Filipino puts up luxury condo in Manhattan

Monday, 04 February 2008 00:00

The Centurion is a 17-storey luxury residential condominium in midtown Manhattan, with a penthouse that is expected to sell for as much as $10 million. While it is yet being built and not completely finished, the property development which is located within Manhattan's hottest neighborhood-The Plaza District-has already been featured in The New York Times, The Herald Tribune and The New York Post.

Listed developer is Antonio Development, an affiliate of the Century Properties Group, in partnership with the Manhattan-based SDI.

Designed by architectural legend I.M. Pei, the Centurion on Manhattan's 33 West 56th Street is the latest project of Philippine ambassador Jose Eduardo B. Antonio whose Century Properties Group has begun work on the P40-billion Century City in Makati.

Construction of The Centurion started in March 2007, and it is expected to be ready for occupancy by 2009.

The Centurion will have 48 apartments, with sizes ranging from 750 square feet to as big as 3,400 square feet. Its lowest priced unit is expected to sell at $1.9 million, according to a company statement.

The facade will feature cascading terraces as the high-rise tapers to a narrow top from a square base-a feature built in because of the neighborhood's zoning laws, which allows only the bottom 85 feet of any construction to lie flush with the property line.

Thirteen of the apartments on the top floors will have the terraces, including the three penthouses.

The Centurion's lobby will feature Magny du Louvre French limestone with blonde Anigre wood, rich leather and decorative marble accents. The Chamesson French limestone on its facade was sourced from the same quarry used for the Louvre Museum in France.

Because it is in a prestigious Manhattan address, the condominium will have the white-glove concierge and doorman services and a private on-premise assistance for residents.

The New York Times, in a report published on July 1, 2007, said The Centurion marked I.M. Pei's return to designing a Manhattan residential project. One of Pei's last known projects was the 1966 Silver Towers Complex of the New York University.