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Curbed Inside: The Judson in Downtown

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Curbed Inside visits the interior of a structure with an eye towards revealing the design and architecture. If you've got a project you'd like Curbed to consider for shooting, drop us a line.

Following-up on the excellent post from our pals at Angelenic, we took an inside tour of The Judson hosted by our very good friends at David Lawrence Gray Architects. The Judson is a collaboration between Flatiron Development (a sister company to David Gray Architects) and Jeremy and Phil Miller - the team also behind the Tomahawk Building downtown.
As part of the adaptive reuse of the structure, the architects have saved what they could of the building's original interior, although there wasn't much, they admit. The remnants of the building's past are primarily found in the Judson's lobby. The rest has been recreated, or rediscovered, with precision detailing.

Advertecture Wall: One of the cooler features, as explained to us, is found in units on Floors 2-7 (in the *02 apartments), where a shared brick wall with the adjacent building has been uncovered. After removing plaster from the wall the original brickwork and a series of old-timey 1900's ads were revealed. Each of the units featured big windows covering one entire wall and were much brighter and spacious than most of the loft projects we've checked out recently.

Old and New: The 60-unit for-lease project incorporates a lot of the original building's character and design elements due to it's historical nature - it's on the National Register of Historic Places. The little details, like the exposed old pipework, were a nice surprise. The newer stuff is also top-quality. We were swooning at the cabinetry and appliance. It was humiliating.

Penthouse Units: We also got a tour through the building's two penthouse units which are still being renovated at the moment. The smaller penthouse unit is approximately 900 SF while the bigger penthouse unit is approx. 1,600 SF. The dual level units feature an open second level loft space with a bathroom above the first floor dining and living room. The views out the windows facing the Financial District were spectacular. While nice, we weren't as impressed with the penthouses, probably because they were still a bit rough, but the potential was there.

Roof Amenities: The roof top area will house the building's barbeque patio and hot tub. The hot tub measured a decent 3-feet deep, which is nearly as deep as the Market Lofts' lobster pen. The roof seemed to have a lot of unused space on the Broadway side, so potentially they'll do something with that later (*cough* beerpong table *cough*)

Skylight Units: Finally, as all nosy tourist must, we got a chance to look inside the building's most unusual units. Two second-floor units are located in spaces with frosted glass ceilings - oh, the metaphors they are sure to inspire. One of the benefits of the units, beside offering a thrill to the shadow exhibitionist, is the amount of natural light that permeates the space. Three of the second floor units will also have access to a private (semi-private, if you consider that all your neighbors can see you) courtyard which each unit opens onto.

Concluding Details: The cement floors were layed out in grid tiles, something that we never noticed before in other lofts (although we've been told it's quite common). The fire department required the developer to place bars across the lower portion of the windows in each unit to prevent people from falling out. The one bedroom units were shockingly nice. We also appreciated the kitchens that actually felt like separate rooms. Our biggest pet peeve in the new lofts are kitchens that are clumsily tacked onto one wall.

Preliminary Prices:
(more detailed pricing on The Judson web site)
1 bedroom units ~ starting at $1,600
2 bedroom units starting at $2,600
Penthouse Units (2) ~ between $3k-5k