Housing and residential conversions continue to be the talk of the town. Does any other city talk about real estate as much as New York? As the city's commercial office vacancy rate tickles historic highs, housing, and more recently hotel rooms remain chronically undersupplied. Escalating prices, evictions, and displacement have become the norm, while building new places to live for New Yorkers and newcomers has never been more difficult. As ground-up multi-family construction remains sluggish in many Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods, developers and owners are increasingly turning to conversions to capitalize on the housing crunch and ameliorate the weakened demand for other uses.

With every square foot of space in Manhattan growing ever more valuable, developers and landlords have brought the conversion trend uptown. A case in point is 463 West 142nd Street in Hamilton Heights, where a neo-Gothic convent building dating back to 1912 is set to debut its next chapter as a 14-unit condominium building. Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing is handling sales and marketing of its one to three-bedroom residences, where all current availabilities are priced under $1M. One-bedrooms start at $525K, and a two-bedroom is listed for $964K. The five availabilities blend to an average price/ft² of $1,070, significantly below Manhattan's new development average ask of over $2,400.

All homes at 463 West 142nd Street feature double-hung windows, white oak floors, kitchens with Calacatta quartz countertops and modern appliances, baths with high-end materials, energy-efficient, multi-zone heating and cooling, and dedicated washer and dryer closets. Building amenities include a virtual doorman, lobby library, bike storage, and roof terrace with a dining area.

The five-story building's pointed arched windows and white brick facade have been beautifully restored. Aside from offices, houses of worship have been ripe for conversions generally due to their declining congregations. However, since the city's religious architecture is among the most cherished and ornate, there is a groundswell of support to save these structures, as was the case at West Park Presbyterian Church where there has been strong resistance from the local Upper West Side regarding its potential demolition.

462 West 142nd Street is situated between Amsterdam and Convent Avenue, one of the most beautiful streets in all of Manhattan. Hamilton Heights – among the city's top apartment price gainers of 2023, is beloved for its sedate tree-lined side streets, pre-war architecture, and vibrant avenues teeming with mom-and-pop shops. The development is a short distance from the 145th Street subway station serving the A, C, D, and B lines and close to the 1 local train on Broadway. Nearby parks and points of interest include Riverbank State Park, the Hudson River Greenway, Jackie Robinson Park, St. Nicholas Park, Hamilton Grange, and the similarly neo-Gothic City College campus.

In August 2023, Mayor Adams announced several new plans to bring much-needed housing to New York City. The Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan is currently under review, but the Office Conversion Accelerator is in full swing: According to Axios, 46 buildings are enrolled in the program as of January 2024. This first-of-its-kind support system is led by experts from the Department of Buildings, Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Board of Standards and Appeals, and Landmarks Preservation Commission. The goal is to help building owners navigate the complex commercial-to-residential conversion process which requires approvals from many city agencies before securing building permits.

Among the major office-to-residential conversions currently underway are the McGraw Hill Building (224 rental units), 160 Water Street (588 rental units), 55 Broad Street (571 rental units), and 25 Water Street (1,263 rental units). Conversions in business districts have heavily favored rental apartments, but some of the city's most prestigious pre-war office buildings have gone condo in recent years. They include One Wall Street, the Woolworth Building, the Broad Exchange Building, and the recently announced conversion of The Flatiron Building.

Of course, given the city's consistently hot residential market, conversions haven't been limited to office buildings. Hotels such as the Waldorf-Astoria, the Standish, and The Hudson Hotel have turned or are turning residential. Other common uses to convert include schools (555 West End Avenue) warehouses (The Shephard), printing facilities (The Puck Penthouses), and houses of worship (The Novare).

In the city's historic districts, conversions are more likely since changing the building's use and altering interior spaces does not need the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission unless the interior is a designated landmark. However, demolitions, additions, and any exterior work would need Landmarks' permission. The spaces created from these conversions vary widely but are often less formulaic and cookie-cutter than new ground-up residential construction. Successful historic conversions tend to attract buyers who are eager to live in unique spaces and own a piece of the city’s history.

