15 Union Square West is a residential building on East 15th Street overlooking Union Square in Manhattan, New York City. Originally Tiffany & Company’s 19th-century headquarters, it was refurbished and reopened in 2008 as high-end apartments.
Commissioned by Charles Lewis Tiffany in 1869, John Kellum designed the original structure, which included 16-foot cast-iron arches that rose above the park. The building cost $500,000 and opened in 1870.[1] At the time, the store was described as “the largest of its kind devoted to this business of any in the world,” and dubbed the “palace of jewels”.[1]Tiffany & Co. stayed there until 1906. By 1925 the building was occupied by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America trade union.[1]
By 1952 it was owned by Amalgamated Bank. After a fatal accident where a pedestrian was struck by a falling piece of cast iron, they stripped the original façade and covered it with white brick. The building then stood unchanged for more than 50 years.[1]
Brack Capital Real Estate purchased the property in 2006, and restored the original six-story structure and added six newly constructed floors to create a boutique condominium with 36 residences. The brick façade was dismantled and the original arches were reconditioned and wrapped behind a façade of glass and black anodized aluminum. The original structure was topped by an additional six stories of all glass residences. Designed by Eran Chen of ODA-Architecture, previously of Perkins Eastman, the building blends historic and contemporary elements.[2][3]
In 2011, two of the two-bedroom apartments were purchased by tennis player Caroline Wozniacki for $9 million.[3] Earlier that year, the retail portion of the development was purchased by the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) for $57.88 million.[4]
