Dana Rubinstein

"I love kitchen appliances."

Such a feat was accomplished spectacularly by architect Stephen B. Jacobs with the redevelopment of four old buildings, once a garage, on a hidden Brooklyn Heights dead-end street into one, cohesive 38-unit luxury condo called Love Lane Mews.

They opened the door for myself and my cousin and my sister and my kids.

While the building lacks the wide open spaces, stark modernism and technical advantages of sparkling new skyscrapers like 7 World Trade Center or 11 Times Square, a task more challenging than most faced Gensler partner Peter Wang, who was charged with repositioning the building for Mr. Moinian.

RECEP2 RECEP2 Some white-shoe law firms, investment banks and other businesses, of course, will never part with their receptionists who are often more form than function.

Further, because there were financial and structural limitations, he couldn't strip the facade down to its steel girders and replace the masonry with a glass one.

"As citizens of a very violent world, I hope our students come to realize that there are alternatives to violence," says Mr. Farahi.

The giant Manhattan landlord recently purchased all of it, making this SL Green's first retail condo purchase in an outer borough.

It could just as easily reside in a Virginia office park.

A passerby would be forgiven for missing the new residential development at 77 Ludlow St., built as it is atop the two-story remnant of an old brick tenement.

"But unless you're building the pyramids of Egypt or Great Wall of China all over again, don't set your heart on your work being there for eons to come."

NYPLACES NYPLACES Many of his Manhattan projects—often budget hotels developed by Sam Chang—evoke nothing so much as suburban strip malls and asphalt parking lots.

"In today's world of direct dial, people are realizing that receptionists have really gone by the wayside," says Ross Adam Cole, a principal at BAM Studio, an architecture firm.

"But unless you're building the pyramids of Egypt or Great Wall of China all over again, don't set your heart on your work being there for eons to come."

He points out that he and his cousin Eric spearheaded the construction of the Reuters tower at 3 Times Square, the family's last major skyscraper completed in 2000.

A favorite punching bag these days in the real-estate world is the design of 3 Columbus Circle, the century-old former General Motors headquarters that developer Joseph Moinian spent more than $100 million refurbishing with a new glass facade, elevators and a lobby.

A favorite punching bag these days in the real-estate world is the design of 3 Columbus Circle, the century-old former General Motors headquarters that developer Joseph Moinian spent more than $100 million refurbishing with a new glass facade, elevators and a lobby.

A receptionist working in a well-appointed reception area is something of a status symbol, designed to impress visiting clients with the gentility of their hosts.

Williamsburg has been transformed in the past 15 years from a neighborhood of industrial properties and artist lofts to one of Brooklyn's trendiest neighborhoods.

The result is a new structure that is clad in a deep red skin made of aluminum panels that complement, rather than mimic, the existing red brick of the surrounding buildings.

The result is a new structure that is clad in a deep red skin made of aluminum panels that complement, rather than mimic, the existing red brick of the surrounding buildings.

A favorite punching bag these days in the real-estate world is the design of 3 Columbus Circle, the century-old former General Motors headquarters that developer Joseph Moinian spent more than $100 million refurbishing with a new glass facade, elevators and a lobby.

It could just as easily reside in a Virginia office park.

Mr. Kaufman is nothing if not prolific.

Thanks in part to the rezoning of almost 200 blocks of Greenpoint and Williamsburg in 2005, development is now migrating westward, toward the East River.

The elevator core is clad in gray aluminum, woven like a stripe down the edifice's Ludlow side, from the aluminum top to the red brick bottom.

In an interview, Mr. Kaufman said that in all of his projects he tries to add "something to the program that speaks to being a building in New York City."

The Berry Street condos will go up for sale next spring.

A receptionist working in a well-appointed reception area is something of a status symbol, designed to impress visiting clients with the gentility of their hosts.

But the prize would still be the prime Greenwich Village land at Seventh Avenue and 12th Street.

"But unless you're building the pyramids of Egypt or Great Wall of China all over again, don't set your heart on your work being there for eons to come."

He takes tremendous pride in his family legacy, and in his family's ability to survive as an intact, relatively happy, well-regarded family despite the enormous pressures of running a family business.

Major chains like Marriott or Staybridge Suites strictly control the design of their buildings, from the layout of the bedrooms and bathrooms, to the aesthetic of the lobbies.

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

The developer, Manhattan Skyline, is also building two townhouses across the street, to be completed next year, and starting at $8 million each.

A favorite punching bag these days in the real-estate world is the design of 3 Columbus Circle, the century-old former General Motors headquarters that developer Joseph Moinian spent more than $100 million refurbishing with a new glass facade, elevators and a lobby.

"You know, my father always talked about how he was a steward for that period of time, so that he could hand that off to the next generation," Mr. Rudin says.

There's no longer a functioning hospital with which to negotiate, and the city's residential market has come down to earth.

Traditionally, receptionists have been considered sine qua non for New York office tenants.

On Friday morning, students studying for finals would have walked by a recorded production of the play "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," in which Sigourney Weaver read the part of Dianna Ortiz, a nun abducted and tortured in Guatemala in 1989.

With the exception of one small building in Boston, all of Rudin Management's assets—16 office towers and 20 apartment buildings, totaling more than 14 million square feet—are in New York City.

