The Towers

Chicago Developer Brings New Life to Former Eyesore at 455 Central Park West

by Natalie Keith

How do you restore a landmarked structure built as a cancer hospital in 1884?

Tear the roof off the building, gut the insides, pour a new concrete superstructure and rebuild the roof. That task was handled by the construction team of the Towers, a luxury condominium project at 455 Central Park West at 105th Street in Manhattan.

"What a challenge," said project manager David Gregory of Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc. "This was definitely an atypical building."

The $110 million project is being developed by Dan McLean of MCL Cos. in Chicago. It will have 81 units for sale in a new 26-story high-rise building and 17 units in a restored four-story, chateau-style landmarked structure.

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Bovis began construction on the project in December 2002 with an anticipated completion date of Aug. 30, Gregory said.

The renovated landmarked portion of the property will offer family-sized residences, featuring circular living rooms, as well as bedroom suites, vaulted ceilings and oversized gothic windows.

While the interior of the landmarked building is entirely new, the exterior was restored. Under a $6 million program, the brownstones were recast, the façade was repointed and decorative elements such as dormers and rosettes were replicated, Gregory said.

The landmarked portion of the project also required building out the round "turret" areas, which served as emergency rooms when the building was a cancer hospital in the 1880s. In some units, these areas are bedrooms and, in others, living rooms. At its highest point, the ceilings are 45 ft. tall.

"They were extremely difficult to lay out," Gregory said. "It took a lot of careful coordination between many subcontractors."

And then there was mold that needed to be detected and mitigated. Mold-resistant sheetrock was installed and a consultant was hired to inspect areas for mold. When areas with mold were found, they were immediately cut out and replaced.

"With so much litigation involving mold, we found it very advantageous to spend $30,000 to $40,000 to hire a consultant," Gregory said.

The high-rise building shares a landscaped private garden with the neighboring landmark. The residences in the high-rise include two-, three- and four-bedroom units. Most of the floors range in size from 7,000 to 8,400 sq. ft. and contain three units.

Amenities include a 24-hour garage and valet parking, business center, individual storage areas, spa, pool and fitness center.

The project was designed by architects from Rothzeid Kaiserman Thomson & Bee and Perkins Eastman Architects PC, both of New York. Interior finishes include engineered hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops and cherry cabinets.

The tower was designed to relate closely with the landmarked structure, according to Peter Bafitis, principal, Rothzeid Kaiserman Thomson & Bee, who has been involved with the project since the mid-80s.

"There is brick and sand stone in the landmarked building and brick and cast stone made to look like sand stone in the (high-rise) tower. There are slate mansard roofs on the landmarked building and a slate roof on the tower," Bafitis said.

The interior public spaces were designed by the Rockwell Group in New York. Among features is imported limestone from Portugal with terrazzo pavers.

The high-rise portion of the project was constructed in a fashion more typical of high-rise residential projects in Manhattan. It is a cast-in-place concrete structure, poured on a two-day pour cycle with hand-laid brick veneer, Gregory said.

The history of the site is equally as interesting as the construction. The Towers was originally built in 1884 by John Jacob Astor III as the New York Cancer Hospital. Its rounded towers were designed on the theory that germs couldn't hide in the corners.

In the 1950s, it became the Towers Nursing Home, which was shut down after owner Bernard Bergman was convicted on Medicaid fraud. Developer Lewis Futterman bought it from the city for back taxes in the mid-80s and developed plans for renovating the landmarked property and building a new tower designed by architect Bafitis, who was with another architecture firm at the time. The plans were approved by the city's Landmarks Commission.

"Back in the 80s, this was a very contentious project. There are many people who care deeply about this property," Bafitis said.

In 1988, Futterman sold the approved plans to hotel developer Ian Schrager, but Schrager couldn't get the project off the ground because of economic conditions.

Savanna Partners bought the property from the bank in the late 1990s to build an assisted living facility. The company hired architects from Perkins Eastman and had the zoning changed from residential to residential hotel.

In 1999, Savanna put the property on the market after the company that had agreed to run the facility reneged.

When MCL Cos. purchased the property in late 2000 for a reported $24 million, it raised a few eyebrows. Some questioned whether buyers would be interested in luxury condominiums that far north in Manhattan. Historically, affluent buyers have been reluctant to purchase property north of 96th Street.

McLean said that when he purchased the property, the neighborhood was enjoying some rejuvenation. He was also attracted to the landmarked portion of the property.

"I thought it had great untapped potential," he added. "The landmarked aspect of the building fascinated me. I saw that you could create a brownstone style of living with the amenities of a high-rise."

McLean's instincts appear to be paying off. By mid-June, when he was interviewed for this story, he estimated that 65 percent of the units had already been sold. Columbia University bought about half the units in the high-rise building to be used for faculty housing.

At the time of the interview, the landmarked building interiors had not been finished, so many of the units had not yet been sold.

"As the summer progresses, people will be able to see the space in the landmarked building and see how attractive it is," McLean said.