The first renderings have been revealed for the office-to-residential conversion and expansion of 101 Franklin Street, a 17-story building in Tribeca, Manhattan. Designed by Steven Harris Architects and developed by Skylight Real Estate Partners, Cannon Hill Capital Partners, and TPG, the project will add four floors to the existing superstructure, bringing it to 21 stories and 304 feet tall. The expanded building will span 251,000 square feet and yield 72 condominium units, as well as 2,654 square feet of retail space and 15 enclosed parking spots. Hill West Architects is the architect of record for the property, which is alternately addressed as 250 Church Street and located between Franklin and Leonard Streets.
The above rendering previews the entrance along Franklin Street. The ground level will feature a light stone façade surrounding double-height arched windows, all covered by a wraparound canopy. The levels above will be clad in red brick with black metal spandrels embellished with an abstract sculptural pattern.
The following elevation diagrams detail the scope of the expansion and the varied fenestration of the new envelope. The first image shows the southern and northern elevations, from left to right, detailing the four additional levels that will be constructed atop the existing superstructure. The wider southern face will have a more straightforward grid of rectangular windows, while the narrower northern elevation will incorporate two levels of decorative arches in addition to those on the ground floor. A tall bulkhead will cap the structure.
The second image depicts the broad eastern elevation along Church Street, showing the union of the two fenestration styles. Setbacks at the 12th and 16th stories appear to feature railings for terraces.
101 Franklin Street. Designed by Steven Harris Architects.
101 Franklin Street. Designed by Steven Harris Architects.
The following more detailed illustrations were first seen on CityRealty. While they do not match the massing and floor count of the above diagrams, they still offer an indication of the intended prewar style façade design.
101 Franklin Street. Designed by Steven Harris Architects.
The building was initially planned to undergo a commercial renovation designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, seen in the outdated rendering below. The design would have utilized floor-to-ceiling glass surrounded by a tubular frame, and would have featured several corner cutouts for terraces.
The outdated design for 101 Franklin Street by Rafael Vinoly Architects
The below Google Street View image shows the original look 101 Franklin Street’s façade before it was removed. The development team purchased the building from Columbia Property Trust in 2024 for more than $100 million. The property formerly served as the offices for the city’s Human Resources Administration and the Department of Social Services before their relocation to Brooklyn.
The superstructure currently stands stripped of its former midcentury façade, as detailed in our latest update in August 2025.
101 Franklin Street. Image: Google
Rees Roberts + Partners will serve as the interior designer and Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group will handles sales and marketing for the units. The nearest subway from the redevelopment is the 1 train at the Franklin Street station to the west.
An anticipated completion date for 101 Franklin Street has yet to be announced.
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The new design looks fantastic and will be a huge improvement to this corner of Tribeca.
This is fantastic. The Vigoly. design was not bad. It has similar massing to the existing conditions and can be said to be architecturally interesting. But this is New York City. Infill is always necessary but can be contextual creating links between the past and the future. Something new and bold might be great if this was to be the site of a major and important space.
This design is great. It will continue to be dense infill with an architecture that appears grander in the vertical dimension but horizontally integrates with its neighbors; a great design motif for Tribeca.
There is an odd charm to the original industrial art deco design, would love to have seen that converted to lofts. Not mad at the neoclassical redesign tho. Will make 56 Leonard across the intersection pop more than more glass.
When in doubt, throw in a few arches..Seriously though, this looks great, anxious to see it.
Maybe unpopular opinion but I think I would have preferred to see the Vinoly design here while seeing the this concept built from scratch somewhere else.
But of course, I’ll take it.
I hear ya the Vinoly was pretty nice as well. but yes the new one works 🙂
It is nice to see the arches reserved for the upper part of each section. Some recent designs have overused them. This should be a nice improvement to the area.
This is amazing! Will definitely be a better finished product thank previous designs.
Wow, what a journey from mid-century, to a threatened new century doldrums and now an early century recreation. This is the best outcome.
great design. great conversion. Wasn’t this a city owned office building ? meaning no taxes paid.
really great. only question is why is the bulkhead so… bulky?