234 West 20th Street
When Blesso Properties purchased this property in 1999, it was an unremarkable five-story walkup containing eight rent stabilized apartments. The building had been managed poorly by the previous owners – there were more than one hundred violations in place at the time of purchase and the average rent was 65% below market.
Over the course of three years, Blesso Properties successfully cleared the violations and vacated six of the units. The building was converted to condominiums and a one-and-a-half story addition was added to create two unique triplex penthouses with private terraces. Blesso Properties designed the interiors in-house, which included custom-crafted Italian cabinetry, wood-burning fireplaces, wide-plank oak floors, and Italian glass vanities.
Construction of this addition was complex, as work had to be performed around existing tenants. The finished product won an AIA award for Design and the penthouse units sold immediately and fetched the highest ever per-square-foot price for a fifth-story walkup in New York City history.