Aby Rosen: New York’s 100 East 53rd St.
The new standard of elegance and luxury in Manhattan condominiums.
At the upper echelons of residential real estate is Midtown Manhattan. It may not be the centre of the universe, but you can most certainly see it from there. Here, in the heart of the metropolis, developer Aby Rosen of RFR Holding LLC has created 100 East 53rd St., a soaring 711-foot statement of luxury and quality designed by world-renowned architectural firm Foster + Partners that is destined to become the benchmark by which high-rise condominium living in New York City is measured.
Ideally situated between the legendary Seagram Building and Lever House, two of New York’s most acclaimed modern office buildings, the building’s classically modernist design fully complements the architecture of its neighbours with 63 floors of glass, strong vertical lines and engaging accents and details.
Containing 94 luxurious condominium suites ranging from studios to four-bedrooms, 100 East 53rd St. will also feature two duplexes. Unique to the project is a specialized collection of 15 loft-style residences boasting gallery-like open floor plans, exposed columns and concrete walls — an ideal backdrop for purchasers’ own artworks and signature design styles.
The gallery-like feeling is intentional; developer Rosen is one of the world’s most prominent art collectors. At 100 East 53rd St., he has curated a collection of his own impressive artworks on display throughout the building, including works by Jonas Wood, Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst.
Rosen also commissioned well-known artist Rachel Feinstein to create Panorama of New York, a fantasy dreamscape of the city, for the building’s lobby. Feinstein painted a collage of New York landmarks, including the Woolworth Building and the Empire State Building, Gotham’s most famous skyscrapers, along with imagined scenes, onto a mirror. The result is a stunning welcome image that inspires and stimulates the imagination. Deeper into the building, art and sculpture are installed in many of the public areas.
A focus on art is just one aspect of 100 East 53rd St. that will bring a positive change to its surroundings, according to Leonard Steinberg of Compass, one of the project’s listing brokers and head of sales. “This building is not just another condominium in Manhattan; this is a building that is going to redefine an entire neighbourhood,” says Steinberg. “Many cities are experiencing this now, where a single building can change a neighbourhood. [And] 100 East 53rd St. is at the intersection of Midtown and the Upper East Side, which has gone through a radical transformation. This area will be completely transformed by this building — not just because of the beautiful apartments above, but also [because of] what is going to happen on the retail levels of the building.”
As a keen observer of real estate and neighbourhoods during his long career in the industry, Steinberg knows the power of retail. In some sectors, it has been struggling as of late, but in the food sector, business is absolutely soaring.
“100 East 53rd St. will feature food prominently, as they have brought in the Robuchon restaurant group from Paris, [founded] by one of the world’s most Michelin-starred chefs, [the late world-famous chef] Joël Robuchon,” says Steinberg. “His Michelin-starred French restaurant will be on the building’s second floor, with a more casual eating experience on the ground floor, which will further invigorate the streetscape.”
Similar to a hotel, the second-floor restaurant will offer building residents a private lounge, a private dining room and a separate entrance, so residents can go straight from their suites to the restaurant. Residents may also order up meals without leaving their home — anything from dinner for two to a party for 20.
Award-winning architect Norman Foster and his team at Foster + Partners have designed the suites with exquisite taste, the finest features and finishings, and the highest standards of craftmanship. And 100 East 53rd St.’s outstanding vistas of the city befit its stature as one of New York’s finest residential buildings.
The average unit price is US$2,760 per square foot, starting from a 1,000-square-foot studio apartment priced at US$2.4 million. The nearly 7,000-square-foot duplex penthouse can be yours for US$65 million, approximately US$9,500 per square foot.
Amenities are designed to promote a socially active lifestyle reflective of the lively 24-7 midtown location, while at the same time providing a calming influence with a spa-inspired atmosphere. The building boasts a library, a sunlit swimming pool (60’ by 15’), a cardio room, a weight room, a Pilates and ballet room, a yoga room, a sauna, a steam room, spa treatment rooms, and shower and changing rooms. There is also a 24-hour concierge and keyed elevator access.
The building’s location is right in the middle of the finest shopping, dining, museums and galleries, and transit connections (to downtown, uptown, ferries and airports), and it’s all within walking distance of Central Park. “Time is a luxury,” says Steinberg. “100 East 53rd St. is surrounded by everything you could ever want, just steps away from your front door. It’s all about conveniences, and there is no greater luxury than that.”
Outstanding design combined with top quality, luxury, convenience and amenities, 100 East 53rd St. is a feast for the senses, elevating elegance in one of the world’s most inspiring and desirable locations.
