By Carter B. Horsley
The 35-story building at 20 Pine Street, which is also known as 2 Chase Manhattan Plaza, was converted in 2005 to 409 residential condominiums by Leviev Boymelgreen, which had acquired the property from the Resnick and Reuben families in 2004 for about $170 million.
The acquisition was made possible through a $150 million mortgage loan provided by institutional lender, Barclay's Capital Real Estate, Inc., a subsidiary of Barclay's Bank. The conversion had a total offering price of $380,418,825, according to the November 12, 2005 offering plan on file with the New York State Attorney General's office. The tower has one of the finest sites in Manhattan at the epicenter of the financial district. Its north and east facades front on Chase Manhattan Plaza with its large Dubuffet Sculpture and sunken fountain by Isamu Noguchi. It is surrounded by many of the finest buildings in the area including One Chase Manhattan Plaza, 40 Wall Street, 140 Broadway, the Federal Reserve Bank building and 14 Wall Street.
The building was designed, with Egyptian motifs, by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White as the headquarters of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, a predecessor firm of J.P Morgan Chase. Graham, Anderson, Probst & White was the successor firm to Daniel Burnham's firm whose famous and very influential buildings include the Rookery, Monadnock, Reliance, Wrigley and Merchandise Mart buildings in Chicago and the Flatiron Building in Manhattan. In conjunction with the launch of marketing for the conversion, the building was renamed "20 Pine The Collection" and it published an impressive, 114-page very glossy, large-size magazine proclaiming its virtures and including ads for Ferrari, Frette and Fendi, among other luxury goods such as Brioni and Bulgari. Floors 6 through 18 have 19 apartments.
There are many different layouts. Apartment 203, for example, is a 630-square-foot studio with one bath that was priced initially at $441,000. Apartment 304 is a 1-bedroom, 2-bath unit with 1,456 square feet that was priced initially at $1,048,000. Apartment 2607 is a 3-bedroom, 3-bath unit with 1,878 square feet that was priced initially at $2,066,000. Apartment 3103 is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath unit with 1,513 square feet of interior space and 406 square feet of exterior space and was priced initially at $1,891,000. A lounge, exercise room, pool table room and storage bins are located in subcellar 2 and a lap pool and steam room in subcellar 3. A roof deck for the residents is located on the 25th floor of the building, which has several setbacks. At 20 Pine Street, other amenities will include a 33-foot-high lobby and an adjacent Library Lounge, a pool and spa with a Turkish Hamman and a landscaped terrace with pool on the 25th floor with spectacular views. Apartments on the 25th through the 35th floors are known as the Concierge Residences and are served by a dedicated elevator and private Concierge Lounge that serves a daily gourmet breakfast and is be operated by Quintessentially, a concierge service based in London. Leviev Boymelgreen, the development organization that commissioned Philippe Starck to decorate its conversion of the former office building at 15 Broad Street across from the New York Stock Exchange, commissioned Armani/Casa to decorate its conversion of 20 Pine Street. Robert Triefus, executive vice president of communications for Giorgio Armani S.p.A., said that "this is the first time Armani/Casa has collaborated in this way with a property developer in New York," adding that "the concept of 20 Pine fits in with out philosophy for Armani/Casa, which is based on the creation of luxurious and sophisticated living environments for the home." "Our greatest challenge was to reconcile the architectural monumentality of the original building's scale with the desire for a warm and inviting intimacy in the interior residential spaces," he said. Gruzen Samton LLP was the architectural firm for the conversion. The kitchens have Sub-Zero refrigerators, Gaggenau ranges and sinks and Fisher & Paykel dishwashers. Baths have recessed square rainshowers.
Eighty condominium apartments at 20 Pine Street are being offered for sale for $63,738,500 by Venture Capital Properties.
According to an article in today's on-line edition of Curbed.com, the owners started selling units last April and have so far sold 268 units and an additional 65 are under contract.
The $63,750,000 sales price is 51.5 percent of the current market value of the property, according to the article, and "is based on historical sales prices and current listing prices for similar units in the building." The price for the "bulk" sale of the 80 units, the article continued, "is the exact amount the developer owes the banks, and he will not sell it for less than the remaining debt," and the price is "a jaw-droppingly low price of $652 per square-foot."
The 35-story building, which is also known as 2 Chase Manhattan Plaza, was converted in 2005 to 413 residential condominiums by Leviev Boymelgreen, which had acquired the property from the Resnick and Reuben families in 2004 for about $170 million.
The acquisition was made possible through a $150 million mortgage loan provided by institutional lender, Barclay's Capital Real Estate, Inc., a subsidiary of Barclay's Bank.
The conversion had a total offering price of $380,418,825, according to the November 12, 2005 offering plan on file with the New York State Attorney General's office.
The tower has one of the finest sites in Manhattan at the epicenter of the financial district. Its north and east facades front on Chase Manhattan Plaza with its large Dubuffet Sculpture and sunken fountain by Isamu Noguchi. It is surrounded by many of the finest buildings in the area including One Chase Manhattan Plaza, 40 Wall Street, 140 Broadway, the Federal Reserve Bank building and 14 Wall Street.
The building was designed, with Egyptian motifs, by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White as the headquarters of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, a predecessor firm of J.P Morgan Chase. Graham, Anderson, Probst & White was the successor firm to Daniel Burnham's firm whose famous and very influential buildings include the Rookery, Monadnock, Reliance, Wrigley and Merchandise Mart buildings in Chicago and the Flatiron Building in Manhattan.
In conjunction with the launch of marketing for the conversion, the building was renamed "20 Pine The Collection" and it published an impressive, 114-page very glossy, large-size magazine proclaiming its virtues and including ads for Ferrari, Frette and Fendi, among other luxury goods such as Brioni and Bulgari.
A roof deck for the residents is located on the 25th floor of the building, which has several setbacks. The kitchens have Sub-Zero refrigerators, Gaggenau ranges and sinks and Fisher & Paykel dishwashers. Baths have recessed square rainshowers.
At 20 Pine Street, other amenities include a 33-foot-high lobby and an adjacent Library Lounge, a pool and spa with a Turkish Hamman and a landscaped terrace with pool on the 25th floor with spectacular views.
A lounge, exercise room, pool table room and storage bins is located in Subcellar 2 and a lap pool and steam room in Subcellar 3.
Apartments on the 25th through the 35th floors are known as the Concierge Residences and are served by a dedicated elevator and private Concierge Lounge that serves a daily gourmet breakfast and is operated by Quintessentially, a concierge service based in London.
Leviev Boymelgreen, the development organization that commissioned Philippe Starck to decorate its conversion of the former office building at 15 Broad Street across from the New York Stock Exchange, commissioned Armani/Casa to decorate its conversion of 20 Pine Street.
Gruzen Samton LLP was the architectural firm for the conversion.