360 Central Park West

New York City has always been synonymous with reinvention. As The New York Times states, “Building have been no different,” and recently, this has been especially true. In the city of dreams, every building is given the possibility of a second chance, including office towers, cathedrals, power plants, parking garages, schools, cinemas, warehouses, and even banks.

In recent years, the Financial District has taken a lot of hard blows, from the September 11th attacks to the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, but the neighborhood has persevered and promises to be stronger than ever despite some of the problems facing the revitalization of the Pier 17 shopping mall. While some of the more obvious signs of this include the newly opened 4 orld Trade Center and the Freedom Tower opening late next year, there also an astounding 17 new developments and luxury conversions under construction or on the way. 

While it goes without saying that affordable housing is nearly impossible to find in Manhattan, especially with realty prices soaring, the development project at 40 Riverside Boulevard is offering mixed-income housing with luxury condos and affordable apartments in the same building. Among the 274 planned units of the 33-story building, 219 will be luxury condos on the upper floors facing the Hudson River while the remaining 55 units will be designated as affordable housing units with a designated separate entrance, that has become known as the controversial “poor door.” The site’s developer, Extell, has sparked a classist controversy and outrage for this plan to have income-segregated entrances. Extell plans for a mixed-income building due to the potential tax breaks it will receive through the 421a tax exemption program, yet the perceived separate-but-equal logic of the segregated entrances has produced considerable backlash against Extell.

The Printing House in the West Village is somewhat old news. Having been constructed in 1910, and converted into a residential loft rental building back in 1979 - then again converted to condominiums in 1987 - we can all but shrug upon hearing it mentioned. But don’t get bored just yet. Developers have made some mighty conversions to several of the quarters within the century-old printing house located on 421 Hudson Street.

It’s been a long several years for 15 Renwick Street. The former brownstone located on the seemingly quiet street of Renwick was demolished back in 2008. The demolition was set to make way for a new luxury condominium, compliments of Ismael Leyva Architects with Douglas Elliman at the helm. Yet, the 70,000-square foot development site (located in the western portion of the Soho neighborhood) has been sitting undone since 2009, and now has renderings out flaunting a new facade.