FXFowle’s NOMA condo rises in ‘neo-Bauhaus’ style at the crossroads of Manhattan

Earlier this year, sales launched at The NOMA, a 55-unit ground-up condominium developed by Alchemy Properties and designed by Daniel Kaplan of FXFowle Architects. The 24-story building is distinguished by a gray-brick skin and ribbons of gridded windows that pay homage the area’s industrious roots. The “neo-Bauhaus” exterior references the older loft buildings from the early 19th century, the clean lines of the Bauhaus movement, and the massing of the parade of newer residential towers that have cropped up along Sixth Avenue in Nomad.

Plate from 1891 Land Map of Manhattan Island by G. W. Bromley; Courtesy of Historic Map Works.  Site of the Noma shown in red with blue lines showing boundaries of old farms.

Addressed as 50 West 30th Street, the 106,000-square-foot project is set to rise firmly in Nomad, but at the crossroads of several other districts including the Flower District (what’s left of it), the Fur District (R.I.P.), and the Wholesale District. The residual mixture of uses, and the layers of buildings from eras gone by, provides the area a certain level vibrancy seemingly fading from most of Manhattan. Anchored by Broadway, which makes its tear through the neighborhood from Madison Square to Herald Square, the area has several condominium projects underway that include 10 Madison Square West, 212 Fifth Avenue, and HFZ’s soaring condominium tower at 3 West 29th Street.

Construction photo from late August

The northern elevation creases at an angle paying a nod to the irregular boundaries of Manhattan’s farmlands before the grid of 1811 spanned Manhattan. Several buildings encircling the lot bare the aberrant lot lines, most notably 860 Sixth Avenue across 30th Street, which slashes through its entire block to Broadway. A recent article from the New York Times notes that the angled facade of the NOMA will afford direct views of the Empire State Building and also prevent residents from having direct views of the soon-to-rise Virgin Hotel next door.

In May, a sales gallery debuted featuring artwork from the acclaimed German artists Anni and Josef Albers. The pieces are on loan from the Albers Foundation, and the pioneering works draw from a similar vein of Modernism that inspired the Noma’s aesthetics. Also inside,  are custom woven tapestries by Christopher Farr that echo Josef Alber’s square-inside-of-square color studies..

There are currently eight apartments for sale: three one-bedroom units starting from $1.445 million, a one-bedroom flex for $1.88 million, and four two-bedrooms starting from $2.425 million. Thoughtfully designed interiors boast white-oak floors, and a natural and warm material palette.  Kitchens feature custom wood cabinetry in a satin-white finish, pebble-gray quartz countertops, under-cabinet lighting, white marble backsplashes with gray veining, and state-of-the-artMiele appliances. Master baths are clad with marble walls, radiant-heated and mosaic-inlaid flooring, custom walnut vanities with Kohler sinks, and Kallista gunmetal-finish fixtures.

Amenities include a 1,700-square-foot terrace that will be landscaped with flowers and trees, a wood-floored library, fitness center, and an attended lobby. The building will also host a 13,000-square-foot, ground-floor retail space that will be owned by the lot’s previous 17 owners, “mostly descendants and extended family of a group of about a half-dozen men who bought it a half century ago,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Alchemy Properties, led by Kenneth Horn, has previously paired with FXFowle on two other successful Chelsea condos: 35XV and the Oculus. Completion is expected in 2018.

Find future listings for The NOMA on CityRealty.com.

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