Clocktower PH - Living Space with 2 Clocks
this triplex penthouse atop Dumbo’s iconic Clock tower building may be the most exquisite condominium ever offered for sale in the borough

by matt Scanlon

The most impressive and certainly most recognizable former manufacturing space in Brooklyn owes its identity to… the cardboard box. Robert Gair, printer, bag maker, and one of the city’s most prominent post-Civil War manufacturing boosters, pioneered the compressed paper box making technique as the crowning achievement of a career spent in what from a distance looked like a humble occupation, but was a game changer for the neighborhood, borough, and metropolis.
Paper products were essential for Dumbo’s development, and Gair would go on to build a string of industrial spaces in a neighborhood that came to be known in the late 1800s and early 1900s as
“Gairville.”

When it was completed in 1888, the clock tower at 1 Main St. was the tallest reinforced concrete structure in the world (one of the earliest examples of the building technique in the city), and considered the jewel of the Brooklyn industrialist’s many holdings. The lion’s share of its 250,000 square feet were initially rented to the mail order business Charles Williams Stores, but Dumbo’s industrial dowager aged in somewhat graceful neglect in the decades after World War II, until developer David Walentas pushed the city to rezone the area in order to accommodate more residences. With the Giuliani administration’s assistance, a pivotal rezoning was at last approved in 1997. Walentas’s first project in the neighborhood was the clock tower building, converting the New York City landmark into 124 condominiums in 1998. It has in recent years become a favorite spot for A-listers to rest their heads (Anne Hathaway put her three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath loft at 1 Main on the marketplace last year for just north of $4 million).

The structure that holds the clock faces themselves consists of four levels, and is now a stunning piece of architectural conversion, not least in its taking advantage of 360° views. The penthouse unit #16 occupies three of those levels, and has been something of an actual and metaphorical celebrity in its own right—featured prominently in high-end real estate roundups (during a rental phase, it was once valued at an eye-popping $50,000 per month), and appearing in the Spike Lee film Bamboozled.

“One of the most iconic features of this apartment is that it’s so noticeable. People notice this as they come over the bridge from Manhattan, but rarely do they realize that there is a home inside those clock faces,” offered Aaron Lemma, formerly of The Corcoran Group, now Principal and Founder of PWR and LivWrk Holdings in a promotional sales video for Corcoran. “What we have is virtually a mansion in the sky.”

With a total of 11 rooms (including three bedrooms and three-anda-half baths), the triplex is notable for having commanding views from every window, with vertical access courtesy of a three-story glass elevator within the unit, an architectural marvel in and of itself.

Kitchen features include custom Canova white lacquer cabinets and Pietra Cardosa sandstone and stainless steel countertops with integral sinks, along with appliances by Gaggenau and Sub-Zero. Living room and dining areas are marked by the 14-foot working glass clocks, and ceilings that range from 16 to 50 feet. Solid rift quartered sawn five-inch white oak plank floors and an architectural wraparound stairway are just a very few of the additional amenities on hand, along with spa-like baths with radiant heated natural stone floors and glass wall tiles, fixtures, and fittings by Dornbracht, plus Smart Home technology with Crestron system for heating, AC, lighting, AV, and sun control. The master suite features views of lower Manhattan, but the en suite master bath is where things reach a crescendo; from the soaking tub therein one gazes upon a viewshed that includes the Manhattan Bridge and Statue of Liberty.

There is a sky roof cabana and open deck on hand as well, offering a four-compass-point perspective on everything from the entirety of the Big Apple skyline to Southern Sunset Park and even farther when the weather is right.

“What awes me the most about the architecture is the way it takes into account its position, so you get views and light from every room in the apartment,” added Lemma. “You feel basically [that you are] sitting on top of the world.”

1 Main Street, #16
Condominium, $18,000,000
3 bedrooms / 3.5 baths / 11.5 rooms total / 6,813 square feet
Roof deck / Roof rights / Concierge / Doorman / Elevator / Pet friendly
Central air / Hardwood floors / Modern kitchen / Oversized windows
Walk-in closets
Agents: Frank Castelluccio (718.923.8084) and Nicholas Hovsepian (718.923.8084)
or visit corcoran.com for more information