Gramercy Square, which had it's first recorded closing last week, is a $350 million conversion of the former Cabrini Medical Center. Developers Clipper Equity and the Chetrit Group worked with Woods Bagot to design four architecturally distinct full-service condominium buildings – The Tower, The Boutique, The Prewar and The Modern – with a total of 223 apartments. In the center of the four buildings is a half-acre (25,000 square feet) of gardens and an interior courtyard, and under all the buildings is 18,000 square feet of interconnected, below grade space that will include a pool, a golf simulator, and a wine room.

But one of the most unique amenities Gramercy Square will offer its residents is a partnership with MNDFL who co-designed a meditation studio that will offer a full set of classes taught by MNDFL instructors. Gramercy Square is the only place where owning a condo gets you free classes and at home personal access to one of the city’s most sought-after guided meditation studios.

As an exclusive partner, Gramercy Square will have an MNDFL-designed 600-square-foot meditation studio complete with the signature lighting, branded cushions, and macramé that MNDFL is known for. Residents get two free 30-minute meditation classes per month and additional classes, private sessions, and events are priced a la carte. Sessions can be easily booked with an app.

As health and wellness continue to gain permanent status with New Yorkers’ lifestyles, luxury buyers look to new homes that reflect this. While most new, luxury developments offer hotel-caliber amenities, today’s buyer is more concerned on the amenities that lead toward a happier and healthier life. Zen-like spaces, such as the one MNDFL is providing, promotes a positive and relaxing mood that reflects in the overall vibe of the living experience. And it's a good investment – wellness real estate in the U.S. is, after all, a $52.5 billion industry and growing, according to a 2018 report (PDF) by the Global Wellness Institute.

David Bistricer, the founder and principal of Clipper Equity, says, “We are offering this because people should think more. If people would think more, there would be less strife in the world. Shut down the noise, turn off the apparatus that clouds our thinking and judgment and give them the space to do this.” Bistricer believes that allowing people the opportunity to put mind over matter will make the world a better place. “People are habitually connected to everything else that’s connected to their minds. Healthy mind, healthy body, it all goes together. We felt that this rounds out the entire program.”

Johanna Lanus Bloom and Ellie Burrows, the COO and CEO of MNDFL, are both very excited about the partnership. They explained that although they had been approached by developers before, no other project had the same commitment of wanting to offer classes along with a meditation space. “We are very focused on making meditation accessible to everyone. From the way we structure our studios to the way we design our space, we want to entice people to practice meditation because meditation isn’t easy. You can’t replicate having a meditation instructor in front of you,” explains Lanus Bloom.

She continues, “Gramercy Square is dedicated to providing amenities in a way that will be very meaningful. When we started to talk to them, we loved the space they were already building and we loved that they were committed to this. What was really interesting to us was not just building a space, which is meaningful in an amongst itself, it is that they were interested in staffing the space and creating content.”

Starting as a hospital to heal the body and now offering meditation to heal the mind, it seems this site has come full circle. And, in the great amenities race to outdo one another in New York City condominium buildings, this is one offering that truly makes you relax and breathe a sigh of relief.