ABY ROSEN
Principal and co-founder of RFR Holding
Aby Rosen is a principal and co-founder of RFR, a full-service real estate company focusing on the investment, development and redevelopment of office, retail, residential and hotel properties in the United States and Germany. The RFR portfolio includes Park Avenue landmarks such as the Seagram Building and Lever House, as well as the W South Beach hotel, 11 Howard hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel. RFR believes in the importance of art in real estate to create uplifting and inspiring architectural environments that improve the esthetics of the urban landscape.
LEONARD STEINBERG
Chief Evangelist of Compass
Leonard Steinberg is the first chief evangelist of Compass, where he helps grow and improve the brokerage firm. With over two decades of experience, Steinberg is recognized as one of the leading residential real estate authorities in the United States. His team — the Leonard Steinberg Team — ranks consistently as one of the top producing teams in the country, with collective sales in excess of several
billion dollars.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ABY ROSEN
New York City is larger than life, and real estate developer and urban style-maker Aby Rosen is one of the city’s largest personalities. Rosen’s projects command Manhattan and some of the globe’s most exotic locations, bringing his own style, sophistication and panache for quality and design to office, residential, hotel and resort developments.
“I’m a five-star operator, everything I do is top-notch and super expensive. I’m very hands-on and I’m all for quality, from my residential developments, to my hotels, to my condos and to my office buildings,” says Rosen.
From the historical Seagram Building in Manhattan, to The Jaffa, a recently opened hotel and residence in Tel Aviv, the Aby Rosen signature is big, bold, brash and beautiful — respectful of historical design while envisioning the innovations and possibilities of tomorrow.
Dolce recently sat down with Rosen to speak about his latest landmark project, the 100 East 53rd Street condominium development in Midtown Manhattan.
Q. What is it about Midtown Manhattan that should draw people in? Why did you chose to build this tower here?
A. Midtown Manhattan is where people go to entertain themselves. It is where the best culture, restaurants and shopping in the city are. It is also where people work and their friends go. No longer is it desirable to live in a pure residential neighbourhood, where you have to travel to get to the action. Now, we want to be immersed in it.
Q. Tell us about the experience working with Norman Foster, and why you choose Foster + Partners for this tower?
A. Norman is a friend and someone I have known for a long time and have worked with in the past. He is an extraordinary architect and individual. He is someone I learn from and enjoy being around. Norman has exquisite taste, understands how people live and creates designs and architecture that are uplifting and comfortable. Living in a Foster building elevates your appreciation of the positive impact design can have on the way we live [in] and perceive our environment. The attention to detail at 100 East 53rd St. cannot be overlooked and differentiates us from other contemporary buildings.
Q. We’ve read that this new skyscraper is a modernist building. Can you expand on what that means, and what people can expect to find?
A. The building is not just “modernist,” but classic. As a neighbour to two of the finest landmarked modern office buildings — the Seagram Building and Lever House — 100 East 53rd St. must live up to the high standard they’ve already established. In fact, 53rd St. is home to seven great works of architecture by seven renowned architects. Foster designed our building to contrast with its immediate neighbour: glass versus bronze, white versus dark. As with the Seagram Building, 100 East 53rd St. is perfectly proportioned, has strong vertical lines and boasts impeccable details.
Q. Why did you choose the late Joël Robuchon for the restaurant at 100 East 53rd St.?
A. We conceived of the building to offer the best of everything, starting with great architecture and design, as well as a comprehensive and luxurious amenities package. Having a restaurant you can go to by elevator was important to our residents’ lifestyles. We could not have chosen a more highly acclaimed chef and team than that of Joël Robuchon to conceive and curate the two levels of dining. We anticipate having an amazing dining experience of outstanding cuisine within an interior design by the equally outstanding interior designer Joseph Dirand.
Q. How do you define la dolce vita, the good life?
A. Wonderful friends and family, great food and drink, esthetically pleasing art and design, and a city that delivers the energy to make you feel alive.
Q. What do you feel art can do for a space, and how have you incorporated art in 100 East 53rd St.?
A. Art stimulates the imagination and satisfies the soul. Art enriches the environment. I commissioned Rachel Feinstein to do a site-specific painting in the building’s entry and have installed art and sculpture in the public areas for residents and their guests to enjoy. Our buyers appreciate the positive experience art brings. I used my own taste to curate art in the building, and I am sure every resident will look to their own dwelling as a museum for their own collections. The Foster design beautifully sets up the backdrop for any style of art.
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