Tribeca & Soho

Tribeca and Soho have defined for the world what loft living looks like Evolving from live-work artists' enclaves born of necessity and affordability; into luxurious and expensive neighborhoods of choice. Since the 1960s, these 19th-century factory buildings have been the model for the adaptive reuse of historic, commercial buildings. Infusing them with new purpose as impressive loft residences with large floor plans, soaring ceiling heights, and vestigial factory details informing the phrase “industrial chic”. They continue to embody an NYC lifestyle that is unique “downtown”. I lived here for nearly two decades and know these streets well.

 

Tribeca's history is rooted in its industrial past, with its streets once home to textile warehouses and the old Washington Market. A century ago it was the city’s bread basket, with fresh food and produce from upstate farms ferried by barge down the Hudson to feed the exploding population and massive economic growth enjoyed by the Port of New York as a waterway to the interior of the country, made possible by the building of the Erie Canal. By 1910, the Port of New York was the busiest in the world. Tribeca’s distinctive Flemish bond masonry buildings with Italianate and Romanesque details were grand palaces of industry in their time. Many of Tribeca’s low-rise industrial buildings and human scale are today protected and preserved as the Tribeca and Tribeca South Landmark Historic Districts. They live side-by-side with some of the best modern residential architecture to be developed in recent years like Herzog and de Meuron’s cutting-edge 56 Leonard St; often colloquially referred to as the ‘Jenga’ building. The polished metal bean shape by sculptor Anish Kapoor is wedged in underneath in a traffic-stopping, Instagram-ready site to see. Warehouse loft conversions are the bulk of what’s available; like the former book bindery at 433 Greenwich Street, where homes with well-considered design features offer privacy and security to its high-powered roster of celebrity residents.

When pop culture name-drops Tribeca today, it’s a proxy for A-list luxury, achievement, and celebrity. The name is an acronym, for “Triangle Below Canal Street” and has become a brand that marketers believe alludes to luxury, much as Park Avenue might have 50 years earlier. Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, who’s long been invested in the neighborhood’s real estate, founded the Tribeca Film Festival as a love letter to the neighborhood to help it recover in the wake of 9/11. Further burnishing the neighborhood’s reputation as a community for high-powered creative types. Its proximity to Wall Street also makes it a convenient place for those who want to walk to work in the adjacent financial district just to the south. Tribeca residents enjoy some of the best New York has to offer with a fine dining scene offering a diverse array of cuisines, from Michelin-starred restaurants to cozy cafes and artisanal bakeries. They have access to the Hudson River Park’s waterfront esplanade and two recreational piers over the Hudson Riverfront with panoramic views. 

 

Just to Tribeca’s north, Soho is the original loft neighborhood of New York City. Much of it is also protected today as a Landmark Historic District with the city’s largest concentration of cast-iron warehouse buildings, converted into a busy mixed-use district with luxury loft homes, boutique shopping, and creative showroom and office space. Soho was the center of New York’s art scene and a live/work hub for artists in the 1960s to the early 80s, many of whom illegally lived in warehouse spaces until the city changed that and established the New York City Loft Board which oversees the practice. Modern Soho’s transformation as a neighborhood set the model for the adaptive residential reuse of commercial properties globally. Adjacent and to the east, Nolita has a more residential history which is architecturally distinct from Soho. It served as ‘workforce’ housing with more modest ‘tenement’ type buildings, during Soho’s industrial past. Many of these today have been converted and lovingly restored with coop apartment ownership, as a bit more affordable alternative to Soho. Many retain a vintage charm and lots of character and may stand side-by-side with newly developed luxury properties.