Photos by Philip Greenberg
By Roland Li
On Tuesday, Forest City Ratner and Frank Gehry unveiled the upper-floor apartments at 8 Spruce Street. The two and three-bedroom units from the 40th to 76th floors were shown to around 150 brokers. Rents weren’t immediate available.
The new apartments include three-bedroom model unit on the 52nd floor, as well as the newly opened 22,000 s/f amenities. These include a sixth floor grilling terrace and game room and a seventh floor, 50-foot pool. The building also has a drawing room, private dining room, fitness room and spa. The bottom of the tower has a five-story, 100,000 s/f public school and doctors’ offices for New York Downtown Hospital. A ground-floor retail space of 1,300 s/f and two public plaza form the base of the building.
“I designed a building I would want to live in as a New York,” said Frank Gehry in a statement. “You could say this is my love letter to New York City. I’m thrilled we were able to do it in Lower Manhattan, which allowed me to be part of something so meaningful—to stand with this building’s neighbors, the residents and businesses of this neighborhood. We worked together over the past seven years to create a new icon for Lower Manhattan.”
Gehry designed the interiors and model units, as well as the building’s distinct, rippling steel facade.
“There is a reason Frank Gehry is considered the world’s best architect, and we know from the enthusiastic response we’ve received that people from around the world want to experience Frank’s singular vision of a beautiful, functional, New York City lifestyle,” said Bruce Ratner, chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies, in a statement. “Our residents are excited and proud to live here, and it’s been extremely rewarding to collaborate with Frank to bring his ideas to life.”
Leasing and marketing is being handled by Cliff Finn of Citi Habitats and Nancy Packes of Nancy Packes, Inc. Packes said 40% of the apartments were rented, with many tenants from the writing, design, television and media sectors, along with finance and legal professionals.
“The opening of the amenity spaces and release of large apartments on the top floors, coupled with the opening this fall of a school at the base of this extraordinary building, make New York by Gehry extremely appealing—not only to young professionals and internationals, but also to families choosing to make their homes in Lower Manhattan,” said Cliff Finn.
“The collaboration of Frank Gehry and Forest City Ratner has created an iconic New York landmark that is a spectacular addition to the Lower Manhattan skyline,” said Gary Malin, president of Citi Habitats. “The building was been phenomenally well received, and it was a pleasure to spend the evening with colleagues in the industry. Everyone I spoke with was blown away by the great progress the development team has made, and the brilliant design of both the apartments and the building’s extensive common areas.”