This renegotiation of space is also what makes conversions so difficult and costly for many buildings. Deep floorplates where interior spaces are far removed from windows, redesigning a building's plumbing and HVAC, and the position of a building's stair and elevator cores have made many office-to-residential conversions unviable.

As the city and state further rethink policies to encourage more residential conversions, below we revisit the 20 best new development condo conversions in the city and their most intriguing units on the market today.

Following the passage of the 2019 rent laws, 51% of tenants in a rental must agree to buy their apartments before a condo or co-op conversion can take place, as opposed to the previous 15%; as such, few such conversions have taken place in recent years. However, permits for 393 West End Avenue's conversion were filed just before the new laws took effect.

Described as "a sleeping giant on West End Avenue" by conversion architect CetraRuddy, the project included Landmarks-approved exterior modifications and the creation of expansive new floor plans. Interiors feature restored tray ceilings, white chevron oak floors, LED lighting, open chef's kitchens with Naica quartzite countertops and Miele appliances, marble-clad primary baths, and in-unit washer/dryers. Residents arrive to an attended lobby and enjoy such amenities as a Great Room with courtyard access, a fitness center, an enchanted forest-inspired children's playroom with courtyard access, a teen gaming lounge, and a Club Lounge with fully equipped bar.

When the Broad Exchange Building was completed in 1902, its close proximity to the New York Stock Exchange made it one of the most valuable office buildings in New York. Over 100 years later, at a time when a hybrid work model shows no sign of fading, the Clinton & Russell-designed building's Italian Renaissance facade was carefully restored during the conversion to residential, and its proximity to the neighborhood's first Whole Foods, Battery Park, the Seaport, and an increasing number of restaurants and conveniences makes it even more attractive.

All units feature open-plan layouts, high ceilings, premium finishes, and ample storage. Over 8,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities include a fitness center, multi-sport simulator, children's play area, residents' lounge, and roof terrace with outdoor kitchen and beautiful views.

As the building at 275 West 10th Street was being converted to residential use, original architectural details like arched windows, soaring, barrel-vaulted ceilings, and brick facade were left intact to enhance the apartments inside, all of which enjoy expansive floor plates and luxurious finishes and appliances.

A full-time doorman/concierge is on staff, and amenities include a gym with separate Pilates studio, steam rooms, basketball court, golf simulator, screening room, Club Room, library, and landscaped courtyard garden. However, what residents enjoy most of all may well be its address in the heart of the West Village near Hudson River Park, the High Line, Little Island, the Whitney Museum, and acclaimed restaurants and shops.

Over 100 years after the Standish Arms Hotel was designed by Frank S. Lowe, the Beaux-Arts building has been reborn as one of Brooklyn's most beautiful and luxurious condominiums. Its address off the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and 12-story height allows for spectacular views of New York Harbor and the Manhattan skyline from well-thought apartments with high ceilings, original architectural details, and high-end appliances and finishes.

Residential amenities include full-time doorman and concierge service, a fitness studio, a children's playroom, and a landscaped roof terrace. Academy Award-winner Matt Damon reportedly closed down an entire street to move into his penthouse, which still ranks as one of Brooklyn's most expensive purchases.

Originally opened as as the Hotel Chastiagneray in 1900, and located in what is now the Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District, The Wales was designed by architect Louis Korn in the neo-Renaissance style and presents an uplifting stone-trimmed Roman brick facade and a lavishly-detailed entryway with a marble-stepped staircase. The hotel's name changed several times over the decades, but was known as the Hotel Wales when Adellco bought the building in December 2018. It quietly closed a year later and gave the last guests pieces of the hotel's historic memorabilia.

Much to the relief of local preservationists and architecture aficionados, historic details like terra cotta window surrounds, terra cotta joints, and the brick and limestone facade were restored to their former glory amidst the Landmarks-approved conversion to a condominium. The most noticeable change is a new cornice and penthouse with a wraparound terrace and roof terrace. Like all other units, the penthouse has interiors by Cabinet Alberto Pinto as well as access to amenities like an attended lobby, fitness center, and pet grooming station.

