction of affordable housing. (In 2006, Community Board 1 passed a resolution criticizing the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development for giving the 20-year abatement to a building with no affordable housing component.)

Another is that the undulating facades cost the company only slightly more than it would have spent on conventional curtain walls, Mr. Gehry and Ms. Gilmartin said.

Mr. Gehry said he wanted dispel a rumor that the building’s south side is completely flat because he needed to cut costs. “It cost exactly the same,” said Mr. Gehry, who produced a geode from a shelf in his office to demonstrate the effect he was going for: a rough volume with one very smooth surface.

Since 2004, when the project was first announced, it has had as many ups and downs as the facades have folds. Originally, the top floors were to contain condominiums. Forest City Ratner brought in the real estate marketing guru Louise Sunshine to help lay out the condominiums.

But in late 2006, when it seemed as if there were too many homes coming to market in Manhattan, the company decided to eliminate the condos. Mr. Gehry went back to the electronic drawing board, reducing both the ceiling heights to about nine feet — which required adjustments to the facade — and changing the apartment layouts with the help of Nancy Packes, whom he described as the rental counterpart to Ms. Sunshine. Construction on the building was halted twice, as Forest City Ratner worked out financing and labor problems. (Forest City was a development partner in the new Midtown headquarters of The New York Times Company.)

Not all of the building is covered in stainless steel. Mr. Gehry designed a simple brick enclosure for what may turn out to be one of the building’s chief selling points: an elementary school at the building’s base, with room for 630 students.

He said that he deliberately made the school of brick — even after Mr. Ratner called him and offered to pick up the tab if he wanted to continue the undulating metal facades all the way down to the ground. “I wanted to make the base part of the neighborhood,” the architect said.

Part of that base — the building’s residential lobby — already contains an undulating desk-cum-bench by Mr. Gehry. Upstairs, his firm chose finishes and fixtures, including doorknobs by Mr. Gehry for the Italian manufacturer Valli + Valli. Gehry Partners is also furnishing 18 model apartments.

Mr. Gehry said he hasn’t yet been to the top of the 76-story tower, because he is scared of taking the construction elevator attached to its west facade. But the 12 elevators serving the residential part of the building are already being tested, meaning his first trip to the top could happen soon.

Because hotels are more practical for his short trips to New York, Mr. Gehry said, he has no plans to rent.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: October 5, 2010

A previous version of this article misstated the name of Frank Gehry's firm. It is Gehry Partners, not Gehry Associates.

$80/sf? That seems very, very high. I searched for what rents at $80/sf or more, and we're talking luxury Tribeca lofts or West village places with private gardens. Is this for real, or hyperbolic PR?

Maly, $80/sf. is not crazy pricing for those views, even if you are on a rather odd street to start.

In fact, it's pretty much list for the most comparable building I can think of, which is Glenwood's Barclay Tower at 10 Barclay (Built 2007).

Glenwood is currently offering one month free, so actual rents are running 8% off list; we'll see if FCR ends up doing the same.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

10 barclay doesn't get $80. The avg per streeteasy is $52. They're smoking crack at $80 in no man's land. Anyone who pays that for that building is either moving in from out of town and doesn't know the market here or extremely naive.

I had an urge to sell and become a renter after watching this.

www.newyorkbygehry.com

>But Ms. Gilmartin said that if demand was strong enough, the company would have no qualms about raising the prices “even over the course of a single day.”

hey, just curious if anyone can tell me what brokerage is going to be responsible for the leasing here?

will you have to pay broker fees for this building? When are they saying it will be ready to move into? Is there any place you can see floorplans?

$50 a square foot is the average at 15 Broad (Downtown by Starck), which is a condo building with 11-foot ceilings in something that much more resembles a neighborhood than the Brooklyn Bridge. Hard to see how you get $80/sf for a 9-foot-ceilinged building in no-man's land. If they bring rents down to $50/sf, I'd consider this building. $80 is insane. If I'm paying $80, I'm going to rent in Tribeca proper.

This development appeared on the front page of SE today. (maybe before today too, but I hadn't noticed)

By the way Starck, there's a loss of utility for a 500-1200 sq.ft. apartment in the ceiling range above 9 feet. Extra 2 feet doesn't get you much benefit.

What does give you benefit is frontage and light. 15 Broad, while a wonderful building has different floorplates than a building that would have been designed ... in 2011 ... for residential use, rather than in 19__ for office use and then in the early 2000s for conversion.

As for 15 Broad being more neighborhoodly (alanhart is that a word?) than Pace University area, you do realize that 15 Broad is in in a special security zone, including machine gun toting NYPD. Even 1PP and the UN seem less on guard.

lets call the thing GT

gehry tower

BTW walked by this AM and a big banner was being put up announcing that renting has started. I really don't care for the neighborhood-the streets are very narrow, besides the incessant construction everywhere which someday will end.

Looked at several apartments there yesterday and I have to say that there is no way I would live there. The units are so small they felt suffocating. And way way way overpriced. We spoke with another man in the elevator on the way out and he couldn't believe it either. They need to drop their prices in a big way. $5900 for a small two-bedroom? It was worth about $3500. Plus nothing in the building is for free. Yes there is a pool, golf, gym, kids room but that all costs $300 per person per year.

As far as the neighborhood, it's great. We love Fidi and it's definitely NOT no man's land.

ridicolously high rent. $50 psf is fair for the area and the 9 foot ceilings. it's worth not one dollar more

saw this yesterday, looking at studios and 1 beds. disappointed, apartments small and you've pretty much got to go over 4K if you want an impressive view.

So frustrating when a building doesn't put what is actually available. I don't care what the building starts from if there is only one at that rent. And the lack of square footage. Does this mean that it is so small as to be unlivable? Ultimately it doesn't matter. I'm sure they will lease up. I%u2019m just venting.

I just rented this apt and movign in mid July. I love the place and the amenities are awesome.

So what is this about packages not being available from the concierge 24/7?

i think they just knocked a grand or so off of the absurdly priced three bed penthouses. we'll see.

@farve - My husband and I are going to see a 1 bedroom here tomorrow. Have you liked living here for the last 9 months? Would you reco renting an apt here? Thanks!

Lived there for about half a year.

Pros: looks great from the outside (but who really cares that much) and the apartments have unique shapes and large windows, filled with sun light and really great views esp on higher floors. Amenities are nice and clean and the door staff is friendly. Issues in the apartments are fixed promptly.

Cons: you can expect the usual from a designated rental building. Appliances are ok but the bath is kind of cheap and small with little cabinet space (differs from unit to unit). Overall not highest quality and many units are very small. Few quirks include that you can hear your neighbors through the vents and even more so when they are loud and the building makes lots of noise when it's windy. Former can actually be really, really annoying because building management won't do much about loud neighbors. I mean you can understand every single word. Not sure this is an issue in just our unit but nonetheless lots of young people and feels like a college dorm at times. Packages have to be picked up at the Valet during business hours and oftentimes they will loose yours stuff, not give it to you at all, or mix it up with mail from a neighbor. Be prepared to shell out $500 per person initiation fee to use the amenities (used to be $300 at first). And last but not least, the area is ehhhh. They say it's Tribeca but it really is Civic Center. Not that it matters but it's juts a lot marketing bling bling.

All in all ok building but $$$ for what you get.

Don't move here. Too much problems, management sucks