A heavenly $10.25 million penthouse is in contract at Claremont Hall, on the grounds of Union Theological Seminary’s Morningside Heights campus in upper Manhattan.
The development has been decades in the making — and the penthouse is on track to set a record for the neighborhood upon closing.
The tower was developed with the institution, which, founded in 1836, is the oldest independent seminary in the US.
The 41-story, mixed-use luxury building, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, incorporates the facade of the seminary’s former refectory, built in 1908 in a Gothic Revival style.
The developer is Lendlease (of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum), LMXD (the new L+M Development Partners-affiliated firm) and Daiwa House Texas.
At 3,348 square feet, the penthouse comes with four bedrooms, 4½ baths and 433 square feet of outdoor space with stunning 360-degree views.
Design details include a gas fireplace, a wet bar, an open chef’s kitchen and a private elevator entrance.
There are also high ceilings, oversize windows and white oak floors.
Building amenities, designed in partnership with CetraRuddy Architects, include a pool, a gym, a walnut-paneled library and dining room, a resident’s lounge with a terrace, a children’s playroom and a “creative maker’s room.”
The tower’s first nine floors are dedicated for academic spaces and seminary faculty housing, followed by 165 luxury condos for sale from the 10th floor up. The seminary’s alums include Raphael Warnock, the US Democratic senator from Georgia; Karenna Gore, a lawyer and climate activist who is the daughter of former Vice President Al Gore; David Dellinger, a late peace activist and member of the Chicago Seven; and Nelson Cruikshank, likewise deceased, who was a labor union activist and strategist involved in the passage of Medicare.
Not all of the seminary’s more recent students, however, support the project. In 2015, some of them gathered to reenact Jesus driving money changers from the temple, protesting with signs reading, “What would Jesus build?” and, “There are no condos in the Kingdom of Heaven!”
Sophia Cicilioni, of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, heads the sales and marketing team.
Ex-Brit turned Manhattan resident since 2008.