Tuesday, October 6, 2009

A Little Domenico Dolce Floor Plan Porn

BUYER: Domenico Dolce
LOCATION: 11th Avenue, New York, NY
PRICE: $29,000,000 (total)

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Although the financial industry fracas and global economic meltdown of the last year or so has put the New York City luxury real estate market on life support, there are a few flickers and significant signs that it just may survive the crash. Case in point is the unexpected $37,000,000 purchase at the still wildly expensive A.M. Stern designed 15 Central Park West and the recent purchase of two dee-luxe doo-plex condos smack in the middle of the Chelsea Arts District by a limited liability company connected to Italian fashion designer Domenico Dolce that totaled a spine tingling $29,000,000.

Your Mama knows we are a little late to the rodeo on this one having already been discussed far and wide, but our always helpful research assistant B.S. Beaverman goosed out the sweet and sexy floor plans for Signore Dolce's two penthouse apartments that we thought the children might like to salivate over and then curl up in a fetal position and feel inadequate about their own bank accounts and residential circumstances.

The 19-story tower, called Sky Garage, was designed by super smart architect Annabelle Selldorf who clearly understands what the strippers in in Gypsy knew:You gotta have a gimmick. In this case the architectural chutzpah is the elevator that lifts residents' automobiles up to private garages at the same level as their apartment. This luxury means no more pesky garage attendants putting dings in the doors of your big BMW and no more awkward elevator rides with your neighbors who you can't stand.
According to property records, smooth pated Mister Dolce purchased the larger of the two penthouses (above) in early October of 2009. He reportedly went into contract for the unit more than a year before. Records show the 3,585 square foot went for $17,500,000, or €11,963,930 according to our currency conversion contraption. As was originally designed, the two floor aerie was scheduled to have 3 bedrooms, 3.5 poopers including a master with a large walk in closet, private study and private terrace overlooking a children's playground, soccer field and the Hudson River with the New Jersey skyline in the distance. The main living spaces were designed to occupy the top floor with an open plan living, dining and kitchen with access to two terraces.
Property records reveal that on the same day in October of 2009 Mister Dolce, or rather this entity connected to Mister Dolce, also closed on the two floor unit directly below the penthouse paying $11,500,000 (above). Another quick consult with our currency conversion contraption shows that figure converts to €7,862,011. The second unit, according to the building's website, measures 3,461 square feet with 647 square feet of exterior space. The unit was originally designed with a living room and dining room with double height ceilings, a fireplace and a loggia looking east towards the city. The main floor was also designed to include an eat in kitchen, a guest room, a second loggia and, of course, the single car garage. The second floor was designed to contain two more terraces, and two bedrooms and two poopers.

Here's the think to remember when looking at the floorplans chickens, it's unclear if the two penthouse units are being delivered finished or as raw space but either way Your Mama expects that Mister Dolce will rip out whatever is there and start all over again re-fashioning the two units into one four floor fantasia of urban living that will, according to the building's website, measure in with 7,046 of interior space, another 682 square feet of garage space and 2,775 square feet of private outdoor space spread over a mind numbing 7 terraces plus the building's entire rooftop.

Iffin any of the spatially oriented children want to take a crack at designing a floor plan that combines the two units, we encourage you to send them on over to Your Mama and we'll post the best one.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am confused, in the lower unit does the master shower open into the bedroom or bath. Also, I suppose I am confused at the idea of spending this much for a garage that wouldn't hold a full sized suv or a long Maybach. It would be great though for the times when you forget your cell phone in your car.

luke220 said...

I don't understand why each level doesn't have its own garage space- then there would be four spaces, not two.

Anonymous said...

Well for 27 million i would want more than just a ONE car garage?

Anonymous said...

Each level doesn't have a garage due to the design of the building. Though every apartment from the ground up is a duplex therefore you technically only need 1 garage per 2 floors ... It's Manhattan, you don't need 2 cars per family!

The developers/architects also had to jump through a million hoops to get permission for the sky garages. They had to build thick crash proof concrete walls in each garage & had much more rigorous fire rules to follow & a bunch of other regulations ...

If you look at the actual building plans the layout of each floor has been extremely well designed.

John McKee said...

I don't really understand the appeal of the private sky garages unless you had some particularly extreme security concerns that required a heavily armored and tinted vehicle.

I think I would put a much higher premium on contiguous living space and having my vehicle summoned from a garage than direct vehicle access from my home, particularly in NYC where driving oneself on a daily basis would seem incredibly unappealing for someone of the means to acquire a $30M house.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Okay, so most of the time I look at these megabuck apartment floor plans,and just scratch my head---"they're paying 30 million for THAT?" as I ponder badly laid out spaces, lack of terraces, poor access, etc. However, this one I totally get---superb planning, wonderful space, and oh, those windows....I feel a serious case of real estate envy coming on.....

Madam Pince said...

My mind is boggled by the engineering and money needed to build sky garages.

chris said...

Are there any bedrooms for servants? Or doesn't he have live- in servants? I can't imagine spending this much money and not having people always on call for this and that.

Anonymous said...

I think having an adjoining garage is extremely important in this particular area ... West Chelsea always feels quite remote from everywhere & the surrounding area really doesn't have many amenties [except galleries] ... You need to walk all the way over to 9th to find anything & the blocks are pretty long in that part of the city! .. I wouldn't live in that part of Manhattan without a car, though there actually is a 24hr garage right next to this building ...

I believe the idea came from Martha Stewarts offices which are close-by ... She has her driver drive into the freight elevator to take her all the way up to her office .. I think that's where Selldorf got the idea from.

Anonymous said...

Isn't Manhattan the last place in the country where a car should be fetishized? This building would make more sense in LA. But even then it would be stupid.

Anonymous said...

Even ignoring the whole garage thing, I LOVE this building and have since the first renderings and plans came across the internet. I haven't looked in a while, but the website might still have all the plans available. I am quite sure that not all are duplexes. I think for the most part, these are among the very best-designed layouts of all the new buildings to go up here in the last 5 or so years.

Anonymous said...

great, it is a beautiful building but how long will the residents have to wait in their cars for the elevator to arrive during busy times? At least if you are using a normal elevator you can ride up or down with several others at a time. I fear that during any kind of rush hour time you might have to wait ten or twenty minutes after you push the button for the others infront of you to slowly pull their car in, ride down, slowly exit, etc. In the end, it just doesn't seem very practical. This is some of the most expensive square footage in the country and you are using it for your car?

Anonymous said...

" I fear that during any kind of rush hour time you might have to wait ten or twenty minutes after you push the button for the others infront of you to slowly pull their car in"


Seriously?

A] Everyone in the building would need to be leaving at the exact same time - highly unlikely.

B] There aren't many units in the building.

C] If you live in Manhattan you don't drive yourself to work *roll eyes* ... The type of person who can pay $6M+ for an apartment will more than likely have a car service to & from work.

Anonymous said...

I'm a little confused, when you leave your elevator are exiting into open air? The floor porn has the same type of flooring on the terraces as it has outside the elevators. hmmm?

Anonymous said...

saw a similar building in berlin a few years ago, only difference was the price, penthouse + floor level garage was less than 2m euro.. but then.. it is in Berlin, a much more fun place to be.