From left: Renderings of 626 First Avenue in Murray Hill (credit: JDS Development) and the One Thousand Museum in Miami (credit: One Thousand Museum)
A luxury Manhattan penthouse is one of the world’s great status symbols, but some developers are forgoing whole-floor units at the top of their buildings and instead creating shared amenities spaces for all residents.
JDS Development’s two-towered rental building at 626 First Avenue in Murray Hill will offer tenants access to a rooftop deck and an infinity pool, a fitness center and a spa on the top floor of its East tower.
The project, set to be completed in 2017, will be composed of two “dancing” towers – one 40 stories and the other 49 stores – leaning into one another, with a sky bridge connecting them. SHoP Architects is designing the project. Studio apartments there will start at around $2,800, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In July of last year, JDS secured a $390 million loan from Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, a division of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. JDS bought the property from Sheldon Solow for $172.1 million in 2013.
The Zaha Hadid-designed One Thousand Museum in Miami will also feature a “public penthouse space” with a sunbathing terrace, a bar, a private dining room, and a theatre, according to the developer Louis Birdman. [WSJ] – Ariel Stulberg
- See more at: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2015/12/04/developers-swapping-penthouses-for-top-floor-amenities/#sthash.UCM4D5Ab.dpuf