But when it comes to preservation, the challenge is of a different sort: Architects must sublimate their egos to the demands of historicity.

A leading Manhattan restaurateur is close to moving forward with one of the first restaurants planned for the Williamsburg waterfront, a still gritty industrial strip that's playing catch-up with the heavily gentrified portions of the neighborhood to the east.

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

By way of example of his creative license, Mr. Kaufman pointed to the project he's working on for Hyatt at 13th Street and Fourth Avenue.

When Kat Larson, chief financial officer at Armgo Pharma, moved into 9,200 square feet at the Landmark in Tarrytown, N.Y., her company also decided to forgo a special reception area.

The condominium and townhouse development at 197 Berry St. in Williamsburg is beginning to take shape, showing clear signs of the developer and architect's efforts to make it fit in with the surrounding row houses and industrial buildings.

The project was thrown into turmoil last spring when St. Vincent's, unable to withstand its financial burdens, sought bankruptcy protection.

For one, he was dealing with a building that dates to the mid-1920s, which means the structure had myriad built-in challenges, like low ceilings and forests of columns.

"Especially if you're a New York-based tenant, you may be in the service sector and want to make a nice statement," says Howard Fiddle, a vice chairman at CB Richard Ellis who is in charge of leasing at 1540 Broadway.

But they also integrated the existing girders into the institute's public space, a concrete reminder of the way past impacts present.

"After working on a project for the last four years now, it's certainly something that we would not like to see happen," Mr. Wang says.

"As citizens of a very violent world, I hope our students come to realize that there are alternatives to violence," says Mr. Farahi.

RECEP2 RECEP2 Some white-shoe law firms, investment banks and other businesses, of course, will never part with their receptionists who are often more form than function.

Few real-estate scions have bigger shoes to fill than Mr. Rudin, chief executive, vice-chairman and public face of Rudin Management; son of the legendary Lew Rudin—known as Mr. New York—who was widely credited with rescuing the city from bankruptcy in 1975 by convincing fellow business leaders to pay some $600 million in taxes early; and grandson of the just as storied Samuel Rudin.

That retail has attracted the interest of one big investor: SL Green Realty Corp.

"As citizens of a very violent world, I hope our students come to realize that there are alternatives to violence," says Mr. Farahi.

Such a feat was accomplished spectacularly by architect Stephen B. Jacobs with the redevelopment of four old buildings, once a garage, on a hidden Brooklyn Heights dead-end street into one, cohesive 38-unit luxury condo called Love Lane Mews.

"We think if we do a good product, there's a natural tendency to want to be near the water."

The family acquired the building earlier this year as a deed in lieu of foreclosure after St. Vincent's borrowed money from the Rudins and used the building as collateral.

Mr. Cole says most of his clients are forgoing larger reception areas and that BAM Studio itself does without one.

Mr. Schwarting proceeded to design a six-story building to place on top of the existing two.

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

But they also integrated the existing girders into the institute's public space, a concrete reminder of the way past impacts present.

Others buyers could step in, but Mr. Rudin has a clear advantage.

Before moving to 1540 Broadway, MorrisAnderson had an office near Grand Central Terminal, where Miller employed a full-time receptionist complete with proper reception area.

Mr. Rudin, 55, declines to comment on the talks except to say: "We know what needs to get done to create a successful project."

A leading Manhattan restaurateur is close to moving forward with one of the first restaurants planned for the Williamsburg waterfront, a still gritty industrial strip that's playing catch-up with the heavily gentrified portions of the neighborhood to the east.

"The idea was to create a green zone between the street and the buildings, very similar to what happens in Carroll Gardens, so that there's a zone between the public realm and the private realm, the public realm being the street and the private realm being the house," says Mr. Bee.

Frank Fusaro, of Handel Architects, embarked on a historical reclamation mission of sorts when he took on the job of designing the new Dream Downtown hotel now taking shape in Chelsea with its distinctive...

On Friday morning, students studying for finals would have walked by a recorded production of the play "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," in which Sigourney Weaver read the part of Dianna Ortiz, a nun abducted and tortured in Guatemala in 1989.

A receptionist working in a well-appointed reception area is something of a status symbol, designed to impress visiting clients with the gentility of their hosts.

The condominium and townhouse development at 197 Berry St. in Williamsburg is beginning to take shape, showing clear signs of the developer and architect's efforts to make it fit in with the surrounding row houses and industrial buildings.

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

By way of example of his creative license, Mr. Kaufman pointed to the project he's working on for Hyatt at 13th Street and Fourth Avenue.

To capitalize on that, the center installed a video screen facing outward in one of the institute's large windows, complete with exterior speakers, that airs human rights-related videos.

When Mr. Schwarting, a principal at Campani and Schwarting Architects, was hired to design the condo at the intersection with Broome, all that occupied the corner was a two-story structure, remnants, he says, of a fire that took down the rest of the building in the 1930s.

By way of example of his creative license, Mr. Kaufman pointed to the project he's working on for Hyatt at 13th Street and Fourth Avenue.

To be sure, Mr. Kaufman is somewhat limited in his overall design by the demands of the brand.

RECEP1 RECEP1 After touring countless offices, many with reception areas of up to 500 square feet in size, MorrisAnderson New York managing director Lance Miller chose an office with room enough for his staff, but not for a full-fledged receptionist.

