The Retail Condominium space at 459 Washington Street, also known as “The John Watts Condominium”, has recently come for sale. The property is listed exclusively by longtime downtown Manhattan broker, Reza Namazi, proprietor of Namazi Real Estate.
The John Watts Condominium
The layout of The John Watts Condominium is open but unique, with classic cast-iron details and brick wall feature. With a true TriBeCa sensibility down to the storefront stairs, molding and cobblestone street — the combination of modern and SoHo-inspired details of this space are memorable and masterful.
Currently subdivided into two storefront galleries. The 4,000 SF space could either be combined or arranged so that one is for private-use and the other space an income property for the new owner. The significant street frontage is notable as well. It is perfect for showcasing art, designer boutique displays or otherwise aesthetically enticing inventory. The owner will have access to a charming roof garden as well, providing a great opportunity for hosting upscale clientele or intimate events, and simply relaxing for a midday breath of inspiration.
The influx of hotels such as Arlo Hotel on Harrison Street andHugo Hotel on Greenwich Street are indication of the area’s need to accommodate tourists and business people alike. New Yorkers continue to flock to this area as well, given its proximity to the Hudson River Parkand Chelsea Highlinewalking paths. The area is a favourite for in-the-know Manhattanites and newcomers looking for some respite amongst the bustling business-first mindset of Downtown. The creature comforts of the nearby West Village combined with the access to unique shops and buzzy new restaurants fuel the notion that the Hudson Square area is truly the investor’s gem in the city.
Sophisticated residents of this neighborhood include East Coast outposts of Hollywood celebrities, Wall Street elite and internationally renown art collectors. In other words, any business that opens its doors amongst such well-seasoned tastemakers is sure to gain recognition for its endeavors.
The move will expand Google’s presence near the Hudson River in New York City. Earlier this year, the search giant announced it had purchased shopping and office complex Chelsea Market for $2.4 billion.
Google said the Hudson Square campus will be the main location for its New York-based global business organization. It said the investments in Chelsea and Hudson Square will create capacity to more than double headcount in New York over the next decade. Google currently houses more than 7,000 employees in New York City in a range of teams including Search, Ads, Maps, YouTube and Cloud.
“Our investment in New York is a huge part of our commitment to grow and invest in U.S. facilities, offices and jobs,” Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat said in the blog post.
Google signed lease agreements for the Hudson Street spaces and plans to move into the two buildings by 2020, the company said. It signed a letter of intent for the 550 Washington Street space, where it will move in 2022 once the building is complete.
Tribeca Project – The investor behind Michael Stern, Kevin Maloney aiming for $53M sellout at 8-unit 465 Washington Street. Tech mogul Arthur Becker’s been the quiet money behind some of the city’s biggest developers, including Michael Stern, Kevin Maloney, and Robert Gladstone. But this time, he’s putting his own name on a condominium project.
According to an offering plan filed last week with the New York State Attorney General’s office, the investor-turned-developer is planning an eight-unit building at 465 Washington Street in Tribeca, with a projected sellout of $52.5 million.
Artisanal, Boutique Building
In an interview at his art studio next door, Becker told The Real Deal that 465 Washington will be an “artisanal, boutique building” with interiors designed by Paris Forino.
“I bought it as a primer,” said Becker, who began his career as a home builder, then operated a macadamia orchard in Hawaii before gradually moving into tech and finance. “I like this section of Tribeca. It’s a size I can manage.”
When complete, 465 Washington will have seven simplex apartments and one penthouse duplex, ranging from 2,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet, he said. Prices will range from $2,200 per square foot to $3,200 per square foot. Units will ask between $5 million and $14 million for the penthouse.
In 2012, Becker bought 465 Washington for $6.1 million from architect-turned-developer Peter Moore, who faced a $4.7 million foreclosure suit after defaulting on a loan from VFC Partners.
To expand the five-story building to 10 stories, Becker also bought development rights from the owners of an adjacent building at 471 Washington for an unknown sum. Property records show Becker also paid just over $1 million for a 30-foot easement from the Ponte family, owners of 502-506 Canal Street, which backs up to Becker’s property.
According to research firm Real Capital Analytics, Becker has invested in $550 million worth of projects in New York City to date. It’s not clear, however, how much capital he’s deployed.
Becker’s highest-profile bet is on JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group’s Billionaires’ Row condo supertower at 111 West 57th Street, where he said he was the first financial backer. The developers have completed a sales gallery at the project, but have put sales on hold. Becker said the feeling is there’s not enough urgency among buyers to justify a full-on sales effort now. “We felt like it was too early,” he said.
