Woolworth Building Goes Condo

Manhattan's iconic Woolworth Building, which turns 100 next year, is going condo. A 2500 square-foot unit is expected to start at $7.5M.

The world’s tallest building when it opened in 1913, the Woolworth Building was called the “Cathedral of Commerce,” its copper-domed tower soaring 792 feet into the skyline. Now, in a $68 million deal made final last week, the tower will be turned into about 40 luxury apartments, including a five-level penthouse in the cupola. In a condo market still recovering from the Lehman Brothers crash in 2008, some developers have focused on conversions as a way to create new luxury apartments that cater to an eager, astronomically wealthy clientele who in the past few months have spent tens of millions of dollars on sumptuous apartments. With its historic status downtown, the Woolworth Building has the cachet to give it an edge over its competitors.

Although it's only 57 stories, the Woolworth remains one of the 50 tallest buildings in the nation. It was the world's tallest from its completion until the finishing of the Chrysler Building in 1930. I took the photo in this post while on a bike ride in 2006.