FIDI?Of all the condo conversion of old office buildings in Lower Manhattan, the Setai at 40 Broad Street (above) is the one that's kind of been forgotten. In fact, it's been about a pregnancy since we last checked in. That's probably because the condo/spa palace has been marketed more as a pied-a-terre getaway for wealthy out-of-towners than as primary homes for New Yorkers. According to a press release, the Zen-themed Setai recently topped out on the construction of its penthouses and rootop "Aarias" lounge. The 34-story building will be ready for occupancy in Fall 2008. The website still boasts the awesome tagline, "There's no word for it in English. Perhaps because nothing like it has ever before existed." [CurbedWire Inbox]
BATTERY PARK CITY?Yesterday's CurbedWire item regarding barges and construction and buildings slipping into the water yielded this impassioned response: "It's the shipworm!! As the river got cleaner, post the Clean Water Act of 1972, the shipworm, teredo navalis, has thrived at eating away at the wood piers around the city. As Battery Park City's original pilings holding in the landfill are made of wood, they required being protected from the shipworm by being encased in concrete. As of 2004, 'Battery Park City alone... expended $90 million, using divers and advanced construction technology, to pour a 740-foot-long concrete wall under the water to reinforce a timber wall.' Philip Lopate, Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan, (New York: Anchor Books, 2005), p. 131." Sounds legit, though we'll have to check your bibliography. [CurbedWire Inbox]
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