Carter's Review

The "Ladies Mile" section of the Avenue of the Americas south of 23rd Street has several wonderful large former department store buildings, some of which have been converted into residential condominiums and some of which have been upgraded in recent years for retail uses.

The area to the north on the avenue was formerly the city's "Flower District" and rezoning has transformed it into a stretch of high-rise apartment towers, most of which are rentals.

Diversity is important and Gerald Brauser commissioned Garrett Gourlay to design something different for the southwest corner of the avenue at 18th Street: a new, 10-story residential condominium building with iridescent black brick façades.

The new building has 41 units and its address is 100 West 18th Street.

Mr. Gourlay is also designing a 52-story condominium apartment building for Mr. Brauser at 111 Washington Street and recently designed Vesta 24, a 14-story, 22-unit residential condominium at 231 Tenth Avenue between 23rd and 24th Streets that was distinctive for its use of wood on a large part of its façades.

This site was formerly occupied by a three-story garage and the new building has a two-story retail base and five setbacks above the base.

The 18th Street façade has three angled setbacks and the third through the 9thth floors have large windows at the chamfered corner at the avenue and angled corner windows on the third through the seventh floors along the avenue.

The setback portions of the façades have asymmetrical fenestration patterns.

The plans for the new building, which is not in the Ladies' Mile Historic District, were "as-of-right," that is, within existing building and zoning regulations.

It has an excellent location in the Chelsea and Flatiron Districts and is convenient to many stores and restaurants. Although it is several blocks away from subways, there is good public transportation in the area.

Meridian Capital Group arranged a $79.5 million loan for the GB Development Group for the construction of the $100 million project, which includes about 30,000 square feet of retail space.