From swimming pools to rooftop beaches to tennis courts, many buildings go all out to give residents park-like amenities. For Outdoors Week 2014, we rounded up 15 buildings with the best outside offerings.
↑ In Long Island City, TF Cornerstone built a 50,000-square-foot amenity deck at its 820-unit rental 4545 Center Boulevard. There's your normal sun deck with grills and lounge chairs, plus two tennis courts, a dog run, a lawn, a sand volleyball court, and a reflecting pool. City Realty's editorial director Carter Horsley says the building is "hands-down the most spectacular and attractive out-door amenity building in the city."
↑ Like so many other giant new rental buildings, 101 Bedford in Williamsburg packs in the amenities. It has the standard lounges and fitness center (with a pool!) inside, but the outside spaces are larger than most, thanks to the largeness of the U-shaped building's footprint. A landscaped courtyard sits in the center, while the entire rooftop is one giant deck with cabanas, grills, sun chairs, tables, private party spaces, and a beach. Oh yes, Hot Karl Beach lives.
↑ Gotham West is so far away from the rest of civilizationit's located on Eleventh Avenue between 45th and 44th Streetsthat developer the Gotham Organization knew they'd have to pack it full of amenities to attract tenants to the 554 rental units. As such, there's a landscaped courtyard with a reflecting pool, and a 32-floor rooftop deck with a movie screen, a full bar set-up, lounge chairs, a misting apparatus for hot days, and a grassy lawn—all with stellar city and river views to the east, south, and west.
↑ Before Gotham West landed on the far west side, there was the Mercedes House, ten blocks north on 54th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. The Enrique Norten-designed building, with more than 860 rentals, offers two outdoor decks with bocce ball courts and space for yoga, plus two swimming pools: one outside and the other inside.
↑ A tad further east than Gotham and Mercedes, but still in a generally terrible location, there's yet another rental funhouse: MiMA. The building's 44,000-square-foot amenity space includes a giant landscaped terrace with lounges, barbecue areas, an outdoor movie theater, an outdoor shower, and a small lawn.
↑ The Robert A.M. Stern designed building at 1280 Fifth Avenue, now known as One Museum Mile, doesn't have the biggest swimming poolit's just 18 by 35 feet longbut a pool is a pool, and not many buildings have them outside. The deck has a barbecue area and a dozen lounge chairs.
↑ Residents of 255 Hudson can shower en plein air while watching the sunset over the Hudson (but only if they're in a romantic movie) on the building's spacious landscaped roof terrace. For those not in a rom-com, they can lounge on chaise chairs or on a nice grassy lawn.
↑ Sadly few buildings in Gramercy Park actually come with a key to the neighborhood's eponymous green space, but at the Gramercy Starck, at least residents get their own private rooftop with cabanas. It has great views, but if you're not into rooftops, there's also a lower terrace with a fireplace.
↑ In Williamsburg, 250 North 10th Street recently joined 101 Bedford in the giant-amenity-packed-rental club. The "ship-shaped" building just recently opened, and the finishing touches were just recently put on the large landscaped courtyard. The building also has a rooftop deck, and the owners commissioned street artist Mr. Brainwash to paint one side of the building.
↑ The 46-story Atelier in Midtown features a 12,000-square-foot health club that includes outdoor basketball, tennis courts, and a driving range. There's also a rooftop sun deck with grilling areas.
↑ Though there are few photos of the building's outdoor spaces available, "River House, of course, is the pre-war champ," according to Horsley of City Realty. The building has "not one but two tennis courts, a grand gated, cobblestone driveway leading to a see-through lobby and to large cloakrooms for Batman and Robin to change in when they attended the innumerable soirees."
↑ Philippe Starck turned J.P. Morgan's former headquarters at 15 Broad Street into luxury apartments, and added a pretty stellar 5,000-square-foot rooftop terrace as well. Decked out with a reflecting pool and lounging areas, the deck overlooks the New York Stock Exchange.
↑ In Fort Greene, the two-building Clermont Greene development has a gorgeous interior courtyard with a central fountain and reflecting pool, lots of trees, picnic tables, and chaise lounges. Each building also has its own rooftop deck.
↑ Horsley says the Penny Lane co-op building is "relatively nondescript, but burns a hole in our radar because of its paddle-tennis courts on its expansive, mid-block roof whose tall screens encourage bouncers to make that extra effort at ricochet." Non-sporty types can enjoy the views and soak up the sun from lounge chairs and picnic tables.
↑ At 133 West 22nd Street in Chelsea, residents enjoy a landscaped rooftop deck with two grills, plus the gym is adjacent to the terrace so it's almost like it's outside, too. There's also a backyard swimming pool, just make sure you play by the rules.
· How to Design an Outdoor Room
· Urban Gardening: Tips and Products for the Space-Starved
· City Realty [official]
· Outdoors Week 2014 [Curbed]
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