He has seven new buildings on 39th and 40th streets alone, including the new Holiday Inn Express which has an alternating red-and-black brick pattern.

Few real-estate scions have bigger shoes to fill than Mr. Rudin, chief executive, vice-chairman and public face of Rudin Management; son of the legendary Lew Rudin—known as Mr. New York—who was widely credited with rescuing the city from bankruptcy in 1975 by convincing fellow business leaders to pay some $600 million in taxes early; and grandson of the just as storied Samuel Rudin.

That's good news for Mr. Wang, who doesn't relish the idea of seeing his handiwork demolished so soon after its completion.

The project was thrown into turmoil last spring when St. Vincent's, unable to withstand its financial burdens, sought bankruptcy protection.

"We have an open conference area that doubles as a waiting area, but is more frequently used for internal meetings than for waiting visitors," says Mr. Cole.

But even some big corporations are doing away with reception areas and instead processing visitors through security desks in the lobby, says Mr. Cole, whose firm has done work for corporations like NBC Universal and LexisNexis.

A leading Manhattan restaurateur is close to moving forward with one of the first restaurants planned for the Williamsburg waterfront, a still gritty industrial strip that's playing catch-up with the heavily gentrified portions of the neighborhood to the east.

Its mission is reflected in the its architecture, a sober, three-story building flooded with light, equipped with an above-average array of multimedia equipment, and bearing the inscriptions of peacemakers throughout history.

The project was thrown into turmoil last spring when St. Vincent's, unable to withstand its financial burdens, sought bankruptcy protection.

"We have an open conference area that doubles as a waiting area, but is more frequently used for internal meetings than for waiting visitors," says Mr. Cole.

Much of that product remains unsold or only partially built.

Williamsburg has been transformed in the past 15 years from a neighborhood of industrial properties and artist lofts to one of Brooklyn's trendiest neighborhoods.

Shut out the occasional gas-fueled vehicle, and it's easy to imagine oneself in the Brooklyn Heights of the 19th century, when Henry Ward Beecher was still the neighborhood's leading light, and Brooklyn Bridge was but a figment in the imagination of John Augustus Roebling.

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The 16th Street side's facade is fashioned from two scrimlike sheets of stainless steel, its top scrim's fishnet holes a precise replication of the 17th Street punched-window design writ small and replicated many times over.

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

The colorful buildings, like the maraschino red-brick Fairfield Inn & Suites on West 40th Street, open for about a year, do add brightness to an otherwise dismal couple of blocks overshadowed by the grim face of the Port Authority.

On Friday morning, students studying for finals would have walked by a recorded production of the play "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," in which Sigourney Weaver read the part of Dianna Ortiz, a nun abducted and tortured in Guatemala in 1989.

Under the original 2007 deal, the family business, Rudin Management Co. would have paid $300 million for St. Vincent's campus, converting four hospital buildings and demolishing four others, replacing them with town houses and apartment buildings.

"In today's world of direct dial, people are realizing that receptionists have really gone by the wayside," says Ross Adam Cole, a principal at BAM Studio, an architecture firm.

The elevator core is clad in gray aluminum, woven like a stripe down the edifice's Ludlow side, from the aluminum top to the red brick bottom.

The result is a new structure that is clad in a deep red skin made of aluminum panels that complement, rather than mimic, the existing red brick of the surrounding buildings.

Shut out the occasional gas-fueled vehicle, and it's easy to imagine oneself in the Brooklyn Heights of the 19th century, when Henry Ward Beecher was still the neighborhood's leading light, and Brooklyn Bridge was but a figment in the imagination of John Augustus Roebling.

After Mr. Chatwal's Hampshire Hotels & Resorts bought the annex for $70 million in late 2007, Mr. Fusaro designed the plan to pry off the faux townhouse facades and pink stucco, and cover the building in stainless steel tiles fabricated in Kansas City with a special-made coating dubbed the Dream Finish: it's polished enough to reflect the blues and whites from the sky overhead, but not so reflective as to mirror passersby.

Few real-estate scions have bigger shoes to fill than Mr. Rudin, chief executive, vice-chairman and public face of Rudin Management; son of the legendary Lew Rudin—known as Mr. New York—who was widely credited with rescuing the city from bankruptcy in 1975 by convincing fellow business leaders to pay some $600 million in taxes early; and grandson of the just as storied Samuel Rudin.

"I've never looked at either my father or uncle as a shadow," Mr.Rudin said, referring to his uncle Jack, who, at 86, is chairman of Rudin Management but not actively involved in its management.

When Mr. Schwarting, a principal at Campani and Schwarting Architects, was hired to design the condo at the intersection with Broome, all that occupied the corner was a two-story structure, remnants, he says, of a fire that took down the rest of the building in the 1930s.

"But unless you're building the pyramids of Egypt or Great Wall of China all over again, don't set your heart on your work being there for eons to come."

"We have an open conference area that doubles as a waiting area, but is more frequently used for internal meetings than for waiting visitors," says Mr. Cole.

The condominium and townhouse development at 197 Berry St. in Williamsburg

When finished, the project will include two apartment buildings, one on Bedford Avenue and another on Berry Street, with a total of 72 units, bookending 12 townhouses on the north side of North Third Street between Berry Street and Bedford Avenue.

