Turning A Vacant New York Office Building Into A Residential Development

In cities across the country, what once were buzzing office towers full of nine-to-fivers are slowly metamorphosing into apartments, transforming into people-centric places for community. As the need for housing spikes and office buildings sit empty postpandemic, the shift is picking up steam in metropolises like New York, where CetraRuddy Architecture has completed the country’s largest workplace-to-residential conversion to date. Located in the Financial District, the project—SoMA at 25 Water Street—revamps a 1969 Brutalist high-rise as a 1,320-unit multifamily block. Adding horizontal bands of windows across the lower 21 floors and injecting two central light wells helped lasso daylight into the structure, while a rooftop addition introduces another six floors of residential units plus two amenity floors, the latter including a coworking space that opens to an outdoor terrace and pool. In total, 100,000 square feet of amenities across the building address modern creature comforts, with wellness spaces aplenty, including a gym, sauna, salt room, and sport courts. Softening the building’s austere language was the order for the interiors, with new serpentine walls and curving built-ins, natural and organic materials for lobby seating, and planters with greenery galore. Bright finishes throughout help welcome the light, and an emphasis on sustainable and recycled interior elements prime SoMA for the future.

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