DDG's 100 Franklin wedges into Tribeca corner as nearby 56 Leonard prepares for Anish Kapoor sculpture

By CityRealty Staff | From Future New York Thursday, October 31, 2019

100 Franklin Street captured in late October 2019 (CityRealty)

Tribeca’s restrictive zoning, a patchwork of historic districts, and some of the city’s highest land values prompt even the most intrepid developers to tread carefully. Even so, resolute builders have erected a steady stream of new residential product ⁠— even from some of the most challenging sites.

One such venture, a near-complete, ten-unit condo at 100 Franklin Street, replaces a pair of narrow, triangular parking lots along Sixth Avenue. The eight-story wing at 98 Franklin rises on a triangular slice measuring 101 feet long by 49 feet wide, while its six-story sibling takes up an sliver wedge that clocks in at 79 feet long and just 33 feet wide. However, the design-build firm DDG, led by Joe McMillan, masterfully turned the challenging site into an advantage.

DDG

100 Franklin's narrow, street-facing form maximizes eastern exposures towards the soon-to-be spruced up plaza next door, where Sixth Avenue splits off from Church Street, flooding interiors with ample sunlight. Slice-shaped layouts of the building's ten full-floor and duplex units will delight even the most jaded apartment seekers. Only unit #4S remains on the market, with a price tag of $3.295 million. The layout presents a combined living-dining area on the building’s broad end, and relegates the private areas to the narrow point. A master bathroom is carved into the wedge, where a trapezoidal (and surprisingly spacious) shower sits within the very tip.

The 2 beds, 2 baths home spans 1,427 square feet offers access via a direct keyed elevator, 10-foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and 7.5" wide signature custom larch flooring. Open-concept kitchens are clad in marble and outfitted with Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances. Mosaic tile sheathes the en-suite master bathroom, which comes with a solid-surface vanity with double integrated sinks, custom-mirrored medicine cabinet and Hansgrohe fittings in polished chrome.

Residence #4S is 2-bed, 2-bath in the south building asking $3,295 million (Douglas Elliman)

Since the building sits in the Tribeca East Historic District, the Landmarks Preservation Commissionits must greenlight its aesthetics befiore construction commences. After the initial glassy design proved unpersuasive, DDG returned with a facade of rusticated Kolumba tapestry brick by Petersen Tegl, which pays homage to the building’s rarefied context while maintaining a rugged modern personality. Square and slot-like floor-to-ceiling windows punch through the red-and-gray facade, which dissolves into punched-hole apertures near the windows and the prow-like corner. Discreet, flat-arch window lintels, laid in soldier brick bond, emulate colonial-era architecture. Sheer glass walls at the penthouse levels sit behind stocky brick piers that support a projecting dark metal canopy, which at once evokes both nearby pre-war cornices and the mesmerizing flair of an East Asian pagoda.

Tribeca’s renowned historic buildings stand in testament to the enduring value of classic style and material. 56 Leonard Street, a 57-story stack of staggered glass, looms nearby as a counter-argument in favor of bold 21st-century architecture. In turn, the unassuming yet confident structure at 100 Franklin Street not only follows both approaches without mutual contradiction, but makes the daunting task look effortless.

DDG's buildings show modern doesn't mean steel and glass and contextual doesn't mean classical motifs (CityRealty)

Dear DOT, give this useless section of northern Church Street a road diet. This area has become a bit of a deadzone since the decline of faux handbag trade on Canal Street and the growth of Triburbia

Nothing wrong with being a little wierd sometimes...

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Flat facade but there is little depth to spare

The always photogenic 56 Leonard. 101 Franklin is preparing for an overhaul since NYC's Human Resources Administration/ Department of Social Services (HRA/DSS) hightailed out of the building to consolidate its offices inside 4 World Trade Center

100 Franklin is just two blocks north of the very Instagrammable 56 Leonard Street. Earlier today, its developer, the Alexico Group, announced that the installation of its Anish Kapoor sculpture will finally begin this November, more than a decade since the sculpture was revealed.

Rendering of 56 Leonard's base and forthcoming Anish Kapoor sculpture (Alexico Group)

The release states:

Exemplifying true synergy between art and architecture, Kapoor’s monumental mirror sculpture at the base of the 60-story structure will seemingly both prop up the building and be squashed by it. An enigmatic balloon-like form, weighing 40 tons and measuring 48 feet long by 19 feet high, the work will define the corner of the building at Church Street and Leonard Street and will become a must-see destination that reflects the Tribeca Historic District, its residents and visitors.