I've even acted as a receptionist when needed!"

But architects can do more with the exterior design and Mr. Kaufman says he makes full use of the "huge leeway" he is given.

And, in a smart final touch, the building's balconies, rather than jutting obtrusively from the building's facade are flush with it, and placed at the divide between the new construction and the Broome Street building directly to the west.

NYPLACES NYPLACES Many of his Manhattan projects—often budget hotels developed by Sam Chang—evoke nothing so much as suburban strip malls and asphalt parking lots.

With luxurious floor-to-ceiling windows and views of bluestone Hicks Street backyards and Brooklyn Heights chimneys, the feel is Gordon Gekko-meets-Mary Poppins.

A favorite punching bag these days in the real-estate world is the design of 3 Columbus Circle, the century-old former General Motors headquarters that developer Joseph Moinian spent more than $100 million refurbishing with a new glass facade, elevators and a lobby.

"The money saved may not seem like a lot, but you know what, it's somebody else's bonus," says Mr. Miller's broker, Robert Stella, of CresaPartners.

"I think everyone hated them," says Mr. Fusaro, speaking of the faux townhouse facades.

The latter is still decorated with the original gargoyle-like lintels featuring the face of a glowering old man.

One of the first steps in the design was to recapture the original maritime aesthetic, says Mr. Fusaro who worked on the project with Handel's Elga Killinger.

But architects can do more with the exterior design and Mr. Kaufman says he makes full use of the "huge leeway" he is given.

But salvaging the project, the family's most ambitious since the death of patriarch Lew Rudin, could prove one of the greatest challenges of its skyscraper-studded history.

You don't see this from the street," Mr. Weinstein said.

Then, the building's facade becomes almost entirely reflective, like a huge chunk of glass, mirroring the towers around it, and hiding the punched openings of the old windows beneath.

Few real-estate scions have bigger shoes to fill than Mr. Rudin, chief executive, vice-chairman and public face of Rudin Management; son of the legendary Lew Rudin—known as Mr. New York—who was widely credited with rescuing the city from bankruptcy in 1975 by convincing fellow business leaders to pay some $600 million in taxes early; and grandson of the just as storied Samuel Rudin.

The real-estate boom saw unprecedented condo development in Williamsburg, raining countless glass-clad towers onto the neighborhood's formerly industrial streets.

A passerby would be forgiven for missing the new residential development at 77 Ludlow St., built as it is atop the two-story remnant of an old brick tenement.

"He didn't throw me out of the room, so I guess he thought it was OK," Mr. Fusaro says.

Hotel Architect's Creative License

By DANA RUBINSTEIN Architect Gene Kaufman gives plenty of ammunition to critics who say he's contributing to the suburbanization of New York.

The institute also organizes conferences about human rights, which have featured speakers like Paul Rusesabagina, whose efforts to save lives during the Rwandan genocide inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda."

A lot has changed since then.

They opened the door for myself and my cousin and my sister and my kids.

Reception Getting Unfriendly Greeting By DANA RUBINSTEIN When consulting firm MorrisAnderson & Associates moved into posh new quarters at 1540 Broadway last spring, it made a decision that might seem a violation of the natural order of business offices: It eliminated the receptionist.

Mr. Rudin, 55, declines to comment on the talks except to say: "We know what needs to get done to create a successful project."

His first major job, at the age of 22, was working on moving the office development at 560 Lexington Ave. through the land-use approval process, one of the first new developments after the fiscal crisis.

"With such advances in technology, there is really no need to dedicate valuable office space to an employee whose main job is to direct calls and office visits to other employees," says Ms. Larson.

"I've never looked at either my father or uncle as a shadow," Mr.Rudin said, referring to his uncle Jack, who, at 86, is chairman of Rudin Management but not actively involved in its management.

"We saw there was a higher and better use for the property," Mr. Ross said on a Sept. 11 episode of CNBC's Squawk Box.

Mr. Moinian's efforts to fend off Mr. Ross improved recently when SL Green came to his rescue.

The institute also organizes conferences about human rights, which have featured speakers like Paul Rusesabagina, whose efforts to save lives during the Rwandan genocide inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda."

"As citizens of a very violent world, I hope our students come to realize that there are alternatives to violence," says Mr. Farahi.

After Mr. Chatwal's Hampshire Hotels & Resorts bought the annex for $70 million in late 2007, Mr. Fusaro designed the plan to pry off the faux townhouse facades and pink stucco, and cover the building in stainless steel tiles fabricated in Kansas City with a special-made coating dubbed the Dream Finish: it's polished enough to reflect the blues and whites from the sky overhead, but not so reflective as to mirror passersby.

"But we communicate with each other and try to give everybody responsibilities so they can go out and do their thing."

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

With the exception of one small building in Boston, all of Rudin Management's assets—16 office towers and 20 apartment buildings, totaling more than 14 million square feet—are in New York City.

"I think everyone hated them," says Mr. Fusaro, speaking of the faux townhouse facades.

Mr. Schwarting proceeded to design a six-story building to place on top of the existing two.

But even some big corporations are doing away with reception areas and instead processing visitors through security desks in the lobby, says Mr. Cole, whose firm has done work for corporations like NBC Universal and LexisNexis.

