Sky, 605 West 42nd Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 605 West 42nd Street by Carter Horsley

Sky is a 71-story rental apartment building at 605 West 42^nd Street on the northwest corner at 11^th Avenue.

The project was initiated in 2008 but not completed until 2015 by The Moinian Group, which also built the slightly smaller rental tower known as Atelier at 635 West 42^nd Street.

Atelier was designed by Costas Kondylis and Sky was designed by Goldstein, Hill & West, whose principals used to work for Kondylis.

The building is notable for the twinkling lighting of its mechanical rooftop enclosure and its slim light "pipes" that extends almost to the ground on its east and west façades.

The interiors were designed by The Rockwell Group.

This building has about 1,116 “market-rate” apartments. 

The building also has 235 “affordable” units which include 70 studios with an initial monthly rent of $868 for single persons earning $31,132 to $36,300, 120 one-bedroom units with an initial rent of $931 for up to two persons earning $33,326 to $41,460, and 45 two-bedroom units with an initial rent of $1,124 for two to four persons earning a total of $39,978 to $51,780.  Five percent of these units are set aside for mobility impaired applicants and 2 percent are set aside for visual or hearing impaired applicants. 

It is across 42^nd Street from the very handsome twin Silver Towers.

Bottom Line

After abandoning a more contextual design that related to its neighbor, the Atelier, and a more distinctive design with a top slanted towards midtown, this behemoth reared its very glassy façades on one of the last major development sites on West 42^nd Street above a slanted base with scads of amenities including three swimming pools, one with tilted, circular high canopies.  The building has attractive rooftop lighting and piping lighting on its east and west façades.

Description

This is a slab tower with an indented southeast corner, balconies only on its east façade, and a slightly higher northern section.

The northern section of the tower has thin white horizontal bands every two floors while the southern section has them every floor.  The northern section has two thin white vertical piers flanking the center section of its eastern façade which does not have horizontal banding.  The slightly thinner southern section has only one thin vertical pier that is placed closer to its southern edge.

The northern section’s “piers” rise up and cover the top of the building enclosing a setback trellis/screen rooftop that is quite attractive.

It is setback from a large driveway entrance on 42^nd Street that is west of a large detail base on 11^th Avenue that has sides that are slightly angled inward.

An early design of the project before the real estate recession in the city in 2008 indicated that its south façade would have four bands extended in graduated fashion from the tower’s west end toward its middle that would related stylistically to some of the projected bands on the project’s first tower, the Atelier, to the west.  This design also had a roof slanted towards midtown.

The building has a large lobby with a fireplace and a marble concierge desk shaped like half a hard-boiled egg beneath a large chandelier that resembles a “slinky” toy used by large aliens.

The building is distinguished by its twinkling lighting of its mechanical equipment rooftop enclosure and its piping lighting that almost extends all the way from the roof to the top of its podium on its east and west façades.

Amenities

The building has a concierge, a garage, and a live-in superintendent.

It also has a 70,000-square-foot amenities section available to residents on a membership basis.  It includes a skydeck, two terraced zero-edge outdoor pools, one indoor pool, a NBA regulation-size basketball court, a park designed by Thomas Balsey, a children’s playroom, a media room, cold storage, virtual doorman, a package room, a billiards lounge and café, a pet spa and a bike valet.

It is a smoke-free building and has a café with free breakfast.

Apartments

Apartments had “Italian crafted” kitchens available in two finishes with quartz countertops and European appliances, Liebherr refrigerators, under cabinet lighting, and bathrooms have Olympic Gray porcelain-tiled walls and rain shower heads.

The building studio and one- and two-bedroom units.

A studio on the 23^rd floor has an 18-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen.