By Brian J Pape, AIA
THEN: The Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors shop on Leroy Street, viewed from Washington Street, left, was here from 1980 to 2010. Credit: LaFrieda.com
NOW: 601 Washington at Leroy (aka 127 Leroy St.), looking north, the new condo building that consists of only 10 luxury residences. This block of Leroy Street is commemorated as “Pat LaFrieda Lane.” Credit: Brian J Pape, AIA.
THEN: The meat packing industry of Manhattan developed around the Gansevoort Market for many years, but the demand for fresh products to serve butchers, grocers, restaurants and food processors meant that related businesses spread to nearby neighborhoods as well. Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors is one example.
Anthony LaFrieda learned the trade of butchery in Naples, Italy, before he emigrated to the U.S. in 1909. In 1922, Anthony opened his own butcher shop in Brooklyn, running the shop with his five sons, who also became butchers. In 1950, they opened a shop in New York City’s meatpacking district on West 14th Street.
In 1964, Anthony’s son Pat LaFrieda the first, and his son Pat LaFrieda the second (known today as Pat Sr.), only 18 years old, took full ownership of LaFrieda Meats and changed the name to Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors. As business grew, the shop moved locations to Little West 12th Street, then Bleecker Street, and then to an existing building at 129 Leroy Street, aka 601 Washington Street, in 1980.
During the 1980s on Leroy Street, Pat LaFrieda the third (Pat Jr.) began to learn the trade at age 12, showing the same passion and talent for butchery that his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father had before him. Working directly with restaurants, the family team created some of the first custom burger blends that have made them famous all over the country.
When the business outgrew the Leroy Street location in 2010, they moved their shop to NJ.
NOW: This block of Leroy Street is commemorated as “Pat LaFrieda Lane.” After the LaFrieda business moved in 2010, they rented the building to art galleries for several years, until they sold it to Shibumi Development, a real estate development and investment firm, managed by Charles Dunne and Zachary Waksal.
Marketed as 601 Washington at Leroy (aka 127 Leroy St.), the new condo building consists of just 10 large residences, designed to take advantage of the abundant exposures, and the large footprint, by BKSK Architects LLP. BKSK specializes in design that is contemporary architecture inspired by traditional design theory, such as 24 Leonard, 25 Bond Street, The Hubert, and 77 Reade Street. The firm has received many design awards, including honors from the American Institute of Architects and multiple Palladio Awards.
The 601 Washington building’s design features a generous central courtyard, providing private garden entrances to the triplex townhouse units, as well as the main lobby. Townhouses span from cellar to second floor, with their own private gyms and internal elevators. A recent sale of townhouse unit TWNHW, having ceiling heights from 10’-6” to 17’, sold for $19,942,500.
The units on the third through fifth floors are half-floor apartments with at least two exposures. The final four levels, 6-9, are two massive penthouse quadruplexes that include outdoor terraces, rooftop soaking tubs, and views of the Hudson River.
Only one unit currently appears on the market: Apt. PHW, for $32,274,000 ($4,500 per ft2) with six beds and six baths in 7,172 ft2.
The Mankato Kasota Limestone facade of the building is actually a composite rainscreen assembly of thin ¼” slices of limestone laminated to aluminum honeycomb panels, clipped to light-metal furring strips, fastened to the concrete frame. With such a thin veneer of limestone, any abuse along the sidewalks could quickly cause unsightly damage, difficult to repair.