That means that, if the lease is signed soon, the restaurant will open in the fall 2011.

To be sure, Mr. Kaufman is somewhat limited in his overall design by the demands of the brand.

RECEP1 RECEP1 After touring countless offices, many with reception areas of up to 500 square feet in size, MorrisAnderson New York managing director Lance Miller chose an office with room enough for his staff, but not for a full-fledged receptionist.

"We wanted to keep a little bit of the history, but it also helped tie it into the neighborhood," he says.

"Historically, every floor on many of our corporate projects had its own individual reception areas and conference rooms," says Stephen Apking, a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who recently completed a renovation of Kirkland & Ellis' offices at 601 Lexington Ave. that involved consolidating its reception areas into one so-called business center.

He takes tremendous pride in his family legacy, and in his family's ability to survive as an intact, relatively happy, well-regarded family despite the enormous pressures of running a family business.

There's no longer a functioning hospital with which to negotiate, and the city's residential market has come down to earth.

Then, the building's facade becomes almost entirely reflective, like a huge chunk of glass, mirroring the towers around it, and hiding the punched openings of the old windows beneath.

"We saw there was a higher and better use for the property," Mr. Ross said on a Sept. 11 episode of CNBC's Squawk Box.

Mr. Moinian's efforts to fend off Mr. Ross improved recently when SL Green came to his rescue.

But salvaging the project, the family's most ambitious since the death of patriarch Lew Rudin, could prove one of the greatest challenges of its skyscraper-studded history.

The building's improvements haven't stopped Steven Ross, chief executive officer of Related Cos. and owner of the $250 million mortgage on the building, from maneuvering to take control of the building, tear it down and build something entirely new in its place.

"We saw there was a higher and better use for the property," Mr. Ross said on a Sept. 11 episode of CNBC's Squawk Box.

Mr. Moinian's efforts to fend off Mr. Ross improved recently when SL Green came to his rescue.

And we basically designed a facade that sits behind that facade because it's relatively quiet, in deference to something that was preexisting on the site."

While the building lacks the wide open spaces, stark modernism and technical advantages of sparkling new skyscrapers like 7 World Trade Center or 11 Times Square, a task more challenging than most faced Gensler partner Peter Wang, who was charged with repositioning the building for Mr. Moinian.

Shut out the occasional gas-fueled vehicle, and it's easy to imagine oneself in the Brooklyn Heights of the 19th century, when Henry Ward Beecher was still the neighborhood's leading light, and Brooklyn Bridge was but a figment in the imagination of John Augustus Roebling.

That's good news for Mr. Wang, who doesn't relish the idea of seeing his handiwork demolished so soon after its completion.

While there are no statistics on the number of tenants getting rid of traditional receptionists—by eliminating the reception area or requiring the administrative staff to multitask— executives at interior design firms and real-estate brokerages say full-fledged receptionists are slowly becoming viewed as a more of luxury than a necessity.

With luxurious floor-to-ceiling windows and views of bluestone Hicks Street backyards and Brooklyn Heights chimneys, the feel is Gordon Gekko-meets-Mary Poppins.

William Rudin also oversaw the high-tech upgrade of the 27-story art-deco tower at 32 Sixth Ave., which has made it attractive to media and telecommunications companies.

"The idea was to create a green zone between the street and the buildings, very similar to what happens in Carroll Gardens, so that there's a zone between the public realm and the private realm, the public realm being the street and the private realm being the house," says Mr. Bee.

Frank Fusaro, of Handel Architects, embarked on a historical reclamation mission of sorts when he took on the job of designing the new Dream Downtown hotel now taking shape in Chelsea with its distinctive...

Under the original 2007 deal, the family business, Rudin Management Co. would have paid $300 million for St. Vincent's campus, converting four hospital buildings and demolishing four others, replacing them with town houses and apartment buildings.

"We saw there was a higher and better use for the property," Mr. Ross said on a Sept. 11 episode of CNBC's Squawk Box.

Mr. Moinian's efforts to fend off Mr. Ross improved recently when SL Green came to his rescue.

The end result, 38 units with 36 strikingly different floor-plans works so well in part because of the building's felicitous location on Love Lane, a mews lined with converted, red-brick carriage houses and towering gingko trees.

"We wanted to keep a little bit of the history, but it also helped tie it into the neighborhood," he says.

At first blush, it resembles the surrounding grimy red brick former tenements with black wrought-iron escapes that are distinctive to the Lower East Side.

Yet, in a still-sputtering economy, and within a modernizing work culture that increasingly eschews the more hierarchical elements of traditional office life, employing a full-time receptionist whose sole job is to greet visitors and answer phones in a reception area that can cost more than $50 per square foot per year is going the way of two-window offices and three-martini lunches.

And the buildings' facade is a grey color that blends in with the industrial buildings nearby.

Ark Restaurants, whose nine New York eateries include the Bryant Park Grill and Robert, atop the Museum of Arts and Design, is close to signing a lease for a 7,000-square-foot waterfront space at the Edge, the 565-unit condo development at North Sixth Street and the water, according to Ark chairman and chief executive Michael Weinstein.

"We think if we do a good product, there's a natural tendency to want to be near the water."

