Sherwood Equities’ 500 West 21st Street Condominium Underway

By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer

New York—Main foundation work is complete on a new condominium development from Sherwood Equities in Manhattan’s West Chelsea community.

Located in the heart of West Chelsea’s High Line enclave, 500 West 21^st Street will feature 32 one- to four-bedroom residences, offering views of the High Line, General Theological Seminary, Empire State Building and Manhattan skyline.

A lushly manicured garden with 40-foot-high trees and mature foliage, designed by Rees Roberts + Partners LLC of TriBeCa, will offer owners visual appeal and serenity, while extending the peacefulness and natural beauty of the High Line.

“West Chelsea was already a coveted neighborhood with world class architecture, and it’s only becoming better,” Ryan Nelson, Sherwood Equities’ senior vice president of development, tells MHN. “Sherwood acquired the site more than four years ago, so we were very deliberate in our timing. We spent an immense amount of time in the design process, making sure we focused on every detail. Once the condominium market returned to health, we decided to move forward.”

The design of 500 West 21^st Street was influenced by the “industrial” style of early 20^th Century apartment residences in London, Paris and other Western European cities, reports Paul Katz, who directed the design by international architectural firm Kohn Pederson Fox Associates. “The stone-and-metal grid surrounding enormous industrial windows imparts a look of distinction that is fully compatible with the building’s urban setting,” he says. “And since the High Line too is a product of the industrial age, what could be more appropriate?”

The industrial motif is carried forward via bold design elements, among them parquet floors of four-inch oak boards, and in the bathrooms, limestone mosaic floors and adjoining powder rooms, as well as fixtures and accessories designed by Mark Zeff, president of his eponymous interior design firm, and made by Watermark.

Kitchens feature Miele appliances, including speed ovens and seamlessly integrated dishwashers and refrigerators. Custom-built cabinetry, as well as countertops featuring 2-inch-thick honed marble slabs, represent additional eye-catching touches in the kitchens.

One of the biggest hurdles in completing the foundation was the cold and snowy winter just concluded, Nelson says. “Mother Nature has been our biggest challenge thus far. Excavating and constructing foundations during this past brutal winter was a slog,” he reports. “Thankfully, we are now completely out of the ground. Also, we have commenced sales, and there has been tremendous interest in the building. We feel the wind is now at our back.”

Nelson reports 500 W. 21st Street will offer home buyers a contemporary yet timeless design, and will be a unique place for owners to call home.

“We are creating an urban sanctuary, with a majority of the apartments offering outdoor space.” he says. “There isn’t any other building quite like it.”