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GARDEN CITYBRAZILIAN STARCHITECT ISAY

WEINFELD GIVES NATURE A STAR

TURN AT HIS NEW HIGH LINE

CONDO. BY C. J. HUGHES

Private pools stacked across façades. Walls that

curve like the sides of Studebakers. Colorful

backyard sculptures resembling lollipops. Along

the High Line, the immensely popular park in the

West Chelsea neighborhood, you don’t have to walk

far before encountering a developer who’s given a

building an attention-grabbing quirk.

Jardim, a 36-unit condo under construction

at 527 West 27th Street, is also trotting out an

attraction: a private park that unfolds over a

couple of levels around the complex’s two towers.

But unlike their peers, the buildings, which don’t

touch the High Line, may not be trying to turn the

heads of passers-by.

“The focus seems different,” says Eric Zollinger,

an associate broker with Stribling & Associates

(32 Avenue of the Americas, 646-613-2679;

stribling.com), who has worked and lived in the area

for years but isn’t affiliated with the project. “It

doesn’t seem to be so much about the High Line

but about offering views of a lush garden.”

What Jardim does have in common with rival

condos is that it was designed by a buzzy architect

from overseas breaking into the Manhattan

market with a major project.

A NEW STARCHITECT STYLE: Architect

Isay Weinfeld is a native of Brazil who has designed

houses, hotels, and nightclubs in South America

but has not worked extensively outside that

continent. Fond of concrete and simple shapes—

bungalows at his Hotel Fasano Las Piedras, in

Jardim, which

means “garden” in

Portuguese, was

conceived by one of

Brazil’s starchitects,

Isay Weinfeld, to

have two levels of

interior gardens.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 98

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HIGH LINE HIGHS

Despite the building activity and publicity around the High Line since it opened in 2009, the strength of the neighborhood’s market can be tough to gauge. With so many towers still under construction, there haven’t been enough sales in the area, bordered by 10th and 11th Avenues, and the West 20s and West 30s, to draw meaningful conclusions. Nonetheless, the signs for appreciation look promising: HL23, a boutique condo that leans over the High Line, has an apart-ment for sale, #4, listed for $4 million—a 45 percent increase from 2012, when it sold for $2.75 million.

Based on recent data, the district is holding its own. In October, the median price of a new condo in the West Chelsea area was $7.5 million, according to streeteasy.com. In contrast, on the Upper West Side, the median was $6.4 million, and in Tribeca, the city’s wealthiest enclave, it was $8.1 million.

For a clearer picture, brokers say, keep an eye on condos with brand-name designers attached, as sales close, like 505 West 19th Street, from Thomas Juul-Hansen; 551 West 21st Street, from Norman Foster; Soori High Line, from Soo K. Chan; and Zaha Hadid’s building for Related, to open in 2016.—C.J.H.

Punta del Este, Uruguay, are low-slung rectangles perched on rocks—Weinfeld is deploying similar concepts at Jardim, his first multifamily project in New York. He also styled the interiors at Jardim, which means “garden” in Portuguese. “I see architecture as a whole thing, as if I was an art director,” Weinfeld has said about his work. “This idea expresses my wish to design from the beginning of life to the end.”

As expected, some exterior walls at the complex on West 27th Street, but stretching through to West 28th Street, will be concrete, which will be pressed with wood planks to give it texture, says Daniel Laub, the principal of Greyscale Development Group, which is developing Jardim with Centaur Properties. In an unusual and friendly (to celebrities dodging paparazzi) move, a car tunnel will lead from the street into a drop-off area by the main lobby, to be located in the interior of the block. Residents can also send their cars to a subterranean garage via an automated parking system. GREEN LIVING: Those gardens, meanwhile, will cover 2,000 square feet across two levels: A ground-floor courtyard version can be viewed through tall windows, creating a leafy backdrop for the front desk, though inaccessible to residents. A second gar-den, one floor higher, will be more interactive and function like a park, likely featuring paths, benches, and sculptures, Laub says. West Chelsea’s climate, of course, isn’t São Paulo’s, and care will be taken to make sure plantings there keep their color year-

round so the areas don’t look drab in February. Upstairs in the two towers, which will both have 11

stories, will be one- to four-bedroom units, including duplexes. Most apartments will also sport terraces, though the only High Line views will be from the top of the 27th Street-side high-rise, since 520 West 28th Street, the swooping Related Companies condo designed by Zaha Hadid, will stand next door. While the blocked views could be seen as a down-side, it also means enhanced privacy, developers say, as strolling tourists won’t be able to peep in. Many residents “appreciate what the High Line has done for the neighborhood but prefer to be removed from it,” Laub notes.

Averaging about $2,500 a square foot, or $2 mil-lion for one-bedrooms, Jardim, which is expected to open in winter 2017, arrives with a bit of a dis-count, even if those prices can seem high citywide. That adjacent Related building, which started sales in October, for instance, is asking prices for $3,000 a foot and up.

Zollinger, for one, is bullish. “That pricing will help it do extremely well.” G

A model living area in Jardim.

Apartments range from one- to four-

bedrooms and sales are averaging

$2,500 a square foot. BELOW: A

sleek indoor pool with skylight is

another amenity. LEFT: The lavish

garden design provides a private

park for the condos.

98 GOTHAM-MAGAZINE.COM

HAUTE PROPERTY

“IT DOESN’T SEEM TO BE SO MUCH

ABOUT THE HIGH LINE BUT ABOUT

OFFERING VIEWS OF A LUSH GARDEN.”

—ERIC ZOLLINGER