SoMA at 25 Water Street is the largest office-to-residential conversion in the United States, turning a 1960s Lower Manhattan office tower into roughly 1,300 apartments.
Project Scope
The project reclads and reconfigures the former office building at 25 Water Street, near the East River in the Financial District, into rental housing with extensive amenities. Metro Loft Management and GFP Real Estate lead the development, with CetraRuddy as architect and STO Building Group as construction manager. Converting deep floor plates built for trading floors into light-filled apartments is the core design challenge.
Why It Matters
Lower Manhattan has a glut of dated office space and a shortage of housing, and 25 Water Street is the biggest single answer to both. Office-to-residential conversion is hard, expensive and often blocked by floor-plate geometry; a project at this scale becomes a proof point for whether the model can move the needle on housing supply. Cities from Chicago to San Francisco are watching.
Project Team & Details
| Developer | Metro Loft Management / GFP Real Estate |
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| Architect | CetraRuddy |
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| General Contractor | STO Building Group |
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| Status | Under Construction |
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| Funding Source | Private |
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