17 John Street Building Repositioning

New York, NY

The Financial District of Manhattan is home to hundreds of technology companies and global businesses, all easily accessed via a spaghetti-bowl of mass transit used by hundreds of thousands of people each day—it’s a living, breathing neighborhood. Recognizing this, Prodigy Network and Shorewood Real Estate Group engage Mancini to reposition the aging 17 John Street building into a blend of coworking space and extended-stay hospitality suites that create a new hybrid building type they coined as a “cotel.” The completed building repositioning later led to the building repositioning of 114 East 25th Street and the building renovation of 331 Park Avenue South, also for Shorewood Real Estate Group and Prodigy Network.

Coordinating the Building Repositioning with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO)

We completed the building repositioning of 130,000 square feet, originally built in the 1920s as an office building and later converted to rental apartments, to meet the standards and quality expected of high-end, amenity-driven hotels and office spaces. On the exterior, we repointed the masonry to restore the façade and ornamental stonework, which required coordination with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) since the client wanted to retain much of the historic details. Other details we preserved and restored were the elevator and stair core and their surrounding corridors on each floor – the volumes were maintained and upgraded to meet current code requirements without shifting their location.

Designing to Increase Onsite Amenities

Additionally, we introduced an extensive, amenity program within the building’s footprint that maximizes the amount of leasable space available, which was designed for the Assemblage coworking brand known as John Street House for this location. The four co-working floors expanded out into a new addition built on a courtyard setback, adding space for 27 workstations per floor, a third-floor bar, and a new outdoor terrace on the sixth floor. Key to the client’s program goals was resurfacing and expanding access to courtyard, setback, and rooftop outdoor spaces – a crucial social space that drives a lot of attention to the building.

 

Highlighting the Historic Character of 17 John Street

One of the major challenges we faced at 17 John Street was to navigate complex reconstruction efforts that highlighted the historical character of the building. While it’s not designated as landmark with New York City, it was the client’s goal to preserve the historic elements like ornamental façade stonework and a barrel-vaulted ceiling in the lobby. We coordinated closely with SHPO to gauge the amount of restoration work and work within their guidelines.

Accommodating Mixed Uses within a Single Structure at 17 John Street

The “cotel” program is split between coworking on the building’s lower floors and extended stay hospitality suites on the upper floors. Our design creates spaces where people can comfortably work then stay in the same place, whether it’s for one night or one month. The building’s residential past provided a great framework to reimagine each unit’s interiors and while some have been completely rethought to meet the standards and goals of the building owner and tenant.