Manhattan’s iconic Flatiron Building, shrouded in a century of soot and decades of scaffolding, will finally see the light.
The triangular landmark – the Big Apple’s first skyscraper at the junction of Fifth Avenue, Broadway and East 23rd Street – will glow top and bottom for the first time in its 123-year history when the former office building reopens later this year as luxury condo apartments, Realty Check has learned.
The exterior lighting scheme, shown for the first time in a rendering obtained exclusively by Realty Check, won the blessing of the Landmarks Preservation Commission for the illumination by design studio L’Observatoire International.
The crowning five floors of the 24-story, 307-foot-tall structure, designed by turn-of-the-20th Century architect Daniel Burnham, will shine brightly at night – as will lower floors whose decorative features have been painstakingly restored.
The Flatiron Building has been a subject for the world’s greatest photographers, most notably by Edward Steichen in 1904.
Yet, it became more of an eyesore than an icon under a revolving door of owners in recent years, sheathed top-to-bottom with scaffolding due to never-ending repairs.
Now, its moody profile will give way to an LED shine, joining neighboring landmarks such as the New York Life, Metropolitan Life and Con Ed towers.
The new lighting caps a restoration of the Beaux-Art limestone, brick and terra cotta facade that also includes the installation of 1,000 new windows. Studio Sofield is designing the new residences, which are to be marketed by Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.
The building fell empty after book publisher Macmillan moved out in 2019, then hit bottom in 2023 when the high bidder in a court-ordered auction failed to put up a $19 million down payment on a $190 million purchase agreement.
Developers Jeffrey Gural, the Brodsky Organization and Italy’s Sorgente Group rode to the rescue with a $161.5 million purchase, the amount of their original bid.
“For a real estate family with over 80 years of experience in New York City, there’s no greater thrill, or responsibility, than stewarding a landmark as essential to the city’s fabric as The Flatiron Building,” Daniel Brodsky said.
“We’re honored that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has approved the building’s first-ever exterior lighting plan, allowing this icon to shine nightly for the first time in its 123-year history.”
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