By Carter B. Horsley
This 21-story, red-brick residential condominium building replaced the handsome, 9-story red-brick Sheraton Russell Hotel in 2006. SJP Residential Properties of Parsipanny, N.J., of which Allen Goldman is the president, acquired the former 146-unit hotel that had been erected in 1923 from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in late 2004 for about $40 million, or $275,000 a room. Costas Kondylis is the architect for the new building. The prime Murray Hill site is directly across Park Avenue from the impressive, red-brick, Georgian-style, Union League Club and it is one block east of the Morgan Library, which underwent a major expansion in 2006. The new building has 106 apartments and a two-story-high entrance with glass marquee that is angled upwards flanked by pairs of wall lanterns. The large lobby has Crema Marfil and Oro Toscano marble floors and surrounds, Moazamique wood walls, oil rubbed bronze accents, and a package room with delivery refrigerator. The building has a two-story rusticated limestone base, sidewalk landscaping, and a concierge and a doorman. Most of the apartments have juliette balconies in most major rooms and ceilings of 9 to 10 feet in living and bedroom areas with nearly 9-foot-high windows. Apartments have Iroko hardwood floors, individually-controlled heat and air-conditioning and two multi-media ports in every living area. Apartments also have full-size GE washers and vented dryers. Kitchens have Jet Mist granite countertops, Viking Professional series stainless steel ranges, Sub-Zero refrigerators with ice-makers and double-drawer freezers, Viking dishwashers, GE Monogram stainless steel microwave ovens, custom wood and etched glass kitchen cabinetry, full-height etched glass backsplashes, Kohler stainless steel sinks, GE in-sink garbage disposals, multi-media ports in the kitchens and under-cabinet task lighting. Master baths will have cedar marble floors and countertops, full height Desert Cream marble walls and tub deck, glass enclosed stall showers, Anigre wood vanities with double under mounted Kohler sinks, Robern recessed triple-door mirrored medicine cabinets, and multi-media ports. The building also has a 21-space, "self-parking" garage, a health club and a residents' lounge with a terrace. Two-bedroom apartments with two-and-a-half baths and about 1,430 square feet were priced initially at about $1,910,000 with common monthly charges of about $1,695 and monthly real estate taxes of about $850. One-bedroom apartments with one-and-a-half baths and about 900 square feet were priced initially at about $1,155,000 with common monthly charges of about $1,075 and monthly real estate taxes of about $515. SJP Properties is also developing a condo tower at 750 Eighth Avenue that it has recently given a new address, 247 West 46th Street, and a new name, "Platinum."