Becker was a financial backer of PMG and Madison Equities’ condo development at 10 Sullivan Street and assumed ownership of three adjacent townhouses at 30, 40 and 50 Sullivan in exchange for his stake in the project.
Becker was also among the investors who bought and sold an assemblage at 251-259 Third Avenue in Gramercy to Alfa Development for $70 million.
Despite the slowdown in luxury products, Becker is optimistic about 465 Washington, where he’s in the market for a $25 million construction loan. “I like the micro-neighborhood,” he said, stressing that he’ll also be selling eight units, not 50. With two years of construction planned, he has time.
“I had the capacity, I had the deal flow,” he said, explaining why he never sought the spotlight. “Nothing changed, but I have a project I’d like to get more exposure for.”
Locanda Verde – Robert De Niro’s casual neighborhood taverna serves up chef Andrew Carmellini’s riffs on Italian cooking. Located in the Greenwich Hotel in TriBeCa, the restaurant is an airy, high-ceilinged space, open to the street, where patrons can linger over brunch, enjoy after-work drinks and snacks at the bar—or simply kick back in the evening with great Italian food and wine. Breakfast is served in the cafe, where diners can begin their day while enjoying pastry chef Deborah Racicot’s breakfast delights. The restaurant offers a spacious private dining room furnished with antique chairs and reclaimed wooden beams that seats up to 60. The entire restaurant is available to rent for special events.
Looking for a new space for your business near Locanda Verde? 459 Washington Street- Rare Commercial Retail >>
Commercial Retail Condominiums. The John Watts Condo is a 7 story building with a common roof deck. Divided into 2 separate units that can easily be combined as one. Both units are fully renovated with high-end condo finishes, with electric gates, Central AC & Heat, and Separate Meters. One is The Sales offices for new condos around the corner.”570 Broome Street” (1500 sq feet). The larger Unit is a private Gallery (2500 sq feet).
4000 SQFT
14 FEET CEILINGS ELECTRIC GATES CENTRAL AC & HEAT LOT SIZE: 0.12 AC PRICE: $4,200,000
Mr. Chow – Michael Chow’s hippest location, the second NYC outpost after the original on 57th Street, attracts celebrity patrons from the worlds of music, art and fashion. Decorated with black and white lacquer, the main dining room features original works by artists such as Julian Schnabel, Andy Warhol and Helmut Newton. The menu offers both authentic Beijing cuisine and Mr. Chow’s original recipes like Chicken Satay, Mr. Chow Noodles, Green Prawns and Ma Mignon. There’s also live entertainment nightly as the skilled pasta chefs demonstrate the artistry of the original Beijing style of hand-pulled noodle-making.
Commercial Retail Condominiums. The John Watts Condo is a 7 story building with a common roof deck. Divided into 2 separate units that can easily be combined as one. Both units are fully renovated with high-end condo finishes, with electric gates, Central AC & Heat, and Separate Meters. One is The Sales offices for new condos around the corner.”570 Broome Street” (1500 sq feet). The larger Unit is a private Gallery (2500 sq feet).
4000 SQFT
14 FEET CEILINGS ELECTRIC GATES CENTRAL AC & HEAT LOT SIZE: 0.12 AC PRICE: $4,200,000
The acronym TriBeCa stands for “Triangle Below Canal,” a coveted swatch of real estate bordered by Canal Street (to the north) West Street (to the east), Broadway (to the west) and Vesey Street (to the south). Among the bold-faced names currently calling the area home are Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow and Taylor Swift. Robert De Niro has famously done much to encourage TriBeCa’s vitality. Plenty of unfamous folks live here too, thanks to excellent public schools, lovely parks and superb views of the Hudson River. Indeed, the neighborhood has a family-friendly atmosphere you might not expect from the cast-iron buildings and cobblestone streets, which speak to the area’s industrial past, or from its present reputation for exciting dining and nightlife. Former warehouses have become lofts, galleries and performance spaces, and in the evening, the streets thrum with people out for a drink at one of the many lounges, looking to hear a song or see a play or trying to get a table at one of the neighborhood’s many extraordinary restaurants. For ideas on what to see and do, read on.
