Thirty years ago, the talk was about the demise of the city. Today, the buzz in real estate is about the return to city, with many who traded city for suburban in the 1970s leading the vanguard. More than just another baby-boomer phenomenon, this trend includes families with children, as well as mid-career professionals, all drawn by the siren call of buildings that combine stunning architecture, extraordinary accouterments, square footage rivaling suburban counterparts, and location, location, location.
In Miami, Florida, One Bal Harbour, a 26-story condominium, stands at the northeastern gateway to the storied enclave of Bal Harbour, with unmatched ocean, Intracoastal and city views. A prime South Florida setting like this, which is also adjacent to both the Atlantic Ocean and Haulover Inlet, would be unattainable for most single-family homeowners. So too would be the location of one of the newest Trump buildings in Manhattan: the corner of Park Avenue and 59th Street, which Laura Cordovano, director of sales for Trump Park Avenue, describes as "undoubtedly New York's best corner." Once home to legends like Ed Sullivan and Lucille Ball, this elegant pre-war structure was formerly the Delmonico Hotel. At a modest 32 stories, it would be dwarfed by Trump's 90-story World Tower, but on Park Avenue, it towers over most of its 14-story neighbors. With classic architecture and sumptuous finishes, "it is the ultimate Park Avenue residence," Cordovano says. The lobby retains the patina of Park Avenue's legendary glamour with its original French oak paneling, coffered ceilings recently retouched with gold and silver leaf, and black and white marble floors. Custom fittings suited to a five-star European hotel add to the elegance. "This is an Old World-type of building with the amenities and technology of a new building," Cordovano reports. Residences range from a basic 717-square-foot, one-bedroom pied-ŕ-terre for $845,000, also a popular purchase by parents for adult children, to a $30 million, five-bedroom, five-bath penthouse residence on two floors with a private elevator.
A similar historic restoration is underway in Chicago, where Metropolitan Tower on the Park, a city landmark noted for its blue light and terraced pyramid crown topped with a glass beehive, is being redeveloped into luxury residences. At 30 stories, and now offering 244 condominiums, town homes and penthouses, it was once Chicago's tallest building. Here too, technologies like electronic pass-key entries and new mechanical systems enhance classic details like the lobby's brass elevator doors, which depict scenes of arts and sciences. Residences range from one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums that begin in the low $300,000s, to full-floor penthouses with protected lakefront and park views and prices in the upper brackets.
Often, new vertical towers create a destination in itself, as is the case with Turnberry Place in Las Vegas. A step from the chaotic world of The Strip, Turnberry Place is an oasis of elegance and repose, with the private Stirling Club at the center of this complex of four residential towers. Comfortable elegance is the hallmark here, with condominium homes that range in size from 1,550 to 8,000 square feet. Prospective owners can choose from 10 different configurations that include multiple terraces, family rooms, great rooms and private elevators. Prices go from $550,000 to more than $5.9 million.
Today, modern residential towers bear the name and imprint of some of the most pivotal architects of this era. New technologies and glass curtain walls free these buildings from the strictly linear archetype of the 1970s condo. In Manhattan, Trump World atTower at he United Nations Plaza and One Central Park condominiums in the Time Warner Center literally raised the bar for building design and amenities. Topped by two crystalline towers, the Time Warner Center appears as a harmonious blend of several structures. Curves play among multiple levels creating a transition from street to tower. Housing options in the Time Warner Center include private residences in the One Central Park condominiums, where prices begin at $1.8 million, or homes in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
In Dallas, the Azure, sheathed with blue glass, will add a sculptural silhouette to the city's horizon with residences that range from the modest 1,000-square-foot, one-bedroom condominiums to penthouses with more than 9,000 square feet. And in Vancouver the cityscape will change with the addition of Living Shangri-La's 640 foot-tower, 30-feet taller than any existing structure. This building, which includes private luxury residences and the first North American Shangri-La hotel, will look out over Coal Harbor, English Bay, Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver.
Like New York, Chicago has had a spate of construction that is transforming the city.Currently under development, Chicago's Trump International Hotel & Tower and the 85-story Waterview Tower will bring residential living to new heights in the Windy City. With other new buildings like 340 on the Park, the Elysian and The Heritage at Millennium Park, these vertical communities raise the bar for luxury living, with towering ceiling heights and extraordinary amenities and finishes. For example, residences at the Trump International Hotel & Tower have 11-foot ceilings, while the penthouses have 16-foot-tall ceilings. Lavish finishes include Brazilian hardwood floors and Italian cabinetry, as well as limestone walls and rimless shower encloses in the baths.