"The idea was to create a green zone between the street and the buildings, very similar to what happens in Carroll Gardens, so that there's a zone between the public realm and the private realm, the public realm being the street and the private realm being the house," says Mr. Bee.

Frank Fusaro, of Handel Architects, embarked on a historical reclamation mission of sorts when he took on the job of designing the new Dream Downtown hotel now taking shape in Chelsea with its distinctive...

Both of his children, Samantha, 26, and Michael, 25, now work with him.

The four buildings house six one-bedrooms, starting at $1.05 million; 24 two-bedrooms, starting at $1.45 million; and eight three-bedrooms, starting at $2.475 million.

A fertility doctor, eager to snag a Love Lane address, has also approached Mr. Cantor about a townhouse across the street.

The egos of architects inevitably shape many of New York City's great, and less-than-great, buildings.

The colorful buildings, like the maraschino red-brick Fairfield Inn & Suites on West 40th Street, open for about a year, do add brightness to an otherwise dismal couple of blocks overshadowed by the grim face of the Port Authority.

"With such advances in technology, there is really no need to dedicate valuable office space to an employee whose main job is to direct calls and office visits to other employees," says Ms. Larson.

The developer, Manhattan Skyline, is also building two townhouses across the street, to be completed next year, and starting at $8 million each.

Few real-estate scions have bigger shoes to fill than Mr. Rudin, chief executive, vice-chairman and public face of Rudin Management; son of the legendary Lew Rudin—known as Mr. New York—who was widely credited with rescuing the city from bankruptcy in 1975 by convincing fellow business leaders to pay some $600 million in taxes early; and grandson of the just as storied Samuel Rudin.

The condominium and townhouse development at 197 Berry St. in Williamsburg is beginning to take shape, showing clear signs of the developer and architect's efforts to make it fit in with the surrounding row houses and industrial buildings.

Most students who visit the library must pass the institute.

And, in a smart final touch, the building's balconies, rather than jutting obtrusively from the building's facade are flush with it, and placed at the divide between the new construction and the Broome Street building directly to the west.

They also now have a competitive advantage over developers who took greater risks during the go-go years.

"We wanted to keep a little bit of the history, but it also helped tie it into the neighborhood," he says.

After Mr. Chatwal's Hampshire Hotels & Resorts bought the annex for $70 million in late 2007, Mr. Fusaro designed the plan to pry off the faux townhouse facades and pink stucco, and cover the building in stainless steel tiles fabricated in Kansas City with a special-made coating dubbed the Dream Finish: it's polished enough to reflect the blues and whites from the sky overhead, but not so reflective as to mirror passersby.

RECEP1 RECEP1 After touring countless offices, many with reception areas of up to 500 square feet in size, MorrisAnderson New York managing director Lance Miller chose an office with room enough for his staff, but not for a full-fledged receptionist.

NYPLACES NYPLACES Many of his Manhattan projects—often budget hotels developed by Sam Chang—evoke nothing so much as suburban strip malls and asphalt parking lots.

"Especially if you're a New York-based tenant, you may be in the service sector and want to make a nice statement," says Howard Fiddle, a vice chairman at CB Richard Ellis who is in charge of leasing at 1540 Broadway.

Ark Restaurants, whose nine New York eateries include the Bryant Park Grill and Robert, is close to signing a lease for a 7,000-square-foot waterfront space at the Edge, shown here, in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood.

Thanks in part to the rezoning of almost 200 blocks of Greenpoint and Williamsburg in 2005, development is now migrating westward, toward the East River.

"We have an open conference area that doubles as a waiting area, but is more frequently used for internal meetings than for waiting visitors," says Mr. Cole.

Both of his children, Samantha, 26, and Michael, 25, now work with him.

He has seven new buildings on 39th and 40th streets alone, including the new Holiday Inn Express which has an alternating red-and-black brick pattern.

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

They opened the door for myself and my cousin and my sister and my kids.

That's good news for Mr. Wang, who doesn't relish the idea of seeing his handiwork demolished so soon after its completion.

After Mr. Chatwal's Hampshire Hotels & Resorts bought the annex for $70 million in late 2007, Mr. Fusaro designed the plan to pry off the faux townhouse facades and pink stucco, and cover the building in stainless steel tiles fabricated in Kansas City with a special-made coating dubbed the Dream Finish: it's polished enough to reflect the blues and whites from the sky overhead, but not so reflective as to mirror passersby.

Mr. Kaufman notes that some hotel chains favor synthetic stucco in their designs, something that he has tried to resist in New York.

The redevelopment of struggling St. Vincent's Hospital into a world-class health-care facility surrounded by luxury housing was to have been William Rudin's deepest mark yet on his family's real-estate dynasty, one of the New York City's largest.

But even some big corporations are doing away with reception areas and instead processing visitors through security desks in the lobby, says Mr. Cole, whose firm has done work for corporations like NBC Universal and LexisNexis.

The condominium and townhouse development at 197 Berry St. in Williamsburg

When finished, the project will include two apartment buildings, one on Bedford Avenue and another on Berry Street, with a total of 72 units, bookending 12 townhouses on the north side of North Third Street between Berry Street and Bedford Avenue.

