Location, Location, Location: TriBeCa, New York
March 1, 2004
Five years ago, TriBeCa (triangle below Canal) was a construction mess as
developers worked overtime to transform old mills and factories into luxury
lofts. Now there is an abundance of restaurants, gyms (Equinox, New York Sports
Club) and art galleries. The arrival of these businesses reflects TriBeCa’s
emergence as a polished neighborhood for families as well as single
professionals and celebrities. Much of the allure lies in the historic buildings
and the streets made of cobblestone brought over as ballast on trading ships.
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A
loft in the historic Wool Exchange Building, listed with Emilie O’Sullivan at
the Corcoran Group. (Click image to enlarge) The grand Italianate and Romanesque Revival buildings, constructed during
the mid-1800s, formerly housed manufacturers that produced everything from
textiles to wrapping paper to pipe fittings. Back then, TriBeCa was America’s
dry goods capital. By the 1960s, businesses had left the city and artists
claimed the abandoned warehouses and converted them to lofts. Because the
buildings represent some of the country’s most prominent commercial
architecture, they have since come under the protection of the Landmarks
Preservation Commission.
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Renderings of a new penthouse at the Hubert. (Click image to enlarge) When the loft conversion boom began in the 1980s,
builders preserved the facades on such addresses as 140 Franklin St., a
six-story brick structure trimmed in yellow terra-cotta, and the Cary Building,
one of New York’s oldest cast-iron buildings. With historical integrity intact
on the outside, developers created spectacles of modern living inside. The new
airplane hangar–size lofts, mostly over 2,000 square feet, offered buyers space
that was hard to come by elsewhere in Manhattan. The neighborhood also boasted
top-rated public schools and proximity to City Hall and the Financial District.
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