101 Warren Street is a strong full service building. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill gave it a distinctive identity, a facade wrapped in planted terraces with more than one hundred Austrian pines, that sets it apart from the glass towers around it, and the residences carry wide plank floors, floor to ceiling glass, custom kitchens, and marble bathrooms. The amenity set is deep, with a fitness center, a spa with sauna and steam, a yoga studio, a residents' lounge with a screening area, a children's playroom, and a series of outdoor decks and a water garden. A Whole Foods at the base of the building adds a level of daily convenience few Tribeca buildings can match. At 227 units the building is large enough to keep the amenity package full and the service consistent.
The investment case rests on location, service, and the building's recognizable design rather than on yield or low cost. Central Tribeca near Hudson River Park and the World Trade Center is one of the more durable downtown positions, and the building trades and rents with good liquidity given its size. The honest caveats are two. Taxes are notably high and unabated; on a recent three bedroom the tax bill ran about $4,805 a month, more than the common charges, so total carrying cost deserves careful modeling. And this is a large building with a retail base and a rental component, so a buyer looking for a boutique, owner only environment will find it busier and more public at street level than a smaller building. For buyers who want full service, a central location, and a design with genuine character, the building delivers, and recent closings have held in the range of roughly $2,270 to $2,370 a square foot.
