The Plan: Lower Manhattan’s Wrey Rental Tower Is Designed Like a Private Club

As “Seinfeld” taught us, you can’t acquire grace. At the Wrey, though, a new luxury rental tower in Lower Manhattan, there is grace in every nook and cranny. 

Situated a stone’s throw from City Hall Park, the Wrey is a 31-story former office building overlooking Broadway, Saint Paul’s Chapel and the World Trade Center. 

Developer GFP is still determining if it will opt into the state’s 467-m program, which offers tax breaks for the conversion of nonresidential buildings into housing, provided that a percent of the available units are designated as affordable. GFP’s other Lower Manhattan conversion, SOMA, was the first to use the 2-year-old 467-m. 

The Wrey’s name comes from a memorial fountain found in City Hall Park that was made to commemorate the life and work of famed architect Jacob Wrey Mould.  

“City Hall Park has changed so much over the last few years, between all the new development that’s come on the market, and we really like the story surrounding the fountain,” said Sarah Patton, co-head of Compass New Development, which handles marketing and leasing for the 788-unit building. “The fountain was originally built here, then it was relocated to the Bronx, then it was put into storage, and then brought back to City Hall Park as part of an overall renovation. We liked that tie-in to the building, the changing it from office to resi, and a rebirth. It felt like it was the appropriate name.”

Walking through the Wrey — which is still finishing construction, although move-ins started in June — one could be forgiven for mistaking the place for a five-star luxury resort rather than a New York City apartment building. Everything is sleek and the hallway tones are warm and inviting, giving the place those just left the pool and returning to the room for a nap kind of vacation vibes. Except you’re not on vacation, you’re home. 

And the pool — don’t worry, tenants will have two to choose from: a 75-foot lap pool anchoring an immersive bathhouse that also features a hot spa and a cold plunge, as well as the rooftop pool gracing the crown of the building, providing an outdoor retreat with a stunning view of One World Trade Center. 

“There’s a significant demand from professionals that want to live in this area, and especially Tribeca, that aren’t able to, because of the lack of supply,” said Brian Steinwurtzel, CEO of GFP Development. “Delivering a high-quality building that meets those needs with all of the amenities that one desires today was the primary goal for the project.”

The amenities are being developed to make residents feel as though they are members of an exclusive club. Other amenity offerings include coworking and lounge space, a private dining room, a spa with bookable treatments via an app, a workout space, and an entertainment space for watching movies, shooting pool and singing karaoke. 

The amenities and most of the units, which range from studios to three-bedrooms, are still under construction. Rents for the available units listed on the Wrey website range from $4,168 a month for a studio to $6,180 for a one-bedroom. 

Steinwurtzel expects the building at 222 Broadway to be fully delivered in the first quarter of next year.

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com