But even some big corporations are doing away with reception areas and instead processing visitors through security desks in the lobby, says Mr. Cole, whose firm has done work for corporations like NBC Universal and LexisNexis.

A favorite punching bag these days in the real-estate world is the design of 3 Columbus Circle, the century-old former General Motors headquarters that developer Joseph Moinian spent more than $100 million refurbishing with a new glass facade, elevators and a lobby.

"Here, practically every unit is unique," says Mr. Jacobs.

In an interview, Mr. Kaufman said that in all of his projects he tries to add "something to the program that speaks to being a building in New York City."

He takes tremendous pride in his family legacy, and in his family's ability to survive as an intact, relatively happy, well-regarded family despite the enormous pressures of running a family business.

Yet, in a still-sputtering economy, and within a modernizing work culture that increasingly eschews the more hierarchical elements of traditional office life, employing a full-time receptionist whose sole job is to greet visitors and answer phones in a reception area that can cost more than $50 per square foot per year is going the way of two-window offices and three-martini lunches.

In retrospect, this caution has served them well, as they avoided the kinds of over-leveraged deals that got developers such as Harry Macklowe and Tishman Speyer Properties into trouble.

Ark Restaurants, whose nine New York eateries include the Bryant Park Grill and Robert, is close to signing a lease for a 7,000-square-foot waterfront space at the Edge, shown here, in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood.

On Friday morning, students studying for finals would have walked by a recorded production of the play "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," in which Sigourney Weaver read the part of Dianna Ortiz, a nun abducted and tortured in Guatemala in 1989.

The building's improvements haven't stopped Steven Ross, chief executive officer of Related Cos. and owner of the $250 million mortgage on the building, from maneuvering to take control of the building, tear it down and build something entirely new in its place.

In retrospect, this caution has served them well, as they avoided the kinds of over-leveraged deals that got developers such as Harry Macklowe and Tishman Speyer Properties into trouble.

There's no longer a functioning hospital with which to negotiate, and the city's residential market has come down to earth.

Mr. Rudin, 55, declines to comment on the talks except to say: "We know what needs to get done to create a successful project."

And, in a smart final touch, the building's balconies, rather than jutting obtrusively from the building's facade are flush with it, and placed at the divide between the new construction and the Broome Street building directly to the west.

William Rudin's father died a few days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and since then the son has emerged as a major force in his own right as a civic leader.

Abraham Bennun, of Triton Realty Group, the developer, is hoping it will be helped by the retail in the project, another piece of its contextual design.

"I think cheese graters are beautiful," he says.

"The idea was to create a green zone between the street and the buildings, very similar to what happens in Carroll Gardens, so that there's a zone between the public realm and the private realm, the public realm being the street and the private realm being the house," says Mr. Bee.

Frank Fusaro, of Handel Architects, embarked on a historical reclamation mission of sorts when he took on the job of designing the new Dream Downtown hotel now taking shape in Chelsea with its distinctive...

After Mr. Chatwal's Hampshire Hotels & Resorts bought the annex for $70 million in late 2007, Mr. Fusaro designed the plan to pry off the faux townhouse facades and pink stucco, and cover the building in stainless steel tiles fabricated in Kansas City with a special-made coating dubbed the Dream Finish: it's polished enough to reflect the blues and whites from the sky overhead, but not so reflective as to mirror passersby.

A leading Manhattan restaurateur is close to moving forward with one of the first restaurants planned for the Williamsburg waterfront, a still gritty industrial strip that's playing catch-up with the heavily gentrified portions of the neighborhood to the east.

"Historically, every floor on many of our corporate projects had its own individual reception areas and conference rooms," says Stephen Apking, a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who recently completed a renovation of Kirkland & Ellis' offices at 601 Lexington Ave. that involved consolidating its reception areas into one so-called business center.

On Friday morning, students studying for finals would have walked by a recorded production of the play "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," in which Sigourney Weaver read the part of Dianna Ortiz, a nun abducted and tortured in Guatemala in 1989.

The Rudins—including daughter Samantha—are busy converting a former St. Vincent's office building at 130 W. 12th St. into residential units.

Rather, Mr. Wang had to snap a glass facade onto the existing one—something that becomes readily apparent in the evening, when the glass becomes transparent, and the old masonry peeks out from underneath.

Mr. Miller's trade-off saved him at least $10,000 a year.

Reception Getting Unfriendly Greeting By DANA RUBINSTEIN When consulting firm MorrisAnderson & Associates moved into posh new quarters at 1540 Broadway last spring, it made a decision that might seem a violation of the natural order of business offices: It eliminated the receptionist.

"In today's world of direct dial, people are realizing that receptionists have really gone by the wayside," says Ross Adam Cole, a principal at BAM Studio, an architecture firm.

Cantor Pecorella's Richard Cantor, the building's broker, says that although the Love Lane Mews condos won't officially go on the market until January, four are already in contract.

On the sloping 17th Street side, Mr. Fusaro kept the original portholes, and then complemented them with additional porthole-shaped windows of variegated size.

"The challenge here, quite honestly, is it's at the back of the Edge building, and it's blind to everybody.

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

RECEP1 RECEP1 After touring countless offices, many with reception areas of up to 500 square feet in size, MorrisAnderson New York managing director Lance Miller chose an office with room enough for his staff, but not for a full-fledged receptionist.