Dining Out Downtown
Once upon a time, The Odeon was the downtown version of the Algonquin Round Table, where the quick-witted and well-heeled came to chat and chew. (Its facade was featured in the opening credits of Saturday Night Live for many years, and an image of it graced the cover of Jay McInerney’s generation-defining novel, Bright Lights, Big City.) Today The Odeon continues to produce classic brasserie fare, but it’s been joined by countless other restaurants, many of them foodie landmarks, like Tribeca Grill, which features a wide variety of delicious fare and an even wider selection of varietals (including the world’s largest selection of Châteauneuf du Pape). Among the neighborhood’s many other high-end options are Atera, for fancy modern foraging from chef Matthew Lightner; Bouley, for fancy modern French from chef David Bouley; and Jungsik, for fancy modern Korean from chef Jung Sik Yim. Tamarind Tribeca serves classic Indian in an elegant atmosphere, while Locanda Verde offers casual, contemporary Italian; The Harrison offers casual, contemporary American; and Blaue Gans offers casual, contemporary German-Austrian. (See a pattern?) Like The Odeon, Bubby’s is another neighborhood favorite. Starting as a pie company in 1990, the homey brand has expanded into a full-blown restaurant—each meal relying on recipes for comfort food from Grandma. If you can’t find something to eat in TriBeCa, you probably aren’t hungry.
Little Tokyo?
If the neighborhood has a patron saint, it’s Robert De Niro. In 1994, he and his partners opened Nobu, devoted to chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s modern Japanese. Success followed, leading to Nobu Next Door, a more casual offshoot, as well as legions of imitators of its signature black cod and miso. Other Japanese restaurants followed, and nowadays TriBeCa boasts some of the best Japanese fare in the City. Rosanjin presents a traditional take on the beautiful, seasonal tasting menu known as kaiseki, while Brushstroke, by David Bouley, presents an updated version. Ichimura at Brushstroke is a 12-seat sushi bar within the larger restaurant, giving diners the opportunity to try omakase, a series of small plates that showcase both the chef’s creativity and the food’s freshness. Like Ichimura, Michelin-starred Sushi Azabu is an under-the-radar sort of place, a sushi restaurant located in the basement of Greenwich Grill, which itself tweaks traditional Italian food using Japanese ingredients and flavors. Finally, there’s Takahachi Bakery, which makes such treats as black sesame macaroons and green tea crepes, along with coffee drinks, sandwiches and light meals to stay or go.
Step Up Your Stepping Out
Brandy Library boasts “the biggest collection of brown spirits in New York,” more than 900 rare bottles and a comprehensive cocktail menu that features all the classics. Spirit sommeliers and librarians (aka “bartenders”) are on hand to make recommendations, but you can learn more by taking a class at Spirit School in “Rare and Precious Bourbon” or “Scotch Whisky.” Ward III also traffics in elegance and education, in the form of bespoke cocktails. To craft your perfect drink, a mixologist might ask you to select from among several flavor profiles, such as “easy” and “spirit-forward,” or to describe significant tastes. If you’d rather, you can order a standard or signature cocktail, as in the Ward 3 (Maker’s Mark bourbon, egg white, apple puree, Angostura bitters, lime and cinnamon).
Live, Tonight
There’s live music practically every night of the week in TriBeCa. Shake Rattle and Roll Pianos modernizes the old-timey fun of dueling pianos; audience participation is most definitely required at these events, often held at Brick NYC, and the pianists demand requests. At Tiny’s, you can sit beneath antique wallpaper and a pressed tin ceiling, chatting the hours away. And then there’s M1-5, which puts dancing first, forgoing bottle service, long lines and nasty bouncers for a “hassle-free, customer-oriented environment.” Music videos play on several flat screen TVs, so you don’t have to look far if you start to run out of moves on the dance floor.
Movie Magic
What began as a way of quickly revitalizing the community in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, has grown into an important showcase for big budget and independent movies, an entertainment complex, a production company and a resource for creative professionals, all of which have helped make TriBeCa a hub of film and visual storytelling. In spring 2002, Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal and real estate investor/philanthropist Craig Hatkoff sponsored a film festival to help stimulate the creativity and economy of the neighborhood they called home. More than a decade later, the annual Tribeca Film Festival screens narratives, shorts, documentaries and features around Lower Manhattan each spring, including at the SVA Theatre. The rest of the year, the screening rooms here show other movies and function as private events space. Tribeca Film acts as the distribution arm, producing and releasing home video, video on demand, theatrical, television and other types of entertainment. Finally, the nonprofit Tribeca Film Institute funds grants and offers programs for student and established filmmakers.
