Even a muggy, grey day in lower Manhattan couldn't spoil the views over the Hudson River’s Upper Bay from a private terrace on the 78th floor of 30 Park Place.
The 400-square-foot loggia, large enough to fit three seating areas, including a full-size dining table, offered a surreal view of the hustle and bustle on Monday around Fulton Street below in near silence––save for some distant clinking of construction. A scarce breeze put to rest speculation that the open balconies, more than 800 feet high, would be too windy to be practical.
"I’ve been up here in the dead of winter and you're pretty sheltered," said Angeli Dahiya, sales director for the private residences.
The new luxury condos in TriBeCa occupy a 937-foot building by star architect Robert A.M. Stern, above a Four Seasons Hotel that opened earlier this month. Soaring 82 floors up, 30 Park Place is one of downtown Manhattan’s tallest residential buildings.
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Mansion Global got a sneak-peek of two units before developer Larry Silverstein would unveil the model apartments for the first time Tuesday night. The units boast light oak flooring, 11-foot (or higher) ceilings, kitchens and bathrooms covered in marble and Gaggenau Home Appliances––like dual ovens for which cooks can preprogram dozens of recipes.
Besides a balcony the size of a studio apartment, duplex unit 78B has an eat-in kitchen nook with a raised ceiling of about 13 feet, a library with its own sink and wine cooler and a total of 5,937 square feet of space.
The only other unit on the floor, 78A, happens to be the most expensive condo in the building at the moment, ringing in at $32.5 million. The price of 78B, which has not been revealed, will likely be less as it’s smaller and doesn’t have the same views of Midtown. In total, there are 11 penthouse units at 30 Park Place spanning floors 75-82.
French architect and decorator Robert Couturier designed 78B with a modern and slightly quirky interior, including a glossy blue entryway and a massive, abstractly shaped golden coffee table. Buyers have really liked the fun interior, said Loretta Shanahan-Bradbury, senior sales director at the building.
"As soon as we finish a model, people want to buy it," said Ms. Shanahan-Bradbury, who is trying to keep the five-bedroom, six-bathroom penthouse as a showroom for a little bit longer.
Sales reps also took us through unit 70A, a smaller, four-bedroom unit on the 70th floor. Like the unit on the 78th floor, its design scheme intentionally cloisters off private areas. For instance, instead of a second floor for privacy, the smaller unit has a private bedroom wing that can be shut off from the entertainment spaces.
"Something buyers really respond to is that they keep the entertainment and the private separate," Ms. Shanahan-Bradbury said.
The four-bedroom unit, furnished by interior designer Jeffrey Beers, also has a separate service entry and a master suite with two bathrooms––one of which might host the best bathroom view in Manhattan. The stand-up shower has a ceiling-high window that looks straight over the Upper Bay. The building started closing on its 157 units in August, and several families have already moved into apartments on the lower floors. So far, around 75% of the residences have sold, said Ms. Shanahan-Bradbury.