The Silk Building is a building located at 14 East 4th Street in the

NoHo NoHo, short for "North of Houston Street, Houston Street" (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by Mercer Street (Manhattan), Mercer Street to the west, the Bowery ...

neighborhood of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It has 12 floors that contain 55 apartments. It takes up a whole city block on 4th Street and stretches between

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and Lafayette with entrances on both streets. Built in 1912 as a factory for producing silk garments, it was converted into a condominium building in 1982. Since then, it was the residence of global stars such as

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

and

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

. Its penthouse is the most famous four-storey quadruplex in New York.

History

The Silk Building was designed by Clinton & Russel Architects in the Italian Renaissance style. Construction began in 1908 and was completed in 1912. The building was initially constructed to be a factory space for workers producing silk garments. The only remaining traces of the factory are the two friezes in the lobby. The first, called ''Silk Textile Workers of New York'', shows a silk manufacture with female workers performing various tasks. The second frieze, called ''Silk Production in China'', shows how silk itself was traditionally produced in China. At the time, many buildings in the neighborhood, such as the American Thread Building or the Spinning Wheel Building, contained clothing manufacturers. Over the decades, they have all been repurposed into office buildings or, as in the case of the Silk Building, into luxury residential buildings. In 1982, the Silk Building was bought by

David Walentas David Walentas (born 1938) is an American billionaire real estate developer. Walentas founded Two Trees Management in 1968. Early life and education Walentas was born in Rochester, New York. His father was of Lithuanian descent. When he was fi ...

of Two Trees Management Company. He developed it into a condominium-style building with retail spaces, designed by Beyer Blinder Belle. The condominiums range from studios to four bedrooms with high-beamed ceilings. Many of the layouts are duplexes or triplexes.

Tenants

An important event for the whole neighborhood was the leasing of the Silk Building's entire retail spaces to

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchising, franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when ...

in 1983. Their music store became a major destination store in New York, attracting rock musicians and other celebrities. The first global stars living in the building were

and

. Richards owned two floors, one a complete recording studio. He lived a secluded life and rarely left the building till late at night to avoid fans. The Silk Building was the New York home of both the writer

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author and screenwriter. Ellis was one of the literary Brat Pack (literary), Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique as a writer is the expression of extreme acts ...

and of the main character of his novel '' Imperial Bedrooms''. Rap mogul

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has p ...

resided at PH 1108 until 1996.

lived in the penthouse until 2006. In 2010,

Alan Colmes Alan Samuel Colmes (September 24, 1950 – February 23, 2017) was an American radio and television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. From 1996 to 2009, Colmes served as the co-host, along with Sea ...

sold his triplex apartment there. In 2010,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

purchased a 12,851-square-foot condominium spanning the entire third floor. The space is used for back-office purposes by the university, including the NYU Shanghai office in New York, as well as housing an affiliate of the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

References

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