1,300-Unit Office-to-Residential Conversion of 25 Water Street Nears Completion
The two-year office-to-residential transformation of 25 Water Street, also known as 4 New York Plaza, located in Lower Manhattan is nearing construction completion. Upon expected delivery in November 2025, the former exterior will be unrecognizable, the “swaths of intricate brickwork that separated the few windows marking the façade”— a pattern thought to imitate an IBM punch card have been removed and replaced with more expansive windows, and the only remaining reddish-brown bricks are now white. Dubbed SoMA, “which pays homage the building’s location in South Manhattan,” the gut renovated structure will yield 1,300 residential units — making it the largest conversion in the nation by unit count, To create air and light for interior units, two 1,200-square-foot light wells have been carved from floor plates measuring more than 40,000 square feet, with the removed area opening the door to a 10-story vertical expansion at the top of the 22-story structure creating nine residential floors and a full floor of amenities with wraparound terrace and pool. Additional amenities have been created in an area of the basement that once served as a cafeteria for bank employees for a total of 100,000 square feet of tenant amenity space. The building also features a below grade parking garage. SoMA is the “first office-to-residential conversion project to use the 467-m housing incentive — a tax incentive program proposed in partnership between Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul that was authorized in April 2024 and expected to produce more than 20,000 new residential units across New York City; and in exchange for the tax abatements, 25% of the units are planned to be offered at reduced rents through an affordable housing program.
Source: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/jpmorgan-punch-card-building-25-water-st-welcomes-renters