Design takes the lead in the residential market

Real Estate Weekly, Sept 1, 2004 by Costas Kondylis

An outgrowth of today's highly competitive residential marketplace is the unprecedented emphasis developers and residents place on the quality of a design. Manhattan residents are design savvy and they expect quality in every aspect of their home, from the look of the building's lobby right down to the selection of bathroom fixtures. Eager to meet the demands of tenants, developers are coming to the table with a heightened awareness of the importance that the design of their project will play in its success.

As residential architects we still need to demonstrate the end value of our design decisions to our developer clients. However, the new willingness on behalf of many developers to embrace the importance of design is leading to a new chapter in residential development. Unlike the days of cookie-cutter apartments, today's developers aim to create distinctive properties with meticulous attention given to apartment layouts, views, light, materials, style and detail.

Developed by The Athena Group, 43 W. 64th St. is a prime example of a highly innovative interpretation of a classic New York apartment type, the loft. Standing across from the Lincoln Center, on the site that was formerly the Liberty Warehouse, 43 W. 64th St. offers residents a unique blend of loft living and classic luxury to give new meaning to the traditional New York loft.

Unlike 43 W. 64th St., we used an "evolutionary" rather than a "revolutionary" approach for the design of Glenwood Management's most recent project, The Grand Tier, located at 1930 Broadway. As the architects for several of Glenwood Management's buildings, we appreciate our client's success at building brand recognition for itself as the developer of many of the finest rental units on the market. Subsequently, we engage a highly methodical approach to design to consistently refine the units and the signature features of Glenwood's buildings, such as the bay window configuration.

Although Costas Kondylis and Partners has designed several buildings at Trump Place, The Heritage, 240 Riverside Boulevard, was intended to be the "crown jewel" of the development. The design challenge given to us by the developer Donald Trump, in association with Paul Davis of New World Management, was to design the finest possible apartment layouts without initial regard for such constraints as the building's total square footage and unit mix.

To meet our design challenge, we initiated "an inside-out" design approach to the project, in which ideal apartment layouts were designed first. Rather than look at how many units we could fit on a floor, the questions we asked were "What makes the best possible bedroom?" It wasn't until we had the optimum layouts established that we began to look at the larger building envelope.

Trump Park Avenue, at Park and 59th Street, also called for a unique design solution for the successful conversion of the former Delmonico, a 1929 pre-war building, to a condominium building with state-of-the-art, upscale amenities. Our approach to this project was to restore the exterior of the building to its original elegance and to re-line the interior with exquisite details like solid oak floors in a hand rubbed French-wax finish.

Widely acknowledged for its sophisticated residential properties, New York City is quickly becoming the model of development for other cities. Costas Kondylis and Partners is currently designing two projects for City Center, a retail/apartment complex in White Plains, presently being developed by Louis R. Cappelli and Donald J. Trump. When completed, the projects will boast residential offerings on par with the finest in Manhattan.

Another project taking its cues from the residential market in New York City and its emphasis on lifestyle appeal is The Devonshire in Boston. Lawrence Ruben Co., the owners of the Devonshire, is repositioning the 477-unit, 21-year-old luxury apartment building to stay ahead of the curve in Boston's rental market.

Whether updating a building's identity or designing a new residential property, our goal as the architect is to help our clients develop a distinctive brand for their product in the marketplace. Today's widespread appreciation of design is central to accomplishing our goal. In the end, quality architecture creates a win-win situation for everyone involved, from the developer to the tenant and from the neighborhood to the city in which these buildings stand.

COSTAS KONDYLIS COSTAS KONDYLIS AND PARTNERS