Not only did One Prospect Park West treat members to a ballroom, restaurant, bowling alley, billiards hall, indoor pool, and club rooms during its time as a clubhouse, but this Classical Revival-style building also served as the social center of Park Slope in its heyday. In its current incarnation, the facade was carefully restored while the interiors were transformed into apartments and amenities designed to meet the needs of today's buyers. All units feature arched entryways, reclaimed pine hardwood flooring, kitchens with marble countertops and appliances by Wolf and Sub-Zero, and marble baths. Residential amenities include a private curated art gallery, fitness studio, bike room, library, rooftop terrace designed by ODA, and elegant residential lobby inspired by the architecture of the 1920s.

108 Leonard Street is a dazzling 19th-century loft built in 1898 for the New York Life Insurance Company. The National Register of Historic Places-listed building was designed by architects S. D. Hatch and McKim, Mead, and White in an ornate Beaux-Arts style, complete with a four-sided clock tower facing Broadway. In 2019, architects HLZA and SLCE restored the landmark to its former glory and equipped it with features such as an opulent, double-height lobby, an indoor pool, and a roof garden. Arched windows look out onto Tribeca, one of the city’s most sought-after neighborhoods.

One Hundred Barclay Tribeca is a pre-war landmark located at the junction of the Financial District, Tribeca, and Battery Park City. Designed by Ralph Walker, dubbed “Architect of the Century” by the American Institute of Architects, and completed in 1927, the building was one of the city’s first Art Deco skyscrapers. The opulent Jazz Age lobby is one of the finest in all of New York. In 2015, the tower’s upper floors were retrofitted as sprawling loft residences with high ceilings and high-end finishes. Residences begin at 170 feet above street level, and rise from there, featuring ample light and views from the Hudson River to the Midtown skyline. One World Trade Center rises across the street and comes into direct, dramatic view from south-facing apartments.

One Hundred Barclay boasts over 40,000 square feet of amenities that include a 24-hour doorman and concierge, a fitness center designed by The Wright Fit, an 82-foot lap pool with adjacent children's pool, and spa and treatment rooms. The club level on the 18th floor offers a billiards room, a club lounge with bar and dining room, a children's playroom, a teen lounge, a media lounge, a wine tasting room, music practice rooms, and four outdoor terraces. The building also offers bicycle parking and private storage and five-minute walking access to the shops at Westfield World Trade Center, Fulton Center, and Brookfield Place, as well as the parks and waterfront promenade at Battery Park City.

The Puck Building in Soho, one of the city’s grand 19th-century buildings, is distinguished by two gilded statues of Puck, a character from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The full-service boutique residence with a 24-hour doorman consists of a small handful of spectacular penthouses atop a mixed-use building.

Case in point: In January 2022, Karlie Kloss and Josh Kushner broke Nolita sales records with their purchase of a $35,000,000 penthouse in the building developed by his family's eponymous firm. Features include 7,241 square feet of interior and 5,158 square feet of exterior living space, a library, a gym, a home theater, a wine cellar, and a landscaped private terraces with a yoga lawn, putting green, spa tub and wet bar.

555 West End Avenue is a masterwork of pre-war, Collegiate Gothic architecture. The red brick facade is adorned with white stone trim, quoin window surrounds, owl gargoyles, crenellated turrets, and other touches that lend the building a majesty at once bespoke and magical. The school’s unique features figured beautifully into its 2019 conversion to condominiums. Soaring ceilings and tall windows are as well-suited for classrooms as they are for high-end living. A stately sidewalk moat lends an equal degree of privacy and separation from the sidewalk for classrooms and condos alike. The arch-windowed library became an atrium-like living room with a second-floor viewing gallery in a 3,463-square-foot Library duplex. At the top, the vault truss-roofed basketball court transformed into a spectacular Solarium penthouse, lit by a massive skylight and a sheer window wall that opens onto a 37-foot-long private terrace.

