Developer Martin Ginsburg, founder and principal of Ginsburg Development Cos., on Thursday formally opened the first apartment building in Westchester County to be converted from what had been a Class A office building.
The building at 1 Martine Ave. in White Plains also had been home to the Pace University Lubin Graduate Center. The 14-story structure offered 180,000 square feet of commercial space with Pace owning a condominium consisting of the lobby and the second through fifth floors.
Ginsburg, as part of his acquisition and reimagining of the block formerly known as the Westchester Financial Center, which had an anchor address of 50 Main St., converted 1 Martine Ave. into a 188-unit luxury apartment building.
The transformed building is now known as 1 Martine at City Square. Ginsburg estimates the investment at 1 Martine Ave. has totaled $43.7 million.
At the ceremony to mark the formal opening of the building, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, White Plains Mayor Tom Roach and Janet Langsam, CEO of ArtsWestchester, joined with Ginsburg to cut a ceremonial ribbon in front of the building”™s main entrance.
Ginsburg told the Business Journal that turning office space into a luxury apartment building was one of the most challenging projects in his career. He said that unlike when constructing other residential buildings, each apartment in this one had to be individually designed to make it compatible with the existing construction.
The apartments have 11-foot ceilings, large windows, track lighting and exposed ductwork. There is wide-plank flooring in the living rooms and bedrooms. Designer features are incorporated into the bathrooms and kitchens. There are bedroom ceiling fans, washers and dryers and walk-in closets. Apartments range in size from 425 to 1,170 square feet and monthly rents range from $2,250 to $5,450.
The complex has a parking garage and a one-acre park has been created on the garage roof, slightly elevated from street level. Amenities for residents include art in the lobby, full-time concierge service and a club lounge with a roof deck. There is a fitness center, cinema screening room, conference room, pet wash and electric charging stations for vehicles. There also is a 20,000-square-foot art shop on the ground floor that is open to the public.
When addressing guests before the ribbon-cutting, Latimer recalled that when the Westchester Financial Center was first built, it represented a forward-looking vision of city planners and developers at the time.
“What Marty has shown is the next round of vision and the next round of reconfiguration,” Latimer said of Ginsburg. “We have a certain reality in the commercial office space market and we have a certain reality in the residential housing market. It takes something special to go from one envisioning of something to something different.”
Langsam praised Ginsburg for his interest in the arts and bringing artwork into 1 Martine.
“It is a model project of art and vision. Marty Ginsburg has a Midas touch and you”™re going to see it in some of the very special murals and art that are part of this project,” Langsam said.
Roach said that Ginsburg”™s building will help enliven the section of town near the train station.
“Working with Mr. Ginsburg is great because he does not do a project and pretend like it”™s in isolation, like ”˜I dropped from space and we don”™t care where it lands,”™” Roach said. “He looks at the area and says ”˜How do we fit in and how do we make it better”™ and that”™s what”™s happening with this project.”
Ginsburg said, “We had to reinvent the wheel here. You”™re really constrained by so many things including the structure. To just penetrate a concrete slab you had to X-ray to be sure you didn”™t hit any of the cables. It”™s been an experience from the design point of view and from the construction point of view. We reached a good point here and we”™re pleased with the results we”™ve achieved so far. We think this will turn out to be a landmark project.”
