Personal Finance

Inside the new building designed by the man behind 'the world’s most powerful address,' where apartments go for up to $35 million

Written by Harrison Jacobs

2018-02-08T14:14:58Z

EastEndNewYorkCity (47 of 63) — The luxurious Upper East Side building caters to the "quintessential New Yorker." Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider

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20 East End is a new luxury apartment building on New York City's Upper East Side.
The building was designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern, who previously designed 15 Central Park West, a building some have called "the world's most powerful address."
20 East End's apartments range in cost from $10 million to upwards of $30 million

On a quiet, tree-lined block on New York City's Upper East Side sits 20 East End, a new apartment building that looks like something out of the city's Gilded Age.

Designed by high-end architect Robert A.M. Stern, 20 East End was built for New York's elite. Apartments range from around $10 million to upwards of $30 million.

Stearn also designed 15 Central Park West, a now-legendary building that houses some of New York's richest residents, such as Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and actor Denzel Washington. The building has been called "the world's most powerful address" by author Michael Gross.

20 East End features design touches evoking the 1920s and 1930s, when many neighboring buildings were constructed to cater to the era's rich and powerful.

"We were inspired by the buildings of the 1920s and we wanted to take that into the 21st century," developer Edward Baquero, the president of the Corigin Real Estate Group, told Business Insider. "To really appreciate this building, you have to be a quintessential New Yorker."

Baquero gave Business Insider a peek inside.

20 East End is located on East End Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The 43-unit building — which includes two duplexes and two penthouses — is inspired by 1920s-era buildings, such as 120 East End Avenue, which was built by Vincent Astor.

Those buildings were had palatial 20-room apartments. "No one lives like that anymore," Baquero said, adding that they wanted to take the spirit of those buildings and bring it to the present. This motor court, which features heated floors, a two-tiered fountain, and valet parking, will be one of only a few in the city when it's finished.

Residents enter this eight-sided rotunda from the street or the motor court. Every detail down to the oculus was custom designed by Stern, according to Baquero. The floor is Indiana limestone and Royal Danby marble, which was used on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

There are several nods to classic pre-war apartments of the 1920s, many of which were duplexes and featured spiral staircases. This staircase was inspired by famous architect William Adams Delano and carries tenants from the lobby to the building's amenities above and below. Of course there are also elevators.

We visited a 5,000 square-foot five-bedroom apartment on the 11th floor currently listed at $15.5 million. The lobby elevator and service elevator both open into the apartment.

The apartment foyer enters into a gallery, which Baquero said was the norm for the palatial apartments the building takes inspiration from. "It adds anticipation as you roll through rooms and it helps you organize rooms off the central spine," he said.

The living room is spacious with massive windows and plenty of room for entertaining. "At night, you can see the lights glistening off the river. It's spectacular," Baquero said.

The wood-flooring throughout the apartment is nailed down and finished in place, rather than being brought in pre-finished. "It's the old fashioned way. No one does it like that anymore," Baquero said.

The kitchen feels like it would be more at home in a country house than a New York City apartment. All of the appliances are from high-end German company Gaggenau.

The kitchen opens onto a spacious breakfast nook. There's also a butler's pantry to store all your fine china.

The dining room is ideally situated between the living room and kitchen and seats eight comfortably.

A running motif throughout the apartment are these antechambers, which Baquero said creates a sense of space. "Not all square footage is created equal. Really good architecture can change a home," he said.

This room with an attached full bathroom can be used as a bedroom, media room, or office.

At the other end of the hall is the master suite. It has a vestibule separating the bedroom and the walk-in closets and bathroom.

For scale, that bed is king size.

This is the other side of the master bedroom. It's big enough to turn into a small office or TV nook.

There are his-and-hers walk-in closets. This one, attached to the bathroom, has enough space for a vanity or makeup table.

The bathroom features two showers, a cast-iron bathtub from London, and Italian marble throughout. The floors are heated.

Head back out to the hallway and there are three more bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. The apartment is "partitioned purposefully so its hard to see bedrooms roll off the hallway," Baquero said.

The idea is to have the bedrooms all on one side of the apartment without putting them too close to the master suite.

There's also a spacious laundry room. It already has a washer and dryer in it, but Baquero said all the tenants will likely customize it to their liking later.

Head downstairs and you'll find the billiards room, where each tenant has a locker to store liquor. Each of the common rooms are custom designed and can be reserved via an app for private events.

1920s apartments frequently had libraries, bars, billiards rooms, and wine cellars. Rather than try to fit such spaces in today's apartments, Baquero said they opted to create communal spaces that would feel like an "extension of your apartment." This billiards room on the second floor was modeled after the snooker room in the exclusive University Club.

The 900-book collection in the library is New York history themed and curated personally by Stern. "It took nine months for him to pick the books and another nine months to track them all down. It was nuts to try to get this collection of books," Baquero said.

Each room has a high-end Control4 smart-home panel that regulates temperature, lighting, music, and more.

The rest of the amenities are in the basement and are currently under construction. There is a private eight-sided dining room with seating for 12, a prep kitchen, and a bathroom.

The dining room opens onto a humidity and temperature-controlled wine cellar with storage for each apartment at a variety of wine bottle sizes. The room is locked via biometric security system so that no resident's $10,000 bottle of wine disappears.

There will also be a lounge for children next door with a homework area, televisions hooked up with Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Netflix, and classic arcade games. The banquettes will be covered in floor-to-ceiling Japanese denim.

The gym features a yoga room, boxing gym, and various machines. A custom walnut free-weight collection has been ordered from Europe. "They definitely cost more than my parents' first house," Baquero said.

The gym also has first generation Peloton indoor bicycles, where you can stream classes and log your work-outs. A massage room, sauna, and steam room are under construction next door.

Security in the building is, of course, top-notch. There are 36 cameras and everything in the building is accessed via fob.

We got a brief glimpse of the top penthouse, which has over 6,000 square feet of living space. While it has yet to be listed, LLNYC reported in 2015 the list price would be $35 million. The penthouse below is currently listed for $27.9 million.

Source: LLNYC

The penthouse has an additional 4,500 square feet of outdoor space on the private wrap-around terrace. The terrace is so big it has space to install a pool.

Harrison Jacobs

International Correspondent

Harrison was Business Insider's first international correspondent, covering global issues, international technology industries, and travel from both a budget and a luxury perspective. In 2018 and 2019, he covered the deleterious effects of ride-hailing apps on centuries-old traditions in Bali, discovered growing pains at one of China's most hyped tech startups, followed the Arab leader in Israel likened to both Martin Luther King, Jr. and a terrorist, and hung out with Sean Miyashiro, the enigmatic founder of one of the hottest companies in hip-hop, and followed the United Arab Emirates' top falcon trainers, among other stories. Harrison joined the company in 2013. He used a combination of text, photography, and video to cover everything from an extraordinary attempt at police reform in New York's capital and the election of a groundbreaking progressive district attorney in Philadelphia to the consequences and causes of and solutions to the opioid crisis. He was previously a deputy editor overseeing Business Insider's news, politics, military and defense, and sports teams. Harrison graduated from Tufts University in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in history, English literature, and communications and media studies. Read more here »