Architect Soo Chan, the mastermind behind the Soori High Line, has explained the reasoning behind the private pools in the condos again and again, but baffled New Yorkers just can't seem to wrap their minds around the idea of a 4-foot deep pool beside the couch. In an interview, the New York Times tells developer Ashwin Y. Verma of Siras Development, "Not everyone is going to want to have a pool in the living room, especially parents with children." But Verma insists the condos are family-friendly.
Yes, but we see the pool as serving a couple of purposes. No. 1, it's four feet deep — it's a lap pool, a wading pool. No. 2, it's a water element. So really what we're trying to do in creating these units is building an oasis in the middle of Manhattan. Is this really a family product? We've got three-, four- and five-bedroom apartments, and the way we designed the pools with the glass and the doors — the living areas, the kitchen areas, the bedrooms are all closed off from the pool — made it very safe from a family standpoint.
This gives people more privacy and the kids can learn to swim a lot faster.
He also says they "spent a lot of time designing the pool to make it very complementary to the whole living experience."
Three condos hit the market last August, but they were delisted in October. Verma told the Times that they sales will launch (re-launch?) stateside "within the next 60 days," but international sales are already underway. They've sold seven of the 31 condos (16 of which have pools). Prices average "$3,000-plus a square foot," and the most expensive apartment will be the $20M+ triplex penthouse with a rooftop pool. The least expensive options will be pool-less and start around $3 million.
· A Conversation With Ashwin Y. Verma [NYT]
· All Soori High Line coverage [Curbed]
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