The pace of luxury residential development in New York continues to defy skeptics. Here we look at a project now rising in the Flatiron District just off 5th Avenue at 4 West 21st Street. Loyal readers of Triple Mint were first alerted to this 62-unit condominium way back in February. Click below to continue reading and view new images that reveal something of a hybrid apartment house and loft building.
The design architects are H3 Hugh Hardy and Ariel Fausto, who have opted here for a contextual solution. The new structure fills in the space between the two existing commercial loft buildings 
without interrupting the horizontal dialogue that defines this mid-block location between 5th and 6th Avenues. The glazing pattern seeks to mitigate flatness by popping in and out at various shallow recesses. Projects on this scale are filling former parking lots all over Chelsea, Flatiron, and Union Square. These mid-block sites tend to produce units with limited sunlight on all but the highest floors--though that isn't stopping anyone from buying. One quick note on downtown condo projects, if we may: The distinction between a loft and an apartment is in the layout. For developers to call something a loft it really should have a generous open plan living area, and higher than average ceilings. While we await details on the interior spaces, this looks to us like a well-behaved luxury apartment house that just happens to be downtown. Of course, we'd love to be wrong. (The gorgeous renderings above and right were produced by Advanced Media Design.)
