- Year built
- 1913
- Type
- Condominium
- Landmark
- Designated
There may be no more storied address in New York than the Woolworth Building. Completed in 1913 to Cass Gilbert's design, it was the tallest building in the world until 1929 and was christened the "Cathedral of Commerce" for its soaring Neo-Gothic terra-cotta tower. The conversion of the building's slim upper floors into a small collection of condominium residences turned that landmark into one of the most exclusive — and most architecturally singular — homes available anywhere in the city.
The residences occupy the narrowing top of the tower, beginning high above Lower Manhattan, with interiors designed by Thierry W. Despont. Because the floor plates shrink as the tower rises, the homes are few and the views are extraordinary — wrapping the harbor, the rivers, and the skyline from a perch no new construction can replicate. The lower and middle floors of the building remain commercial; the residential offering is deliberately limited, roughly three dozen homes carved from the spire.
For buyers, the proposition is unique: ownership inside a National Historic Landmark and one of the world's most recognizable skyscrapers, with condominium flexibility, museum-grade restoration, and a level of provenance that simply cannot be manufactured.
Architecture and unit composition
The exterior is Gilbert's masterpiece — a Gothic cathedral rendered as a commercial tower, clad in cream terra-cotta, ornamented with tracery and gargoyles, and crowned by a green copper spire. As a designated New York City landmark and National Historic Landmark, that envelope is permanently protected, and its silhouette remains one of the defining images of the New York skyline.
The condominiums span the upper tower, where the diminishing floor plates produce homes of widely varying scale and shape — from grand floor-through residences to the multi-story crown at the very top, the most dramatic trophy home in the building. Despont's interiors pair contemporary systems and finishes with the building's Gothic detail, restoring and reinterpreting original elements where they survive. Ceiling heights, exposures, and outlook differ from home to home, and the highest residences command 360-degree views across the harbor and the city.
Building operations
The Woolworth Tower Residences operate as a full-service condominium with a private residential lobby — the restored "Gilbert Lobby" arrival — a 24-hour attended entrance, doorman, and concierge service. The amenity program is calibrated to the building's trophy positioning: a fitness center and pool, a wine cellar and tasting room, a private resident lounge, and dedicated service throughout.
As a condominium, ownership is flexible — financing is straightforward at this tier, purchases clear through a right-of-first-refusal rather than a co-op board package, and pied-à-terre, LLC, trust, and international purchases are customary. Common charges and real estate taxes are billed separately. The location anchors the building at City Hall Park, at the meeting point of Tribeca, the Financial District, and the Civic Center, with the entire downtown transit network, the waterfront, and the rebuilt World Trade Center district close at hand.
Facade safety — Local Law 11
An active hazard: the building must keep a sidewalk shed up and make repairs now — expect construction, disruption, and a likely special assessment. We’d get you the repair scope and the building’s funding plan up front, so you go in knowing exactly what’s underway and what it’s likely to cost.
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent). Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library.
See the full facade history →Recent sales
This is some of the scarcest trophy inventory in Manhattan: roughly three dozen homes in total, with only a handful ever available at once. Pricing sits at the very top of the Lower Manhattan market and is driven by floor, view, scale, and the singular character of each home, with the crown residences in a category of their own. Because the building is so small and the product so unrepeatable, comparables are thin and a single sale can define the market. Pricing here belongs against the city's trophy tier rather than conventional downtown condominiums. For current availability and a unit-level read, the live sales record for this address is the best starting point.
What to know if you’re buying
This is landmark trophy inventory, so diligence is unusually home-specific. Each residence differs in scale, ceiling height, exposure, and the degree to which it incorporates the tower's Gothic architecture — all of which drive both livability and value. As a designated and National Historic Landmark, the exterior is protected; understand what that means for any work and for the building's long-term maintenance obligations. The condominium structure favors buyers — flexible financing, a right-of-first-refusal rather than a board interview, and customary international and entity ownership. Review the building's financials and reserves; a landmark of this complexity carries substantial operating costs. Above all, recognize what you are buying: provenance and a view that no other building can offer.
What to know if you’re selling
You are selling one of the most recognizable addresses on earth — a home inside Cass Gilbert's Cathedral of Commerce, restored by Thierry Despont, with views that cannot be reproduced. Lead with the provenance, the architecture, and the home's specific outlook and scale, and benchmark to the city's trophy condominium tier rather than to the broader downtown market. With so few homes in the building and rare availability, scarcity is the seller's strongest card. A resale clears through a right-of-first-refusal on a faster, more predictable timeline than a co-op, and the building's landmark status and global recognition are themselves the marketing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering the Woolworth Tower Residences, also evaluate these Lower Manhattan landmark and condominium peers:
- 261 Broadway — Tribeca pre-war condominium opposite City Hall
- 270 Broadway — pre-war lower-Manhattan condominium nearby
- 240 Centre Street — The Police Building, a domed Beaux-Arts landmark conversion
- 25 North Moore Street — The Atalanta, a Tribeca warehouse loft conversion
The Roebling Team at The Woolworth Tower Residences
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Tribeca, the Financial District, and the broader Manhattan trophy and landmark condominium market. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers evaluating a singular address like the Woolworth Tower Residences deserve building-specific intelligence — the architecture, the home-by-home character, the amenity program, and where the pricing sits within the city's trophy tier.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at the Woolworth Tower Residences, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
Current availability including off-market, the full comp set, and the board & financials read most listings don't show.