The conversion also introduced luxuriant features such as a round-the-clock attended lobby finished in travertine, Calacatta Crema marble, white oak, and brushed bronze; a fitness center that looks out onto the rear courtyard; and an oak-wainscotted rec room with a bar, billiards, darts, and a large-screen TV. In the units, white oak and marble finishes create a light-hued theme that carries through the living rooms (herringbone-pattern wood floors), kitchens (counters, backsplashes, and cabinetry), and bathrooms (vanities, wainscot walls, and mirror cabinet trim). The building stands on stately West End Avenue, just a block away from the Hudson River-adjacent Riverside Park and a few blocks west of Central Park; the 86th Street station (1/2 trains) sits a block away.

Since 1907, the Plaza has reigned as the world’s most famous hotel, attracting global elites and garnering stories and myths for more than a century. In 2007, much of the legendary chateau was transformed into luxury condominiums, where residents can take advantage of the hotel amenities while enjoying pre-war opulence and direct Central Park views. Residents have access to the hotel’s notable restaurants – including the famous Palm Court – as well as its Caudalie Vinotherapie Spa, the Warren-Tricomi Salon and a La Palestra fitness center. Additionally, the Plaza offers such amenities as a 24-hour concierge and doorman, nanny service, limousine service, turn-down service and a private butler.

The Plaza faces the Grand Army Plaza at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, arguably the most prestigious address in all of New York City if not the world. The building sits within steps of Fifth Avenue’s high-end shopping, numerous corporate and entertainment destinations of Midtown, and within walking distance to shopping and dining at the Upper East Side.

Designed by Schwartz & Gross and built in 1913, the 21-story former office building at 212 Fifth Avenue facing Madison Square Park now holds 48 residential condominiums, with an ornate Neo-Gothic facade restored by Helpern Architects. The pinnacle holds The Crown, a three-level penthouse purchased by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who now owns $119 million worth of real estate in the building following additional purchases.

Pembrooke & Ives decked out the high-ceiled interiors with hardwood floors, while the architects added windows on the south side to provide extra sunlight and views of Madison Square Park into upper-floor units. Amenities include a 24-hour doorman, concierge, a Jay Wright-designed fitness center with a yoga studio and private treatment room, a golf simulator, a screening room, a boardroom, a game room, a children's playroom, a lounge and cold storage for fresh food deliveries. Storage rooms and staff quarters are also available for purchase.

The 15-story, Beaux Arts-style building at 49 Chambers Street was designed by Raymond F. Almirall and built across from the Tweed Court House in City Hall Park 1912. Over a century later the office building was converted to condominium apartments in 2018.

Luxurious amenities at 49 Chambers Street include a landscaped roof deck, swimming pool, hammam and spa, sauna and steam rooms, state-of-the-art fitness center, resident lounge, screening room, children's playroom, tween lounge and resident storage. Additionally, in September 2022, digital art museum Hall des Lumières opened in the Landmarks-approved conversion of the bank hall to present classic works of art in an exciting new way.

The Belnord occupies the entire block between 86th and 87th Streets and Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues. A local and nationally-designated landmark originally built in 1908, the building’s transformation was helmed by famous New York architect Robert A.M. Stern, whose unique talent for combining Gilded Age glamour with 21st-century luxury is evident in the reborn residence. The development is built around a lush, landscaped courtyard with a large central fountain surrounded by wide walkways, as can be seen in Hulu hit Only Murders in the Building.

30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities include a 24-hour attended lobby, expansive porte-cochère, and 22,000 square foot courtyard and garden. The two-story Belnord Club includes a state-of-the-art fitness center, a double-height sports court, a club lounge with a fireplace, dining room, children’s playroom, and teen room. Situated between Central Park and Riverside Park in the heart of the Upper West Side, the Broadway Corridor location is one of the most sought-after in Manhattan.

The 22-story Walker Tower takes its name from Ralph Walker, the architect of the 1929 telephone switching building that comprises the lower floors. The architects at Cetra/Ruddy not only treated the original’s Art Deco with utmost deference, but also extended and intensified the energetic theme to create a 21st century masterpiece wrought in the finest Gotham style.

Building amenities include a 24-hour doorman, concierge, lounge, refrigerated storage, playroom, bike storage, gym, sauna and a roof deck.

