Beauty and the Beasts: Rescuing a Historic Façade in the Financial District

Neighborhood

Financial District

Value

Recent Sales

5/16/11:   $677,000
11/10/10:   $840,000
8/18/10:   $509,000

Property Taxes

Estimated Market Value: $28,097,000
2011/12 Taxable Value: $11,379,500

The Vision Thing

Andrew Feiwel, president of 55 Liberty Street’s seven-member board for three years and a resident since 1998, loves living in the 103-year-old ex-office tower. “Our building is beautiful; they don’t make them like this anymore,” he says. “When the conversion was done, people bought the floors [as raw space] and designed them themselves. Every floor plan is different. There are no cookie-cutter apartments. You get very good light and air.” Despite the mammoth restoration projects of the last few years, he enjoys the challenges of service. A real estate broker by day, Feiwel brings his marketing expertise to the board. But, paradoxically, he also feels that the building doesn’t need much promotion. “It’s a great place and in a great neighborhood,” he notes enthusiastically. “I just love waking up in the apartment. I have 11 windows, with great views. I get to see the river, the sky, and the sunsets.”

Building Investment

Project

• Cost: $2.2 million
• Local Law 11 seventh cycle replacement/restoration of the gothic detail and white terra-cotta façade
• Replaced more than 50 unique ornamental pieces such as gargoyles and other sculptures
• Replaced roughly 800 terra-cotta stones across the façade of the building
• Repaired and glazed more than 500 existing terra-cotta stones

Contributors

Skyline Restoration
Lawless & Mangione
Lisette Maiques, Cooper Square Realty
Andrew Feiwel, board president

Began in March 2011 and completed in January 2012.