Ian Schrager’s New West Village Spectacle

A tour of the hotelier-developer’s new condo building, 160 Leroy Street.

Photo: dbox
Photo: dbox

I recently got a peek at the model apartment for Ian Schrager’s latest sculptural addition to Manhattan’s West Village waterfront — 160 Leroy Street. Though the building is still under construction, I was able to take in a time-lapse video of what the insane water views will look like. And yes, with Schrager and Herzog & de Meuron at the helm, the building is as over-the-top as you’d imagine.

Ian Schrager knows a thing or two about making an entrance, or, more to the point, how he wants you to feel when you make an entrance to any of the projects he has curated over the years — whether it was Studio 54, or the Morgan Hotel, or the Royalton. Now, in his latest venture erecting condo buildings (a collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron) the Schrager razzmatazz is still going strong. The minute you set foot in the entrance of the sales office for 160 Leroy Street with its vaulted ceiling hallway and cantilevered benches floating over a polished concrete floor, you are having an experience that feels monastic with a photograph of a giant weeping willow tree in the midst of a lush lawn. “It’s not just about business and making money, which is of course important,” Schrager says, “but I kind of enjoy outdoing myself.”
Schrager’s first challenge was buying the full, water-abutting block.  “No. 1, getting the site itself was very difficult,” Schrager says. “We had to get three parcels. We owned one, one was owned by Sam Weinberg, and the other was owned by the family that owns most of the meat market, so we had to put that together and that took over a year.” The curvature of the building’s luminous skin was designed to allow premium views from each of the 49 unique apartments. Photo: dbox
Each apartment features a “social kitchen,” out in the open with Sivec marble-slab countertops, Sub-Zero refrigerators, and Gaggenau cook tops. Photo: dbox
The chef’s kitchen, or “dirty kitchen”, as it is referred to in the brochure notes, can be closed off and has everything you need to make as much of a cooking mess as your heart desires, including a Sub-Zero freezer, a Sub-Zero wine refrigerator, a Wolf integrated coffee/espresso machine with milk frother, and an optional Bulthaup integrated wall organizer, and a Wolf steam oven. Photo: dbox
The master bathroom is the size of many New York studios and has the same wide plank floors as the rest of the apartment. There’s also a floating Sivec marble double vanity, a Kaldewei bathtub — which can either be freestanding or built in — a custom-designed oversize shower, and private water closet with marble-slab floors and walls. Photo: dbox
It’s all about great light and proportions, which is evident in the master bedroom of the penthouse residence. The triple glazed, insulated floor-to-ceiling windows ensure that the ever-changing cityscape beyond will always be a silent movie. Photo: dbox
Schrager chose one of his favorite designers, Christian Liaigre, to create the furniture for the model apartment and all pieces are available for purchase by owners. Schrager says the design embraces its modernism. “I am kind of amused when I hear about these prewar rallies and cries, for buildings built 70, 80 years ago,” Schrager says. “Don’t people live differently now? Why would we want an apartment conceived of so long ago?” Photo: dbox
I kept staring at this thinking it had to be the pool for the whole building, but no: It belongs to the future owners of the 12,000-square-foot penthouse, complete with a landscaped roof garden by Madison Cox, who also designed the courtyard landscaping that will feature two 30-foot weeping willow trees. Photo: dbox
Here, back in the model apartment, a Christian Liaigre chaise and wood side table, with a simulated time-lapse view, which changes from day to night, so as to leave nothing to imagination — except, perhaps, how to grow your bank account in order to live here, as apartments start at $2.5 million.
The model apartment also features this beautiful Christian Liaigre bookshelf.
Here I am in the model living room watching the light fade, waiting for cocktails to be brought out from the dirty kitchen (not) and imagining what life could be like living on the water.
And as I left, I couldn’t help but notice that even the powder room casts its own little spell with flattering recessed lighting spilling warmth on the honey-colored wood walls.
Ian Schrager’s New West Village Spectacle