Carter's Review

This handsome, 11-story building at 196 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side was developed by Magnum Real Estate, of which Ben H. Shaoul is a principal, and Real Estate Equities Corporation. 

It has been designed by Ismael Leyva. 

Adam Rolston of Incorporated Architecture & Design is the interior designer. 

Completion was planned for 2017. 

It will have 94 condominium apartments.

Bottom Line

A substantive and very attractive dark presence with gilded glints at a prime Lower East Side location.

Description

The building has a black and bronze brick façade with industrial casement windows and a landscaped roof. 

It has an entrance marquee. 

It is across the street from Katz's Delicatessen, the city's last remaining emporium of huge and juicy meat sandwiches. 

Above the building's two-story retail base, the dark but handsome façade with glittering window surrounds has a stepped-down three-story top.

Amenities

The building will have a two-floor Equinox gym with private entrance for residents, a landscaped roof terrace, bicycle storage and personal storage.

Apartments

Apartments have charcoal lacquer kitchen cabinetry, marble kitchen backsplashes and black quartz kitchen countertops. 

Floors are wide-plank oak. 

Apartment 10E is a three-bedroom unit with a long entrance gallery that leads to a 30-foot-long living/dining room and a pass-through kitchen and a 200-square-foot terrace. 

Apartment 11F is a two-bedroom unit with 1,595 square feet of interior space and 168 square feet of external space and a long entry foyer that leads to a 27-foot-long living/dining room with a pass-through kitchen and a 16-foot-long corner den and a private terrace. 

Apartment B on the 8th and 9th floors are two-bedroom units with open, pass-through kitchens and 19-foot-long living/dining rooms. 

Apartment E on floors 4 through 8 are one-bedroom units with open kitchens with islands and a 19-foot-long living/dining.