Thanks to its underground parking garage (complete with electric charging stations) and prime north Tribeca location, 443 Greenwich Street has become a hot spot for celebrities, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Meg Ryan, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, and The Weeknd, to name a few. The red-brick building was originally constructed in the 1880s but was converted to condos in 2014 by the team at CetraRuddy, who also restored the landmarked façade.

The apartments are distinguished by historic features such as large, arched windows and restored wooden beams, alongside modern amenities and finishes. Amenities include a 71-foot indoor swimming pool, huge roof terrace, fitness center with private studios and an adjacent Hamman, and a 4,000-square-foot interior courtyard.

One Wall Street is one of the finest pre-war condo conversion developments in all of New York City. Architect Ralph Thomas Walker, dubbed “Architect of the Century” by the American Institute of Architects, wrought the tower in an understated yet opulent Art Deco style, with walls of undulating limestone, a cavernous Red Room ground-level banking hall clad in red-orange-gold mosaic, and a matching White Room clad in mother-of-pearl seashells in the beacon-like pinnacle.

In 2020, Macklowe Properties converted the designated city landmark, together with its 28-story annex built in 1963, into 566 luxury condominiums of varying sizes, many featuring unique layouts, lofty terraces, and spectacular views of the skyline and the harbor; the iconic Trinity Church and its grounds, located across Broadway to the west, mean that every west-facing unit, even those on the lower floors, boasts open views and ample sunlight throughout the year. The 176,000-square-foot amenity suite features a two-level space on the 38th and 39th floors with a 75-foot indoor pool with panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, a fitness center that overlooks Wall Street and the World Trade Center, several lounges, and a two-level landscaped terrace. The White Room is now the centerpiece of a one-of-a-kind penthouse, and the Red Room will be home to the first United States outpost of French department store Printemps, set to open in fall 2024.

The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria is the conversion of the top floors of one of New York’s most legendary hotels into condominiums. Beijing-based Dajia Insurance Group Co. is renovating the 1931 landmark with interiors designed by Jean-Louis Deniot and an art collection curated by art collector and auctioneer Simon de Pury. The entrance to every unit features a Concierge Closet that allows for private delivery of packages, dry cleaning, and room service 24 hours a day. Interiors feature bespoke details, custom kitchens by Molteni & C, Waldorf Astoria-inspired motifs in the primary baths, multi-zone HVAC, and in-unit washer/dryers.

Amenities will include a private porte-cochere, an 82-foot lap pool, a fitness center with men's and women's wellness lounges, a Grand Salon, and Starlight Lounge and Terrace. The hotel is also being restored and upgraded, with iconic landmarked interiors, such as the West Lounge, Grand Ballroom, and the Park Avenue lobby, restored by the esteemed architecture firm Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill.

The copper-clad pyramid roof atop the Crown Building has graced the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street since 1921. Almost a century later, the ornate edifice has been reborn as Aman New York Residences, a bespoke addition to Billionaires’ Row. Owners of the twenty upper-floor condos may indulge in the services of the in-house hotel, which include a pool-equipped spa, a subterranean jazz club, a piano bar, a cigar bar, and a wine library. The penthouse offers a terrace with and outdoor pool and views of Central Park.

The Crown penthouse has reportedly sold for $180 million asking price, making it among New York's most expensive real estate sales of all time.

Architect Cass Gilbert traveled across Europe’s medieval cities to draw inspiration for the Woolworth Building, a 1913 Neo-Gothic masterpiece. Though the 792-foot skyscraper no longer ranks as the world’s tallest, the beloved landmark continues to evoke awe and admiration. In 2018, the slender upper portion was converted into 33 elite condominiums.

Arched windows look out through colorful terra-cotta niches onto the Downtown skyline. The wide setbacks have become twin courtyards-in-the-sky, surrounded by parapets of cusped tracery and copper finials. At the top, the former observatory and the copper-clad pinnacle house a stunning, multi-level penthouse. Of the amenities - a wine cellar and tasting room, 29th floor lounge, and 30th floor fitness center - the most impressive is the restored 50-foot basement pool, which was originally commissioned by F.W. Woolworth himself.