Cars and Condos

The announcement came this week as the 66-story tower at 130 William Street nears completion. The five units are a small fraction of the 244 residences in the tower, but the prices of the exclusive homes — ranging from nearly $4 million for one of the 59th-floor apartments to $11.5 million for one of of the 60th-floor penthouses — are indicative of the overall development, which averages around $2,000/sf.

130 William is Adjaye Associates' first skyscraper in the United States, so rather than opt for a typical all-glass exterior, the firm is making a statement with a hand-cast concrete exterior "evocative of the masonry craftsmanship of the neighborhood's historic high-rises." Most levels feature windows with arched tops, but the highest floors, where the Aston Martin residences are found, have double-wide openings and loggias. The building is loaded with many of the standard residential amenities found in NYC condos (health club, fitness center, movie theater, rooftop deck), but it also features a public "plaza park" also designed by Adjaye.

The Aston Martin/Adjaye collaboration yields interiors fully furnished "with unique visual elements and accessories," much of them coming from the Aston Martin Home Collection made by Formitalia. The British carmaker and the Italian furniture maker introduced the collection in 2015 at Milan Salone Internazionale del Mobile. Although most of the collection's furnishings — sofas, chairs, beds, kitchen islands, etc. — don't scream "car!," the homes at 130 William come with the option of a simulator room fitted out with a system made by Curv Racing Simulators.

The five residences at 130 William are not the first time Aston Martin has delved into real estate to market their furnishings; it follows the Aston Martin Residences at 300 Biscayne Boulevard Way in Miami. But the NYC project is the first time for Aston Martin to involve an architect in the interior design of one of its cars. Each home comes with a Special Edition Aston Martin DBX custom-designed by Adjaye.

Ironic for this automobile/architecture collaboration is the omission of parking from 130 William. Since the building is located in an area dense with subway stations, parking was not required and it was not provided. Therefore the five new Aston Martin owners will have to look elsewhere in Manhattan's Financial District for a parking space, either paying close to one thousand dollars per month to store it in a public garage or spend six figures to buy a space. But for people able to buy into this luxury collaboration, worrying about parking is probably the last thing to keep them up at night.