TIAA-CREF is taking over more of the Meatpacking District with the purchase of yet a third, fully leased and newly reconstructed warehouse.
The stunning 430 W. 15th St. site is now in contract to the teachers’ retirement fund for $140 million or $1,400 a square foot, sources say.
Douglas Harmon, Adam Spies and Kevin Donner of Eastdil Secured marketed the project, which sits on a long-term ground lease, for the sellers, Rockpoint Group and Atlas Capital.
TIAA-CREF’s earlier buys of both 837 Washington, which is completely leased by Samsung, and a minority stake in Taconic’s 401 W. 14th St., which is primarily occupied by Apple, were also marketed by Eastdil’s investment trio.
As we first told you, the sellers are redeveloping the former garage into a 100,000-square-foot modernized industrial warehouse office property.
It is completely rented for 15 years by the secretive $20 billion data-mining techno-intelligence company Palantir, now secluded in other nearby offices.
Of the eight stories, the four new ones on the top are completely enveloped in glass and have terraces. The others have 23-foot-high ceilings, since every other original floor slab was tossed for the remake. No one responded to requests for comment.
Talk about coming full circle.
Ian Schrager grew up in Brooklyn, and while we’ve previously told you he’s working on his own version of the Rainbow Room for the upcoming 600ish-room Marriott Public Hotel in Dumbo Heights, he wasn’t kidding.
The sky-high 200-seat restaurant will not only be fully enclosed in glass, it will have a rotating floor just like the Rainbow Room’s dance floor and the top of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square.
“You can see all the waterways and all the bridges and it’s just magic up there,” Schrager said of the Watchtower residence that will be turned over for redevelopment in 2017.
The roof will have indoor and outdoor areas with “spectacular terraces,” while another dining floor will hold 160 people.
The hotel will be outfitted with a screening room, banquet space, a nightclub and a landscaped garden. While guest rooms have kitchens, gourmet takeout will be available.
An adjacent roof will be turned into a nearly 70,000-square-foot private swim club.
“We want to make it like a destination resort,” Schrager said of the redevelopment group that includes Jared Kushner along with RFR’s Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs, who are already creating offices and adding retail stores to the five other buildings attached by sky bridges. Invesco and LIVWRK also have stakes in the project.
Schrager can hardly curb his enthusiasm at having several city projects now under way, including the just-launched block-long condominium project at 160 Leroy St. overlooking the Hudson River, which he calls the “Gold Coast of Manhattan.”
His friend, designer Norma Kamali, lives a few blocks north in a now-decade-old Richard Meier building, and after visiting, told Schrager his finishes are much better. “It was nice of her to say so,” Schrager said.
A dozen of the 49 units are spoken for in the wavy project designed from the inside out by Herzog & de Meuron. The still-available, 8,000-square-foot penthouse will encompass the entire top floor and have exclusive use of the dreamy roof and its sunrise-to-sunset vistas.
The garage will provide paparazzi-free access to the soundproof apartments and has already generated an inquiry on behalf of a global celebrity.
A second kitchen — think kosher, caterer and hiding the dirty pots and dishes from company — is tucked away from the main great room.
Amenities that include a porte-cochère cobblestone courtyard, landscaped garden, 70-foot pool and spa, party room and a range of unit sizes — including one west-facing line with terraces — are also adding to the buzz.
“We find that most of the people will basically stay with what we’ve done because it is so unique and distinct,” Schrager explained. “The layouts are modern and about how [people] live now; it’s a sophisticated, unique property which I am feeling great about.”
Herzog & de Meuron have also designed Schrager’s Public hotel and 11-unit condo on the Lower East Side near the Bowery.
The residences at 215 Chrystie St. are about half sold and nearing completion.
For the 10th anniversary of her Deana Salon in buzzworthy Astoria, owner Deana Tiseo has psychic Sema Bal conducting future readings at the salon at 47-10 30th Ave.
Meanwhile, at 20 Main St. in Tarrytown, my own hairdresser, Donna Salomone, co-owner of Hair on the Hudson, provided a walk-in clip for former Supertramp lead vocalist and songwriter Roger Hodgson, whose world tour performed at the Tarrytown Music Hall on Tuesday night.
“He is a super-great guy and fabulous musician,” Salomone posted on Facebook. “Best part of my job is meeting beautiful kind genuine people.” Amen to that.
