By Roland Li
At the end of 2003, Bruce Ratner’s Forest City Ratner won the bid for N.Y.U. Downtown Hospital’s parking lot, a development site with air rights that would make any developer drool. Downtown was about to evolve again.
In the spring of 2004, a lawyer for the hospital confirmed that Ratner had proposed a mixed-use tower of around 50 stories, and some residents were concerned about the new residential arrival, airing familiar fears over density and infrastructure. World-renowned architect Frank Gehry’s name was first attached to the project by the Downtown Express, and later confirmed by the New York Times, setting off a frenzy of speculation: What would the new building look like?
At the time, Pace University was negotiating a lease for the base of the building, but cost increases scuttled the talks. (Pace is now collaborating with SL Green and Jeff Sutton on a new mixed-use building at 180 Broadway.) But the move offered an opportunity for the city to install a five-story public school, a welcome addition in downtown’s rapidly growing family population – and a crucial tenant that ensured $204 million in Liberty Bonds, the federal government’s post-9/11 funding.
In mid-2006, models were finally revealed, with an array of older possibilities giving way to the now-familiar rippling steel, resembling folds of fabric or a lapping river. Gehry’s major inspiration was Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s soulful baroque sculptures, draped in billowing marble. An octet of glimmering setbacks rose above a brick base, drawing an immediate dialogue with the emerald-crowned Woolworth Building to the east. It was to be the tallest residential tower in the country, at 76 stories, 1 million s/f and over 900 units.
But the building almost received a haircut. After the recession, Forest City Ratner considered slicing the height to a more modest level, more aligned with plunging rents and fearful economy. Ultimately, they held to the original scheme, a move that looks prescient in today’s city of tight vacancy and ascending rents.
Referred to informally as the Beekman Tower, and with a street address of 8 Spruce Street, the building’s branding name would highlight its architect and city: New York by Gehry.
Gehry’s non-traditional style is epitomized by the undulations in the building’s façade, but he also designed the interior apartments, down to the custom doorknobs. (Gehry did not design the five-story school. There is also space for NYU Downtown Hospital and retail.) According to brokers, the association has been key for renters.
“I think that the design – that’s what’s driving the attention, and that’s what’s driving people to the project more than anything,” said Cliff Finn, president of new development marketing at Citi Habitats, the building’s broker, along with Nancy Packes Inc. “The views are spectacular.”
The city’s critics have been similarly impressed. New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote that while 8 Spruce was not the equal of the Woolworth, “it is the first thing built downtown since then that actually deserves to stand beside it.” The Times‘ former architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff described its place in the downtown skyline as “a view that seems to lift Lower Manhattan out of its decade-long gloom.”
Impressions have led to signed leases: around 80% of the apartments on the market have rented, said Finn, and over half of the over 900 units are rented. More upper level apartments will be released on the market in the fall.
Citi Habitats’ Finn said that while the majority of renters are Manhattan residents, foreign and national buyers are also arriving. The building’s location also offers a certain centrality – access to numerous subways and various neighborhoods including Tribeca and the Financial District.
“It’s not in the heart of any neighborhood,” said Finn, but added that the South Street Seaport has been a “hidden gem” for residents. The boutique stores, eateries and waterfront space in the area have made it an area for residents, as well as tourists.
Along with its prominent place in the skyline, the Gehry tower has relatively no direct competitors, particularly as a rental building. The Financial District’s stock is predominantly converted office buildings, while ground-up residential construction is rare, and usually on a smaller scale. Large development of any sort is to the north, or in the outer boroughs – with one exception.
When residents look west, they can see the steel of One World Trade Center, rising higher and higher, a sign of more change.
“People really get excited,” said Finn. “It’s something very inspirational that you feel when you look over and see what’s coming. People really see the future of that, and they want to be a part of it.”