"Helicopter views" is the phrase most often used to characterize the perspective from the tallest of residential towers, with each offering its own special take on the best of local geography. Adjacent to the Chicago River and Wacker Drive, the Windy City's Waterview Tower boasts unobstructed vistas in every direction. Perhaps, the Trump World Tower, the world's tallest residential structure, has the most unparalleled views anywhere, with panoramas that include New York Harbor and George Washington Bridge. "Everything here is on a greater scale," says Director of Sales Elaine Diratz. "From the ceiling heights to the apartments to the windows."
Real estate today is all about lifestyle, and perhaps nothing speaks to the high life more than the term, "vertical community." While the height of today's buildings might be dizzying, the number of units inside of each is not. A good example is Turnberry Ocean Colony, located on a private stretch of beach in Aventura, Fla, midway between Bal Harbour and Golden Beach, and featuring only three or four residences per floor. As in Las Vegas' Turnberry Place, dynamic designs make for exciting residences here.
A demographic mix, lavish amenities and services designed to ease one through the day, make each building a refuge. Laura Molk, an industry veteran says, "In the last 10 years, the emphasis has shifted to lifestyle." Molk is currently heading sales at 340 on the Park, one of Chicago's newest vertical communities. Noting that the "best of any genre will maintain itself," she says, "this building will be a timeless classic. While we have a very refined aesthetic inside and out, we were also able to develop a building that is more environmentally conscious and creates a healthier environment for the owners."
When completed, 340 on the Park will also meet the stands of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System®. LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings and was established by the U.S. Green Building Council.
In modern-day vertical communities, technology and infrastructure are more connected than ever, with new precedents being established each day. In this area, too, buildings are setting new benchmarks. The Time Warner Center promises a wireless network in all residential spaces (including elevators), broadcast capacity even from individual residences, and a service dubbed "One Source Building Technologies," which is a single resource for all technology and security needs of residents. For anyone who wrangles with computer issues, having an on-call techie might be the best inducement to live here. Waterview Tower will incorporate high-tech features that will allow owners to remotely access heating, cooling and other systems in their residences.
The word, "condominium," used to imply compromise, particularly regarding space both inside and outside, but there are few, if any, compromises that residents of vertical communities have to make today. Residences are spacious, and homes in excess of 3,000 square feet are not uncommon. Several en-suite bedrooms and ample room for informal and formal living, plus libraries and maids' rooms, are all typical. Some buildings boast homes that span two floors, as do some of the 48 loft residences in the Star Lofts on the Bay in Miami, with prices reaching as much as $2.3 million. At only 23 stories, Star Lofts is a stunning and intimate counterpoint to the towers that line Miami's Biscayne corridor.
Everywhere, common areas, party rooms and token workout spaces have evolved into lifestyle suites that sometimes occupy an entire floor. Time Warner has an entertainment center with a dining room that seats 50. Living Shangri-La will have a whole floor devoted to amenities like a game room, a theater and two party rooms. One Singer Island, a WCI Communities, Inc., neighborhood on a barrier island just north of Palm Beach, Fla., presents amenities like a billiards room, and a wine room with storage for collections and an area to entertain and celebrate exceptional decantings. The Landmark, a mid-rise community that debuted in Kirkland in North Scottsdale, Ariz., gives the use of a business center and a conference room to its residents. Even garages are becoming a perk, with some buildings offering the option of an individual enclosed two- or three-car garage with automatic door openers.
Some of the newest residential buildings still on the drawing boards have large theaters, like the one at Downtown by Philippe Starck that seats 26. Children and pets, once excluded from some ultra buildings, are all part of the picture. Play rooms, stroller rooms, dog-grooming areas and dog runs are becoming standard fare. Time Warner has a children's party room. Downtown offers a children's play room and a bowling alley. At press time, prices for homes at Downtown by Philippe Starck ranged from just under $1 million to $4 million, with residences presenting as much as 2,305 square feet.
Green is part of the picture for most vertical communities today, whether it is parkland surrounding the building, or outdoor terraces on upper floors. For example, 340 on the Park reserves the 25th floor for lifestyle amenities, including a winter garden. Movable glass panels protect residents from Chicago's harsh winters, but open to capture summer breezes. One of the focal points at Downtown by Philippe Starck is a large terrace on the fifth floor of a smaller structure connected to the main building, the 42-story landmark Equitable Trust Building. With the frieze of the adjacent New York Stock Exchange in the background and a reflecting pond highlighted with an oversized faucet, this terrace symbolizes the interesting juxtaposition of a historic building with a modern re-use, as well as the contrast between residential real estate and the surrounding financial community. Owners here literally will be pioneers, blazing the trail for residential ownership in the financial district.
Even though towers will no doubt be the architectural monuments of tomorrow, they all are really about living today. Once one moves in and discovers how pleasant it is to live in one of these buildings, his or her reaction is often to say, "Who needs a single family house!" Cordovano comments.
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