Would you pay $58.5m to live in this iconic New York building?

The Flatiron Building, with its distinctive triangular shape, ornamental columns and intricate Beaux‑Arts detailing, has been one of New York City’s most recognizable structures for more than a century. For the past seven years the landmark has been shrouded in scaffolding while undergoing a large‑scale renovation that will transform the former office tower into ultra‑luxury apartments, with the most expensive unit listed at $58.5 million (£43.9 million). Only 21 residences currently on the New York market or in preparation command a higher price, the highest being a $128 million (£96.1 million) condo overlooking Central Park, according to data compiled by Manhattan Miami Real Estate. With the renovation nearing completion, the Flatiron is poised to enter its next phase as one of the city’s most extravagant residential offerings. Completed in 1902, the 24‑storey, 94‑metre (307‑foot) steel‑frame skyscraper was an architectural marvel and among the city’s earliest high‑rise buildings. Designed by Daniel Burnham to fit a wedge‑shaped lot at the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, it was initially dubbed “Burnham’s Folly” by locals who feared its height and slenderness would cause it to topple. After Macmillan Publishing vacated the building in 2019, scaffolding went up and the structure sat vacant amid ownership disputes. In 2023 the Brodsky Organization, GFP Real Estate and the Sorgente Group began renovations, announcing plans to convert the building into high‑end condos. Once finished, the Flatiron will contain 36 open‑concept apartments—half‑floor and full‑floor units—ranging from $11 million (£8.3 million) for three‑bedroom layouts to $58.5 million (£43.9 million) for a full‑floor five‑bedroom residence with a balcony, which is presently under contract. Amenities being added to the basement and communal spaces include an 18‑metre (60‑foot) pool, a billiards room, a soft lounge and a wellness centre. New residents are expected to begin moving in over the coming months, with all units and amenities slated for completion in early 2027. James Mettham, president of the Flatiron NoMad Partnership, which operates the nearby triangular park, said the scaffolding’s removal has already brought visitors back. “People are coming backmost to get their pictures, and past successful crook volition spell store astatine the section retail, and each the large nutrient and beverage that's astir here,” Mettham said. He added, “So getting it backmost successful each of its glory to complement everything that's been going connected astir it is truly important.” Thomas Brodsky, partner at the Brodsky Organization, told the BBC that the redesign respected the building’s character. “It wasn't astur changing thing that makes the gathering truthful peculiar and beloved to New Yorkers,” he said. “The layouts and the proportions and views truly came straight from the architecture alternatively than from however we mostly would commencement readying a gathering from the crushed up.” The building’s exterior limestone, ceramic and terra‑cotta façade features lion heads, wreaths, eagles and faces. Beyer Blinder Belle, the lead developer on the exterior, enlisted a California‑based specialist to replicate and reinstall thousands of terra‑cotta pieces by hand. All windows—numbering over 1,000—have been replaced; the new heavy units dampen street noise, providing a level of quiet uncommon in New York City apartments. Inside, original steel beams are left exposed in several corners as an homage to the building’s innovative skeleton. In a 12th‑floor model unit, the beam has been turned into closet shelving. During demolition, workers uncovered a forgotten balcony on the 20th floor, identical to one on the level above, overlooking Madison Square Park and Broadway; it has since been restored. The cavernous basement, once home to two restaurants, yielded further historic fragments. A wooden, revolving doorway from the 1910s, too damaged to salvage, was replicated. Steel balustrades from an old staircase were reclaimed as legs for bathroom sinks, and mosaic tile lettering marking each flat number was recreated from the originals. Artifacts recovered—tools, a piano, original building menus, shoes, advertisements, shirts, lights and buckets—will be displayed in glass cases in the lobby, giving modern residents a glimpse of the Flatiron’s past. A “nearly forgotten” historical streetlamp that once stood outside on 23rd Street has been reimagined as a chandelier in the lobby, a concept inspired by an 1895 photograph, according to William Sofield of Studio Sofield, the firm hired to reimagine the interior. Paneling from one of the building’s original restaurants was recreated as trim for the new pool, while vintage planters, awnings, antique light fixtures and curtain fabrics are being incorporated into the street‑level façades. When the scaffolding is fully removed—expected by the end of summer—the restored exterior will be unveiled for the first time in seven years and illuminated for the first time ever. “Whether it's functioning as an office for one of the world's largest publishing companies, or it happens to house truly costly condos,” Mettham said, sitting in the small park at the building’s prow, “the exterior, and what we spot from these spaces close here, we share in that. We are each part of that.”