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I toured a $24.5 million penthouse in NYC's iconic 'Jenga Building' and found that the interior has a totally different look than its sharp, boxy silhouette does - here's a look inside
I toured a $24.5 million penthouse in NYC's iconic 'Jenga Building' and found that the interior has a totally different look than its sharp, boxy silhouette does - here's a look inside
Libertina BrandtNov 26, 2019, 22:15 IST
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New York City's 56 Leonard - or the "Jenga Building" - has a well-earned nickname and a very distinctive look: It looks like a set of haphazardly stacked blocks, towering over downtown Manhattan.
New York City's 56 Leonard - the so-called Jenga Building - is hard to miss: Its stacked levels jut out unevenly from its sides, giving it a distinctly different silhouette from your standard, smooth-sided high-rise.
On November 21, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group's senior sales director Elizabeth Unger walked me through the tower and took me up to the 57th floor to view the building's last sponsor-owned unit for sale, a $24.5 million penthouse. A sponsor-owned unit is a unit that is sold, for the first time, to an individual buyer directly by the building's developer.
The full-floor penthouse I saw, like the rest of the building, boasts soft curves and warm colors - a total contrast to the sharply designed exterior.
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From a 360-degree view of New York City to a 75-foot swimming pool, keep reading to see what it's like inside 56 Leonard.
On November 21, I toured one of the most recognizable residential towers in New York City's downtown skyline — 56 Leonard. The building is located in Tribeca.
Tribeca is a ritzy neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. It's home to the most expensive zip code in New York City — the median sale price is $3.9 million.
The tower is roughly half a mile from Business Insider's headquarters, so I walked there. In a matter of minutes, 56 Leonard was directly in my line of view, and I immediately understood why it's dubbed the "Jenga Building."
When I arrived at the tower, I was surprised to see that the entrance blended in perfectly with the surrounding area. Despite the fact that the building's facade was visible for most of my walk, when I turned onto its block, I almost walked past the front doors.
I was also surprised by the soft curves in the building's spacious, dimly lit lobby — a total contrast to the sharply designed exterior. It was dark and unlike pretty much any lobby I have ever been in.
Once inside, I met up with Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group's senior sales director Elizabeth Unger to check out the $24.5 million penthouse on the 57th floor — the last sponsor-owned unit for sale. The elevator brought us to the front door.
As soon as I stepped foot in the apartment, I felt like I was in a different world. Not because I was 57 stories above NYC, though that was also imposing. Instead, the apartment I stepped into was full of soft lines, natural light, and neutral tones — a far cry from its silhouette and its lobby.
The interior design of the penthouse carried none of the angularity of the exterior, and certainly none of the dark, ominous tones of the lobby.
Where the lobby looked like a dark lair, the penthouse boasts 360-degree views of New York City with floor-to-ceiling windows lining the unit.
Those same themes of light, neutral colors continued to unfold across its 5,252 square feet of interior space and 1,763 square feet of exterior space. Below is the small living area that sits between the den and the great room.
Adjacent to the den is a door that leads to one of the penthouse's two terraces (the second terrace is located on the other end of the unit).
Outside on the terrace, the view of the city stretches for miles.
Even the views inside are jaw-dropping. While standing in the dining room, I had a perfect view of the Freedom Tower.
When I asked Unger what type of buyers 56 Leonard attracts, she explained that
the building attracts local New Yorkers, particularly those with downtown roots.
"We light up at night," she said.
The 60-floor tower boasts 10 penthouses that take up the top nine floors. Each unit is uniquely designed.