The only thing more quintessentially New York than an iconic landmark building is the creative repurposing of that building for a new New York — and a new century. On Sept. 27, 2023, the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation and Macklowe Properties unveiled a plaque at One Wall Street, commemorating both its historical significance as an Art Deco masterpiece and its new life as a mixed-use building, which now features 566 luxury Lower Manhattan condos for sale.
Once the Irving Trust Company headquarters, the building was designed by renowned architect Ralph Thomas Walker and completed in 1931. It was notable for its limestone facade with organic, curtain-like features, and its ornate lobby detailed with intricate mosaics. The plaque — whose unveiling was accompanied by speeches from Harry Macklowe and Sarah Carroll, chair of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission — reads in part, “One Wall Street was designated an individual landmark in 2001 and sensitively converted to residential and retail use in 2022 by Macklowe Properties.”
In fact, the sensitivity of that conversion includes a creative vision of how to maintain and complement the master architect’s expressive touch in every element of these luxury homes. In the conversion process, the elevators were removed and relocated, and the original layouts were cleared out in order to create a blank canvas for homes that are as modern as they are individual homages to the Art Deco past. Many homes will have terraces that incorporate Walker’s monumental facade designs into their aesthetic. In some cases, windows were converted into doors to allow access to outdoor space.
The building also rings in a new era of luxury living in Lower Manhattan, and, in this sense, its conversion from office spaces to living spaces is as symbolic as it is practical. At ground level, there will be both a Whole Foods and America’s first outpost of France’s beloved department store Printemps. It will include 100,000 square feet of amenity space known as The One Club, which includes a pool with a view of the Hudson, a coworking space, entertaining spaces, a fitness center, a demonstration kitchen, and a private restaurant, where the celebrants of the plaque unveiling went to celebrate after the ceremony, inaugurating a space that will not only give the building a second life, but change what it means to live in luxury in Lower Manhattan.
As Sarah Carroll pointed out in her speech at the ceremony, the building is “poised once again to serve as a symbol of our city’s resiliency and ingenuity, proof we can look to the future while honoring our connection to the past.” The homes inside, framed by Walker’s monumental vision of a prominent New York tower, are now poised to be the springboard of that future, and to carry the best of the old New York with it into the new.
Contact the One Wall Street team today to discover how you can make a piece of New York history your home.