http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-hi...,4013767.story
Eye-catching building highlights High Line rebirth
By David Freedlander
March 6, 2008
The transformation of the High Line from a rotting railway to a postmodern park traveled further down the track Wednesday as plans were unveiled for a new tower slated to open next year.
The building, called HL23, is the first project by architectural theorist Neil Denari. It will lean above the elevated park at an angle and taper upward to give the appearance of growing out of the old rail bed.
"The site makes what the building is, happen," Denari said. " The High Line is the start of the action. I used to live near there, and I always thought that if you could give me my choice of places to build in the city, I'd take this one."
Denari's not the only one.
There are now more than 40 projects going up around the elevated railway, and the area is quickly becoming known in architectural circles as a global hotspot for new and interesting buildings.
"Because there is no context in this neighborhood, I thought you could do something different," said Alf Naman, the project's developer.
The 11 residences at HL23, which gets its name from its location on West 23rd Street between 10th and 11th avenues, will range in size from 1,850 to 3,600 square feet, and cost between $2.65 million and $10.5 million.
The project was unveiled Wednesday at Craftsteak, a Chelsea restaurant, to brokers and industry insiders.
The 14-story building will be the focus of a June exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York on new architecture and the High Line.
Some locals are wondering, though, if development in the area has gone too far.
"It's too much, and it's a lot of dust and traffic," said Silvia Baldwin, 58, a 16-year resident of the neighborhood, as she pointed to the forest of construction cranes looming over her West Chelsea street. "I feel like we're losing too many low-income people."
John Tyler, 65, a life-long resident of the area, agreed. He used to work on the piers unloading ships and remembered when the neighborhood was mostly tenements and trains ran on the strange tracks that seemed to float in the air.
"I wish it didn't change so fast," he said. "What was here they should have left alone. They should just let certain parts of Manhattan be."
