Sweat equity
IN a city full of claustrophobic apartments and workout addicts, New Yorkers are now moving into their gyms. Or former gymnasiums, at least, which offer an unexpected source of airy living spaces.
One of the most beautiful spreads currently for sale in New York is the aptly named Solarium Penthouse at 555 West End Ave. Built in 1908, the former St. Agnes Boys High School had a top-floor gym. Now the space, which features a 19-foot arched ceiling with a skylight and a glass wall, is undergoing an intense makeover. The 3,420-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bathroom space will include a white-oak kitchen and a masterbedroom suite with marble bath.
“It’s the coolest downtown property you have ever been in, but on the Upper West Side,” says listing broker Alexa Lambert of Stribling. “People come in and they don’t talk because they don’t know what to say.”
The unique retreat, which hit the market last month, is asking $18 million. The rest of the schoolhouse will open as condos, now asking from $7.9 million, in the first quarter of 2019.
Another stunner is at 240 Centre St. in Little Italy. In a prior life, Apartment 5H was a gym in the former New York City Police Headquarters building. It was converted into a 6,600-square-foot, four-bedroom pad back in 1988 by renowned architect Charles Gwathmey, then came back to the market four years ago, asking $31.5 million. Today, the owners are asking $12.7 million — a more than 50 percent price cut. Sara Dai and Raphael De Niro of Douglas Elliman have the listing.
This spring, another gym — the former YMCA McBurney branch (featured in the Village People’s famous music-video tribute to the club) at 213 W. 23rd St. in Chelsea — traded for $12.3 million. Designed by Annabelle Selldorf and Jeffrey Beers, the 7,000-square-foot, four-bedroom home features a glass-enclosed walnut staircase, 29-foot ceilings and, of course, lots of light.