NEW YORK FLATS ON CO-OPERATIVE BASIS

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31029, 7 April 1966, Page 22

NEW YORK FLATS ON CO-OPERATIVE BASIS

(N.Z.P. A. -Reuter) NEW YORK. An imposing list of internationally known people are beginning to move into a twin skyscraper block of flats just north of the United Nations building.

The 38-storey structure, known as United Nations Plaza, cost about £5.5 million. It is said to contain more glass and aluminium than any other residential building in the world.

Among the distinguished residents preparing to move in are Senator Robert Kennedy, Mr Huntingdon Hartford the millionaire, the novelist Truman Capote, and a large number of United Nations diplomats. The new building is the largest block of fiats in New York operating on a co-op-erative basis. Under the cooperative system, the owners of the flats pay an assessed amount into a general fund for the maintenance of the building. Sale prices of flats start at about £9OOO for a three-room-ed suite to £16,000 for a nineroom maisonette. Each maisonette has a pri-

vate lift and each living room a wood-burning fireplace. Critics complain that the structure resembles just another huge office building physically unimaginative and uninspiring with little to distinguish it from the monotonous line of buildings dotted across the rest of Manhattan. But the builders, the Aluminium Company of America argue that their objective in erecting the structure was to achieve “optimum utilisation, aesthetically and economically.’’ Mr Anthony Faranda, the company’s executive director explained that the trend throughout the United States was for “multi-use” buildings. “Because of skyrocketing land prices and urban population growth, real estate investors have been prompted to erect taller buildings to justify the economics of the project,” Mr Faranda said. “Erecting a structure for a variety of uses is one practical way to make it a financial success.” He said “these new types of skyscrapers will make it possible for families to live.

work, shop and park their cars all under one roof.” The maisonettes—-from the 31st to the 38th floors—offer from two to five master bedrooms. With its proximity to the United Nations, the 334-apart-ment co-operative was built on two-and-one-half acres of some of the most coveted land in the city. The first six floors are office space. The United Nations, which is searching for space, has leased the largest block of space—43,7oo sq. ft. It will be used by the secretariats of the U.N. Special Fund and the U.N. Technical Assistance Board. Several individual countries including Turkey and Gabon, also will take office space. Sales “are going exceptionally well, according to a spokesman. He said the Plaza will reach its peak occupancy this summer.

The Aluminium Company of America owns 70 per cent of the stock in the co-opera-tive. Two major British corporations share equally the ownership of the other 30 per cent.