1967Manhattan, New YorkFinancial

4 New York Plaza / Manufacturers Hanover Operations Center (now SoMA at 25 Water Street)

Joseph helped build a 408,000-brick banking-computer fortress whose original 1966 DOB plans still survive in the Municipal Archives; today the same structure has been transformed into 1,320 homes.

4 New York Plaza / Manufacturers Hanover Operations Center (now SoMA at 25 Water Street) — The former Manufacturers Hanover operations centre during its 2023 conversion to housing as SoMA at 25 Water Street.

The former Manufacturers Hanover operations centre during its 2023 conversion to housing as SoMA at 25 Water Street.

Current view · 2023 · Photo: SnowFire · CC BY 4.0 · Source

01The story

Why this project matters

Project identity
Verified
Kelly connection
Family source
Masonry scope
Strong

Rita’s list

Rita Bartscherer’s handwritten entry: Manufacturers Hanover Bldg. — 1967

Transcription: Manufacturers Hanover Bldg. — 1967

Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record

Entry

KM-051

Sheet

1 of two

As written

Manufacturers Hanover Bldg. — 1967

The Municipal Archives indexes 4 New York Plaza as New Building application 91/66 by Carson, Lundin & Shaw. City records document its conversion into 1,320 apartments, including 330 income-restricted units.

Why it matters

The official DOB plans survive, the original masonry is unusually well documented, and the current conversion physically rewrites the very envelope Joseph helped build.

02What Kelly did

What Kelly did here

Kelly connection

Family source

Scope confidence

Strong

Very likely the massive exterior brick wall package—especially brick veneer/wall construction—plus associated masonry backup and CMU. The south wall alone contained more than 408,000 bricks.

This scope is recorded as strong, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.

03Who built it

The construction team

  1. 01Owner / client

    Manufacturers Hanover Trust

  2. 02Architect

    Carson, Lundin & Shaw

  3. 03GC / construction manager

    GC not yet identified

04What happened

What happened to it

Converted to residential

What happens next

The former 4 New York Plaza has been transformed into SoMA at 25 Water Street with 1,320 apartments, including 330 income-restricted units, plus a ten-story overbuild and major envelope changes.

On the map

25 Water Street, New York, NY 10004

Converted to residential

Sources

7 citedOpen →
What this record rests on
  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03
    legacy.com

    david larson obituary

  4. 04
    architecturalrecord.com

    17512 in manhattan cetraruddy transforms an aging office building into much need

  5. 05
    nyc.gov

    DOB Drawings Finding Aid REC0074

  6. 06
    comptroller.nyc.gov

    office to residential conversions

  7. 07
    manhattanbp.nyc.gov

    mbp levine celebrates largest office to residential conversion in u s history

Image credits
  • SnowFire · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · 2023-08-17

    The former Manufacturers Hanover operations centre during its 2023 conversion to housing as SoMA at 25 Water Street.

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