After three years of construction delays, a three-story stack of red bricks that's stood at 35 Spring Street since 1820 is about to start a second life as a one-family abode. New black bricks cover the three original floors and, up top, a vertical enlargement has added a new fourth floor. Wooden slats surround a wide window fronted by a glass-wrapped balcony, all overlooking the trees at DeSalvio Park across Spring to the south. The new owner, hedge funder Andrew Suckling, bought the property in 2006 for $2.3 million and brought in Chicago architect Robert Han of Architecture Workshop 4B. Work got underway in 2007, but the tight times slowed things to a crawl. Now, finally, the construction shed is down.
The interiors of the 4,000-square-foot townhouse are still something of a mystery, but a bit of sleuthing uncovers a few details. The kitchen is on the second floor and what looks to be the master sits up top in the new balconied 4th floor penthouse. Renderings from architect Han, who writes that "the inescapable challenge in New York City is light, air, and privacy," show a large skylight rising at mid-structure over the stairwell along the west wall. Crowning it all is a sweet deck open to the sky, perfect for summer nights and soaking in the neighborhood atmosphere from on high (not to mention the aroma wafting up from Lombardi's coal ovens down on the corner). Out front on Spring Street is a new 850-square-foot chunk of retail, faced in big glass and beefy black steel, available for the neat monthly sum of $15,000.
· DOB: 35 Spring Street [DOB]
· Deed: 35 Spring Street [ACRIS]
· Buildings: Soho House [aw4b.com]