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FOR 77 YEARS, THE WEDding cake-shaped tower at 315 W. 36th St. welcomed all kinds of tenants, from button makers to Teach for America administrators. But in recent years it has grown more difficult to fill the building's loftiest floors. So landlord Walter & Samuels Inc. took its cue from a growing number of owners of aging office buildings: It converted the seven upper floors into luxury condominiums.
In its reincarnation as a residential building, homeowners are paying $575 a square foot to live in the same space that companies were renting for $17 a square foot. In four months, the building sold or is in contract for 12 of the 20 condominiums. The new residents of this garment center tower say they are getting better deals on space than they would find in the financial district, where most commercial conversions have been concentrated until now.
"You really can't get this type of space downtown," says Steve Forest, managing director for Walter & Samuels.
Heading north
As the demand for commercial office, rentals remains sluggish and New Yorkers fork over larger amounts of money to buy the few residential units on the market, the trend of converting commercial office buildings to luxury condominiums is creeping northward at an accelerated pace.
These conversions are happening most often in the high-ceilinged spaces of the garment district, the elegant century-old buildings along Park Avenue South and the aging properties...