REVEALED: New Look for Hell’s Kitchen Radio City Lofts Built Atop Historic Post Office
Who can deny the cool factor of living in a space oozing with history? New Yorkers find themselves living in former schools, churches, banks, fire stations, and even insane asylums. Now coming to Hell’s Kitchen are 44 condominiums dubbed Radio City Lofts, which will bring our space-deprived denizens a new form of living: life atop a functioning post office.
Radio City Lofts
Address: 320 West 52nd Street
Developer: Oases Real Estate
Architects: Architecture Outfitt
5 stories | 66 feet | 42,500 sf.
Residential Condominium | 55 Units
The already-approved plans filed by Oases Real Estate will convert the top floor and mount two additional stories above the Radio City USPS facility at 320 West 52nd Street. The 42,500 square-foot addition containing 44 condos will rise without causing any postal interruption below. Earlier this year, the as-of-right project was challenged by West 52nd St. neighbors who felt the addition violates the spirit of local zoning laws set forth by the Special Clinton District.
Updated images by the architects, Architecture Outfitt, reveal a contextual addition sporting the usual industrial-chic details of large gridded windows, iron-colored mullions and spandrels, and a visible structural clarity that is offset from the post office below. To distinguish the building’s disparate uses, the addition is clad in horizontal light-grey masonry–perhaps Roman brick–offering a clean juxtaposition to the utilitarian context below. Sadly, the existing upper stone cornice bearing the words, “United States Post Office” is not visible in the latest renderings.
A handful of interior images on AO’s website reveal the apartments will contain lots of rustic details such as faux ceiling beams and wood-decked terraces with pergolas. Considering the homes are directly above the post office, there should be no excuse for not getting your mail on time, and we expect the amenity package to include a lifetime supply of stamps and an apathetic doorman donning a USPS uniform.
Images courtesy of Architecture Outfit
