Renovating 114 East 25th Street

New York, NY

Sometimes, plans change. In design, we understand how projects can shift to support overall business goals. This was the case with the building renovation at 114 East 25th Street, owned by Shorewood Real Estate Group and Prodigy Network, who had plans to utilize the space for a new The Assemblage coworking location. Mancini also worked with Shorewood Property Group and Prodigy Network on the building renovation of 331 Park Avenue South and the building repositioning of 17 John Street.

Shifting Gears Mid-Design

The original intention was to realize the building as a mixed-use co-working/extended-stay hotel hybrid, or “cotel,” for the future interior tenant, The Assemblage, similar to that of Mancini-designed Assemblage John Street House. The one-stop location would be the perfect place for teams of coworkers to work and stay near each other while visiting the area or provide refuge for transient Assemblage members. Each floor would include seven luxurious rooms with kitchenettes and all the trimmings for extended stays.

After several test fits during schematic planning, we were able to fit in the amount of rooms the client needed, but felt that the cramped rooms on each floor wouldn’t live up to the high-quality standards that The Assemblage brand, their future tenant, had in mind–the building simply wouldn’t work as a hotel no matter how many options we came up with. Originally, we separated the building’s circulation core into two smaller cores, placing a new elevator and stairwell core directly across to create a double-sided condition. This scheme divided the floor plates into distinct front and rear zones for the hotel. This scheme gave us the existing secondary stair area to play with. Since it opened to the outside, we could even transform the egress balconies into more private spaces for the rooms, albeit small ones.

Facilitating a Building Renovation for Coworking Space

With the hospitality program proving problematic to accomplish the project goals, we recommended the client evaluate the space using a coworking program which would then inform the building renovation. The new strategy gave us the opportunity to rework the existing core in its original location, adding back this secondary means of egress to its original location with upgrades to bring it up to code. Locating secondary egress in this scheme meant that we could maximize leasable square footage for co-working space instead of having a secondary core splitting each floor plate in half.

Other building improvements included a complete replacement of all windows, façade work with repointed masonry throughout, and fully upgraded building systems to support its future use and occupancy. These improvements allow for the incoming Assemblage tenant to realize the vibrant plans they had for the interior spaces.

Activating Unused Spaces at 114 East 25th Street

To give occupants more access to the outdoors and enhance overall wellbeing, we ripped out the existing windows on the second floor setback and renovated it to become a courtyard while we also granted legal access to the building’s roof by extending the elevator up by a floor. Tenants seek these amenities when looking for real estate, we knew that it would be top of the list for anyone who calls 114 East 25th Street home.