Isay Weinfeld’s lush High Line oasis, Jardim, unveils its sales office

Nearly a decade after the High Line’s first phase opened—and the first wave of neighborhood-changing condos began rising alongside it—the elevated park continues to be a draw for high-profile projects by noted architects. A short list would include Thomas Juul-Hansen’s condos on West 19th Street; Bjarke Ingels’ twisty hotel and condo project; Soori High Line, where apartments come with their own swimming pools; and the late Zaha Hadid’s curvy condo building on West 28th Street.

But one major development, located right next to Hadid’s condo, hasn’t received quite as much attention: Jardim, the first New York City residential project designed by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld. Sales quietly launched last summer, and now, developers Centaur Properties and Greyscale Development Group have unveiled a sales office for the project, a block away from where it’s rising on 28th Street.

The development takes its name from the Portuguese word for garden, and unsurprisingly, the building’s outdoor spaces will take center stage upon completion—none more so than the lush, landscaped central gardens that will connect the development’s two towers.

Those multilevel gardens will feature several evergreens and flowering trees, and a stone spiral staircase (one of the architect’s signature designs) will connect the lower, more private sections of the garden to the upper, more open areas. Weinfeld’s choice of trees and plants in these green spaces were largely inspired by—what else?—the High Line.

Below the elevated gardens, on the ground level, is perhaps one of the most remarkable features of the development: a brick vaulted private driveway that will connect West 27th and 28th streets, while also providing access to the lobby, which can be seen beyond a latticed wall as you pull into the driveway. An almost full-scale version of this driveway—rendered in wood, not brick—can be experienced in the sales office.

Unlike its more showy neighbor, Jardim is largely unseen as you approach the High Line from the east, obscured by the existing buildings and the construction sites that surround it. But that has served as somewhat of an advantage for Jardim, says Philip Tabor, a broker at Douglas Elliman who’s handling sales on the project.

“This is not necessarily one of those vavoom! buildings,” Tabor explains. “It’s not really about the view, but it’s more about being a refuge, and for those who want a more private life.” Buyers, of course, will pay dearly for the cost of privacy: condos begin at just under $2 million—actually a relative bargain when you consider the cost of Hadid’s condos next door—and the among currently available units, the priciest is $7.55 million.

The development is split into two 11-story towers, with 36 one- to four-bedroom condos: Jardim Sul, which faces West 27th Street, has just seven apartments, and Jardim Norte, facing West 28th Street, will have the remaining 29 apartments. Both towers are crowned by duplex penthouses, with all of the plush amenities you’d expect: four terraces, an open-air atrium, and a full-floor roof deck that comes with a wet bar, and a swimming pool.

Grid View

• The elevator opens into the reception area of the sales office.
• This section comes with a model of the development as well as photos of Isay Weinfeld’s other projects.
• A cabinet in the sales office that was designed by Weinfeld, one of the architect’s occasional dabbles in furniture design.
• A flight of stairs leads to the second floor of the sales office where you get a sense what an apartment at Jardim will be like.
• What the sink in the apartments’ powder room will look like.
• The apartments here come with floor to ceiling windows, many of which operate on double and triple sliding tracks like this one.
• What the outdoor space in some of the apartments will look like.
• All the kitchens come with Gaggenau appliances throughout.
• The kitchens will also be fitted with Tabac terrazzo flooring.
• A typical living room in the development with the sliding windows on the left.
• The backsplash and center island in the kitchen will be done in stainless steel.
• The entrance to the living area in the sales office with large closets on the right, and the dining table in the front.

The sales office that Curbed toured is intended to showcase what a typical living room and kitchen would look like in the apartments on the lower floors of the building. Each unit will be kitted out with Quartz, terrazzo, and oil-finished oak floors; many will come with private outdoor terraces (covered in wood imported from Brazil, of course), which will be accessed through a dramatic floor-to-ceiling sliding window and door system.

Kitchens will have cabinetry, stainless-steel counters, and backsplashes made by Italian furniture company Molteni. In the bathrooms, another Italian company, Teuco, will provide deep tubs that come with stone-like matte finishes, and all the master bathrooms will have radiant heat floors.

Amenities are also predictably luxurious, and the sales office has a small model that shows them off to potential buyers. The swimming pool, next to the fitness center, will have skylights, terrazzo tile floors, and reclaimed wood walls. On the other side of the fitness center are massage treatment rooms, steam rooms, and saunas. In addition, Jardim will also have a children’s playroom, and parking for 38 cars.

The site where the two towers are now rising was once home to nightclubs like Pink Elephant and Crobar—a far cry from the serene condo development that’s in the works. Centaur snagged the property for $45 million in August 2013, and Weinfeld was brought on to design the project soon thereafter. It’s been progressing steadily since then: Both the towers are now close to topping out, and sales will soon get underway on a handful of units at Jardim Sul, which were not part of the earlier launch. Construction is still on schedule, Tabor told Curbed, and is expected to wrap up by the end of this year.

• Brazilian Architect Isay Weinfeld To Build 36 High Line Condos [Curbed]
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• Isay Weinfeld's Nature-Embracing High Line Condo Launches Sales From $1.97M [Curbed]