A new boutique office building is getting ready to rise in West Chelsea.
The Moinian family is slated to break ground on Feb. 13 on its new, $200 million Hudson Arts Building at 220 Eleventh Ave. The project will take up the entire blockfront between West 25th and 26th streets and has views across a low-rise post office complex to the Hudson River and Chelsea Piers.
“Once you step out of the elevator, you have a straight shot of glass, and you are facing the Hudson River,” says Mitchell Moinian, a principal of the company, which is also developing the office tower at 3 Hudson Blvd. in nearby Hudson Yards. “You have the light and air, the sunset and the boats.”
Designed by Studios Architecture, the office building will have 10 stories of contextual glass and terraces and is topped by an 11,000-square-foot outdoor roof-deck.
The column-free floor plates range in size from 17,500 square feet to 25,000 square feet, with ceiling heights of up to nearly 18 feet. Some floors have two-story inset terraces; others have terraces at their corners.
A JLL leasing team will be led by Peter Riguardi and includes Cynthia Wasserberger and Frank Doyle. Rents will start with “three figures” — well over $100 a square foot but similar to other such new projects. It is expected to be ready for tenants in the third quarter of 2022.
A canopy will extend from the lobby to its West 25th Street entrance. “The lobby is jaw-dropping,” Moinian exclaims of the black, richly veined matte marble finishes and contemporary artworks from the family’s collection.
Located amid numerous galleries, including the new Pace Gallery down the street, the retail has been designed toward gallery use. The retail space has 7,500 square feet on the ground and 5,100 square feet of lower-level selling area served by an oversized elevator and plenty of floor-to-ceiling windows.
For those who bike to work, a separate entrance on West 26th Street will lead to showers, lockers and even an air station for their tires. A messenger center will also handle food drop-offs.
Rising down the block from the West 26th Street High Line entrance, it is just a few blocks south of Hudson Yards and north of the Meatpacking District. Food and other retail options will soon abound at the Starrett-Lehigh Building and the Terminal Warehouse across Eleventh Avenue.
The new building is focused on sustainability, energy efficiency and modern work styles. “It will attract some of the best companies in the world,” said Moinian. “‘Quality of life’ used to be the mantra, and now it’s ‘quality of work.’”