Women’s Wear
Before she went independent, Israeli-born designer Nili Lotan worked for Nautica and Ralph Lauren, and this experience manifests in the clean lines and sophisticated yet simple style at the heart of her TriBeCa studio-cum-store. At Gary Graham, incense swirls against black walls, the fabrics’ stripes echo the steel girders and fire escapes of the neighborhood, and the clothes are designed for “independent, creative women who demand versatility and longevity.” Dresses, jackets, pants and other garments mix patterns and textures, as well as styles and sentiments. A Uno sells contemporary women’s clothes and jewelry by European designers, such as High, ELM and Ivan Grundahl. The Issey Miyake flagship displays accessories, jewelry and clothes for men and women by the eponymous designer in a space that’s as much art gallery as retail emporium. A fluid titanium sculpture by renowned architect Frank Gehry dominates the entrance, underscoring this brand’s focus on unique shapes and creative experimentation.
Sharp-Dressed Men
Thom Browne gives new meaning to the phrase “short pants.” His slightly-too-small suits bare men’s wrists and ankles, a look as distinctive as it is polarizing. To browse the pointy, polished shoes and bespoke garments for men at Thom Browne’s TriBeCa showroom, you might want to call ahead for an appointment. (Browne designs women’s clothes too, including the outfit worn by Michelle Obama at the 2013 inauguration.) For its first menswear-only store, J. Crew repurposed both the space and the name of a beloved TriBeCa watering hole—J.Crew Men’s Shop at the Liquor Store. The company kept the Liquor Store’s oak-and-brass bar but replaced its stools with leather chairs and taps with carefully curated clothes like pocket squares, fedoras and cashmere sweatshirts. You can drop in anytime, pull down Hemingway from its shelves and stay a while amid new and battered-to-beautiful vintage goods. A few blocks south, J.Crew’s The Ludlow Shop specializes in stylish, affordable suiting. Despite the name, Steven Alan sells products for lots of people by lots of designers. The namesake fresh shirting sits alongside streamlined clutches by Clare Vivier, chunky circular scarves by Wool and the Gang, “grandpa cardigans” for kids by ESP No. 1 and elegant dishware by Haand, among other clothes and objects for house and body.
Literary Life
“Nobody shoplifts from a store that knows 3,214 ways to murder someone,” reads a sign along the wall at the Mysterious Bookshop. Billing itself as one of the oldest mystery bookstores in the United States, it specializes in detective, crime, espionage and mystery novels. First editions, hardcovers, paperbacks, used books, rare titles and collectibles fill the floor-to-ceiling stacks. There’s also an excellent selection of Sherlockiana. Unsure what kind of work of nonfiction or novel you’re in the market for? Have a chat with the incredibly friendly staff, expert solvers of such dilemmas. Down the street, the Fountain Pen Hospital supplies cures—including cleaning, ink refills and parts replacement—for all that ails writing instruments. The staff has a combined total of 150 years of pen-related experience. Founded by a father and son in 1946, the store is still a family-run business, repairing and selling all kinds of recently made and vintage, high-end and everyday pens.
Performances
Poets House regularly hosts readings, workshops and panel discussions for poets, poetry lovers and people who don’t yet know they love words in this way. Its annual showcase strives to display every single book of poetry published in the United States that year, from complete works by Pulitzer Prize winners to one-of-a-kind hand-sewn chapbooks. The rest of the time, anyone can browse the more than 50,000 volumes that constitute its library, a light-filled space overlooking the Hudson River. Its events are designed to appeal to twenty- and thirtysomethings (although everyone is welcome to attend unless otherwise noted) and to provide intellectual, artistic entertainment, often with a Jewish focus. The Flea Theater has a slightly different mission: to produce “a joyful hell in a small space.” This Off-Off-Broadway theater puts on original music, dance, theater and interdisciplinary performances most nights of the week.
Museums and Galleries
A mecca for graphic designers, historians, style mavens and the typographically curious, the Poster Museum is run out of Philip Williams Posters and purports to be the largest gallery of vintage posters in the world. Founded in 1973, Philip Williams Posters sells ads, magazines, sheet music, film stills, maps, religious iconography, prints and posters from the 1870s to now. On-site framing is available, too. Let There Be Neon allows for another type of museum-going experience, wandering around its historical artifacts and contemporary creations, all in neon. For more than 40 years, this working studio has designed neon signs, imagery and lighting for stores, extravaganzas like the Victoria Secret Fashion Show and art galleries. Among its many initiatives, apexart presents opportunities for independent curators to organize shows, puts on events for the public, sponsors artist residencies, funds art shows outside of New York City and publishes books and catalogs. Its Unsolicited Proposal Program allows anyone anywhere to submit a proposal for an exhibition in its TriBeCa gallery, which helps bring eclecticism and diversity to the contemporary art world.
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