- Year built
- 1882
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 10
- Floors
- 6
- Landmark
- Designated
155 Franklin Street is the residential heart of Taylor Swift's Tribeca compound and one of the most architecturally distinctive small-scale loft conversions in the broader Tribeca West Historic District. The 1882 sugar warehouse, originally designed by George W. DaCunha with subsequent 1902 renovations by Franklin Baylies, served as a sugar storage facility until 1996. The mid-1990s residential conversion by Christopher Clark — including the addition of a penthouse level — produced 10 condominium residences within the preserved Neo-Grec brick warehouse shell.
The building's defining architectural feature is the intersection of intimate scale (only 10 residences) and unusually large individual floor plates (the penthouse runs approximately 8,000 square feet across the top two combined floors). The Neo-Grec exterior — red-brick facade with horizontal stone banding, prominent cornice, green-painted trim — places 155 Franklin in the architectural register characteristic of late-19th-century Tribeca West warehouse construction. Apartment interiors retain the exposed brick walls, original wood beams, oversized warehouse windows, and substantial ceiling heights that define the building's distinctive loft architectural argument.
The building's cultural significance is structurally anchored by Taylor Swift's compound. In 2014, Swift acquired the top-two-floor combined duplex penthouse (approximately 8,000 square feet) from director Peter Jackson for $19.955 million. In 2017, Swift extended the compound by purchasing the townhouse next door at 153 Franklin Street for $18 million — a property built with a paparazzi-proof garage. In 2018, Swift added 155 Franklin Unit 2N (3,540 square feet, second floor) for $9.75 million. The total compound investment of approximately $47.7 million across the three properties represents one of the most concentrated celebrity real-estate positions in Manhattan. (A note on the compound configuration: NYC Building Code requires fire separation between buildings, which complicates any direct physical interconnection between the 153 Franklin townhouse and the 155 Franklin condo above the roof line; reporting suggests Swift may not actually have a continuous internal pathway between the two buildings.)
Confirmed additional residents at 155 Franklin have included Orlando Bloom, Aziz Ansari, Steven Soderbergh, and the building's earlier celebrity register anchor Peter Jackson (who sold the penthouse to Swift in 2014).
For buyers, 155 Franklin represents a particular position in the Tribeca market: 1882 architectural pedigree, the unusual combination of intimate building scale (10 residences) with substantial individual apartment floor plates, the structural privacy that the 10-unit scale produces, and the cultural-celebrity register that has anchored the building's market identity.
Architecture and unit composition
The 10 residences distribute across the building's approximately 6–7 stories plus the added penthouse level. The penthouse (Swift's residence) is configured as an 8,000-square-foot duplex across the top two combined floors. Unit 2N (also Swift) is configured at 3,540 square feet. Apartment interiors retain exposed brick walls, original wood beams, oversized warehouse windows, and the substantial ceiling heights characteristic of the 1882 sugar warehouse fabric.
The Neo-Grec exterior — red-brick with horizontal stone banding, prominent cornice, green-painted trim — is the building's defining streetscape identity feature on cobblestoned Franklin Street.
Building operations
155 Franklin operates as a small-scale boutique condominium with doorman service and key-locked elevators (each unit has its own elevator landing — a configuration unusual at this scale and a structural privacy advantage). Basement storage and the broader operational infrastructure are calibrated to the building's intimate 10-residence scale rather than to a full-service amenity program.
What to know if you’re buying
The architectural pedigree is structurally distinguishing. 1882 sugar warehouse converted in 1996; among the architectural earliest of the contemporary Tribeca loft conversions.
The 10-residence intimate scale produces a specific operational character. Each unit has its own elevator landing (key-locked); the building culture is calibrated to high-profile residents seeking privacy.
Apartment floor plates are substantial. The 8,000-square-foot penthouse and the 3,540-square-foot Unit 2N are configurations rare in Tribeca conversion inventory.
Tribeca West Historic District protection applies. The 1882 Neo-Grec facade is protected by LPC designation.
Condominium financial mechanics apply. Right-of-first-refusal closings; typically 30–45 day pacing.
What to know if you’re selling
Marketing should emphasize the architectural pedigree, the intimate scale, and the celebrity register. These are the structural identity-anchors.
Pricing requires apartment-level comparable analysis. Thin transaction inventory means each closing carries significant weight in the building's $/sf reference base.
Closing timelines are condominium-fast. 30–45 days.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 155 Franklin Street, also evaluate:
- 443 Greenwich Street — 1882 / CetraRuddy 2017; loft conversion peer
- 195 Hudson Street — 1929 / 1999 conversion; loft conversion peer
- The American Thread Building (260 West Broadway) — 1894–1896 conversion; loft conversion peer
- The Sterling Mason (71 Laight) — Morris Adjmi 2014; new-on-historic peer
The Roebling Team at 155 Franklin Street / "The Sugar Loaf Building"
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Tribeca corridor as part of our broader Park-facing Manhattan practice. We publish this building profile because 155 Franklin buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architectural attribution, board context, apartment-line comparable analysis — not generic neighborhood commentary.