The Puck Building, built between 1885 and 1893, has been the center of SoHo even before there was a SoHo. It has been around for almost 130 years but defies its age. Taking up a block bounded by Mulberry and Houston Streets, it was designed in a Romanesque Revival style by architect Albert Wagner and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is well-known by its two statues of Shakespeare’s mischievous Puck on the exterior, a New York City landmark.
Originally, the building housed offices of the famous Puck Magazine which began publishing in 1877 and was owned by William Randolph Hearst. The building contains both residential and office space as well as ballrooms for large events on both the top and ground floors and a new high-end restaurant. The finishes at the Puck Building are incredibly impressive.
The entire building was updated recently by its owner the Kushner Companies, run by Jared Kushner. Along with his wife Ivanka Trump, Mr. Kushner personally handled the entire project. Among the changes were six new and refurbished penthouse apartments. The first penthouse was sold in 2014 for $28 million, or $4,500 per square foot. The largest of the six penthouses is a four- bedroom, 71⁄2-bathroom duplex with 7,241 square feet of interior space and 5,158 square feet of outdoor space that is expected to sell for $60 million. Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Bon Jovi have each checked out the units.
On the ground floor is a new high-end restaurant called The Chef’s Club, with 120 seats, where well-known out-of-town chefs regularly rotate through and contribute dishes to the menu. The concept was started last year in Aspen, CO., with the best new chefs selected by Food & Wine magazine. The Chef’s Club was designed as an open space dominated by a giant kitchen, with communal tables in marble and wood.
It is in this new restaurant, Superior Boiler has four Triad Series 1600 Low Pressure Steam boilers with gas-fired burners providing heating for the entire facility. The modular set up of four boilers is very efficient – during the spring and fall, it is expected that a minimal number of boilers, as few as one, will keep the space warm. This is much more cost effective than having to keep one large boiler firing.
Of the more than 150 buildings owned by Kushner Companies, Mr. Kushner considers the Puck as his favorite. “It’s a gorgeous building,” Mr. Kushner said, “I wanted to take an icon and not just preserve it but improve it.” Mr. Kushner anticipates that he and Ivanka Trump will move from Trump Park Avenue to a penthouse at the Puck sometime in 2015.