56 Leonard Street

56 Leonard Street (known colloquially as the Jenga Building[2] or Jenga Tower[3] ) is an 821 ft-tall (250 m), 57-story[1] skyscraper on Leonard Street in the neighborhood of Tribeca in Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, which describes the building as "houses stacked in the sky."[4] It is the tallest structure in Tribeca.[5]

"Jenga Tower" redirects here. Not to be confused with The Independent (Austin, Texas).

56 Leonard Street
View from the Hudson River, 2021
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeResidential condominium
Architectural styleHigh-Tech
LocationManhattan, New York, U.S.
Coordinates40.71767°N 74.00637°W / 40.71767; -74.00637
Construction startedMid-2007
Completed2017
Opening2017
Height
Roof821 ft (250 m)
Top floor796 ft (243 m)
Technical details
Floor count60
Floor area500,005 sq ft (46,452.0 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Herzog & de Meuron
Goldstein, Hill & West Architects
DeveloperAlexico Group
Structural engineerWSP Global
References
[1]
View of 56 Leonard Street apartment building from Franklin St in Tribeca
View of 56 Leonard Street from Franklin St in Tribeca

The building has 145 condominium residences priced between US$3.5 million and US$50 million. Residences range in size from 1,418 to 6,400 sq ft (131.7 to 594.6 m2) and include two to five bedrooms all with private outdoor spaces.

As of May 2013, 70% of the building had sold.[6] According to building developer Izak Senbahar, the building was 92% sold in seven months.[7] In June 2013, a penthouse at 56 Leonard went into contract for US$47 million, making it the most expensive residential property ever sold below Midtown Manhattan. The building was completed in 2017.

History

Alexico Group's Izak Senbahar purchased the land and the air rights in 2007 from the New York Law School for US$150 million. Construction began that same year.[6] Foundation work on this tower began in 2008, but was shut down before the end of the year when the project was put on hold. After nearly four years, construction finally resumed in October 2012.[8]

In 2013, the developers secured a US$350 million loan from a syndicate led by Bank of America.[6][9]

On September 2, 2022, Venezuelan businessman Gustavo Arnal jumped to his death from his apartment on the 18th floor. Arnal was serving as the chief financial officer of Bed Bath & Beyond, which had been in financial crisis for the past few months. Arnal was also one of the targets of a class action lawsuit regarding Bed Bath & Beyond's stock price.[10][11][12]

Architecture

56 Leonard is designed by the 2001 Pritzker Prize winning Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. Anish Kapoor, known for the public sculpture Cloud Gate in Chicago, designed a similar sculpture to sit at the base of the building.[13] Herzog & de Meuron also designed the building's interiors, which include custom designed kitchens, fixtures, bathrooms, and fireplaces.[13] Goldstein, Hill & West Architects LLP is the architect of record.[14]

There is 17,000 sq ft (1,600 m2) of amenity spaces on the ninth and tenth floors, including a 75 ft (23 m) pool, a 25-seat screening room, a private dining room, and a children's playroom. The building has a total of ten elevators; owners will share a hallway with at most one other apartment. The developers also figured a generator on the ninth floor into the plans.[13]

There are eight full-floor apartments at the top, ranging from 5,200 to 6,400 sq ft (480 to 590 m2), with 14-to-19 ft-high (4.3-to-5.8 m) ceilings.[13] In addition, the building features a double-height lobby sheathed in "gleaming" black granite.[15]

In February 2023, a sculpture depicting a 19 foot scale replica of Cloud Gate was installed at the ground level. The sculpture was commissioned in 2008 at an estimated cost of $8-10 million.

Awards
  • 2017 Engineering Excellence National Recognition Award by ACEC[16]
  • 2017 Best Projects Winner in the Residential/ Hospitality Category by Engineering News-Record[17]
  • 2019 Named as one of New York City’s 10 Most Important Buildings of the Past Decade, Curbed New York, a publication for American real estate and urban design.

In media

The building was featured in Season 1, Episode 1 of How Did They Build That?: Cantilevers & Lifts by the Smithsonian Channel.[3]

See also

References
  1. "56 Leonard Street". CTBUH Skyscraper Center.
  2. "Step Into a $17.75 Million New York City Penthouse". Bloomberg.com. September 8, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  3. "Smithsonian Channel: It's Brighter Here". www.smithsonianchannel.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  4. "Stacked houses in the sky". WSP Group. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  5. Barbanel, Josh (June 26, 2013). "Condo's Price Is Straight Up". The Wall Street Journal.
  6. Jason Sheftell (May 9, 2013). "Jenga-like 60-story skyscraper would be Tribeca's tallest". New York Daily News.
  7. Creswell, Julie (November 3, 2013). "Stratospheric Views, and Prices". The New York Times.
  8. "Emporis building ID 312251". Emporis. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020.
  9. REW Staff (January 16, 2013). "Construction starts on 56 Leonard Street". Real Estate Weekly. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  10. Popina, Elena (September 4, 2022). "Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Identified as Man Who Plunged to Death". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  11. Mendoza, Jordan (September 4, 2022). "'Shocking loss': Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Gustavo Arnal died by suicide in New York, officials say". USA TODAY. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  12. "Bed Bath & Beyond CFO plunges to death at New York's Jenga tower: reports". The Indian Express. September 4, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  13. Barrionuevo, Alexei (March 14, 2013). "A Few Signs of Spring Downtown". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  14. "Market Focus - Multifamily Housing" (PDF). archrecord.construction.com. Architectural Record. July 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 31, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  15. "56 Leonard Street". CityRealty.
  16. "ACEC - Engineering Excellence Awards". www.acec.org. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  17. "Residential/Hospitality Best Project: 56 Leonard". Retrieved October 16, 2017.
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