Flatiron Building Moves Closer to Reopening With Facade Unveiling

After seven years under construction, the historic Flatiron Building is finally reopening with one of the latest office-to-residential conversions in the city featuring 38 luxury apartments.

The building at 175 Firth Ave, where Fifth Ave intersects with Broadway, is owned by a group of investors including GFP Real Estate, the Sorgente Group, and The Brodsky Organization. Ownership rights for the 124-year-old landmarked building have been tangled since its last tenant, Macmillan Publishers, vacated in 2019. Disagreements over the building’s future led to various lawsuits and a phantom bid of $190 million at a court-ordered public auction made by the infamous Jacob Garlick. At a second auction, the building’s majority stakeholders GFP Real Estate and the Sorgente Group bought the building for $161 million and now control the property.

Renovations to the Flatiron include upgrading the building’s mechanical systems, installing a central air conditioning and heating system, updating the sprinkler system, renovating the ground-floor lobby, and replacing some of the building’s exterior with the original material of terracotta.

Alongside an office-to-residential conversion, the building will become a leading example in eco-friendliness through energy efficiency measures and smart controls with wireless centers.

Sources close to the situation noted that a final date for the unveiling is yet to be set but that the building is expected to fully open by the end of this year.

Studio Sofield is managing interior renovations to the residential spaces. There are two units per floor—a north and south apartment—with two full-floor units on top floors 20 and 21. Condo pricings start at $11 million for a three-bedroom and reach over $50 million for a five-bedroom with a terrace on the 21st floor. Condos will be an average size of 2,000 square feet. Amenities include a wellness center, fitness center, sports simulator, lounge, 60-foot lap pool, billiards rooms, and a piano lounge.

Macmillan’s old lobby, a barrel-vaulted space from Broadway to Fifth Avenue, will be transformed into a public cafe.

The exterior restoration repairs of the building are being overseen by HLZAE, a Milrose Company, whose niches include working with historic buildings while maintaining their original character. Today’s buildings are designed for function, whereas those of the Flatiron’s glory era were built for “bragging rights,” showcasing wealth and culture with heightened details, a legacy which companies like Milrose are passionate about preserving.

When the building first opened in 1902, it was among the tallest buildings in the city.

The Gilded-age structure was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham in the Beaux-Arts style, with influences from the French and Italian Renaissance, and a facade of limestone and glazed terra cotta. At its narrowest end facing 23 Street, the length measures just 6 feet across; the building stands at 285 feet tall.

The Flatiron was the first building designed to fit the area of its designated space, in this case a wedge-shaped block. Prior to the building’s construction, the triangular chunk had been known as the “Flat Iron,” purchased by brothers Samuel and Mott Newhouse in 1899, and sold to the Fuller Company, a Chicago-based construction firm, in 1901. The building was originally called the Fuller Building, until its more colloquial name, “The Flatiron Building,” took dominance.

Burnham’s inspiration for the building came from the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, during which new technology was being explored for construction advancements. In efforts to participate in the city-wide construction of taller buildings while maintaining an unconventional triangular shape, Burnham used a grid—or skeleton—of steel to stabilize the building and protect it from strong winds and instability at the intersection.

Fun fact: in the early 20th century, groups of men would gather at the corner of 23rd Street to spy women’s skirts being lifted from the intersection’s strong winds. (To this day, there are still powerful wind gusts on the building’s northern point.)

The steel frame construction allowed for a building of monumental height, and also enabled pre-fabrication which expedited the speed of the construction itself. After becoming the first building to successfully utilize steel-skeleton concrete construction, this method eventually became the bedrock of skyscrapers in New York City and across the world.

The landmark’s unusual shape received mixed responses, with spectators praising or criticizing the unique design; The New York Tribune referred to the building as “a stingy piece of pie.” New Yorkers placed informal bets on how long the building would last.

With time, admiration for the structure grew, and it became a NYC Landmark in 1966, and eventually a National Landmark in 1989. The Flatiron is now an iconic symbol of American innovation and achievement, reminding beholders of beauty in the atypical.

During the ongoing renovation, some structural columns and steel braces have been left exposed to serve as a reminder of the building’s historical innovation as a steel-frame building.

The building’s elaborate exterior will be enhanced by an LED lighting display, which will illuminate the NYC skyline along with the awe of photographers, tourists, and residents. Keep watch on the monumental building and watch it slowly unveil back into its legendary, breathtaking presence as the scaffolding comes down.