That's fine with Mr. Fusaro.

Such a feat was accomplished spectacularly by architect Stephen B. Jacobs with the redevelopment of four old buildings, once a garage, on a hidden Brooklyn Heights dead-end street into one, cohesive 38-unit luxury condo called Love Lane Mews.

RECEP2 RECEP2 Some white-shoe law firms, investment banks and other businesses, of course, will never part with their receptionists who are often more form than function.

The Rudins' lack of major developments since Lewis Rudin's death reflects its caution, which is typical for later generations of wealthy families who are focused on value preservation as well as value creation.

Mr. Kaufman notes that some hotel chains favor synthetic stucco in their designs, something that he has tried to resist in New York.

Most students who visit the library must pass the institute.

The building's improvements haven't stopped Steven Ross, chief executive officer of Related Cos. and owner of the $250 million mortgage on the building, from maneuvering to take control of the building, tear it down and build something entirely new in its place.

"I've never looked at either my father or uncle as a shadow," Mr.Rudin said, referring to his uncle Jack, who, at 86, is chairman of Rudin Management but not actively involved in its management.

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

Thanks in part to the rezoning of almost 200 blocks of Greenpoint and Williamsburg in 2005, development is now migrating westward, toward the East River.

The Rudins' lack of major developments since Lewis Rudin's death reflects its caution, which is typical for later generations of wealthy families who are focused on value preservation as well as value creation.

The institute also organizes conferences about human rights, which have featured speakers like Paul Rusesabagina, whose efforts to save lives during the Rwandan genocide inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda."

And we basically designed a facade that sits behind that facade because it's relatively quiet, in deference to something that was preexisting on the site."

"In today's world of direct dial, people are realizing that receptionists have really gone by the wayside," says Ross Adam Cole, a principal at BAM Studio, an architecture firm.

The giant Manhattan landlord recently purchased all of it, making this SL Green's first retail condo purchase in an outer borough.

The end result, 38 units with 36 strikingly different floor-plans works so well in part because of the building's felicitous location on Love Lane, a mews lined with converted, red-brick carriage houses and towering gingko trees.

He has seven new buildings on 39th and 40th streets alone, including the new Holiday Inn Express which has an alternating red-and-black brick pattern.

NYPLACES NYPLACES Many of his Manhattan projects—often budget hotels developed by Sam Chang—evoke nothing so much as suburban strip malls and asphalt parking lots.

While Mr. Rudin is looking at numerous deals all the time, St. Vincent's is clearly front and center these days.

The redevelopment of struggling St. Vincent's Hospital into a world-class health-care facility surrounded by luxury housing was to have been William Rudin's deepest mark yet on his family's real-estate dynasty, one of the New York City's largest.

That means more workers are using key cards to enter their company's office space, and more hapless visitors, once greeted with a warm smile and beverage offers, now having to announce themselves over sometimes bewildering phone or intercom systems.

Under the original 2007 deal, the family business, Rudin Management Co. would have paid $300 million for St. Vincent's campus, converting four hospital buildings and demolishing four others, replacing them with town houses and apartment buildings.

Both the ground floor levels of Berry and Bedford sides of the project are covered in plate glass and open to the street.

"You learn to really be humble, because the important thing is not your ego, but to preserve the integrity of the building," says Mr. Jacobs.

Yet, in a still-sputtering economy, and within a modernizing work culture that increasingly eschews the more hierarchical elements of traditional office life, employing a full-time receptionist whose sole job is to greet visitors and answer phones in a reception area that can cost more than $50 per square foot per year is going the way of two-window offices and three-martini lunches.

Mr. Miller's trade-off saved him at least $10,000 a year.

Cantor Pecorella's Richard Cantor, the building's broker, says that although the Love Lane Mews condos won't officially go on the market until January, four are already in contract.

"It had all the challenges you expect to find in an adapted reuse, but you don't expect to find them in one building," Mr. Jacobs says.

Mr. Fahari, who grew up in an Afghan village and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, was one of the driving forces of the institute along with Mr. Kaplowitz, its interim director.

Shut out the occasional gas-fueled vehicle, and it's easy to imagine oneself in the Brooklyn Heights of the 19th century, when Henry Ward Beecher was still the neighborhood's leading light, and Brooklyn Bridge was but a figment in the imagination of John Augustus Roebling.

"We wanted to keep a little bit of the history, but it also helped tie it into the neighborhood," he says.

While there are no statistics on the number of tenants getting rid of traditional receptionists—by eliminating the reception area or requiring the administrative staff to multitask— executives at interior design firms and real-estate brokerages say full-fledged receptionists are slowly becoming viewed as a more of luxury than a necessity.

To capitalize on that, the center installed a video screen facing outward in one of the institute's large windows, complete with exterior speakers, that airs human rights-related videos.

Mr. Weinstein said it generally takes him 11 months from lease signing to restaurant opening.

The five-story apartment buildings do this by not towering over surrounding buildings.

On Friday morning, students studying for finals would have walked by a recorded production of the play "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," in which Sigourney Weaver read the part of Dianna Ortiz, a nun abducted and tortured in Guatemala in 1989.

On Friday morning, students studying for finals would have walked by a recorded production of the play "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," in which Sigourney Weaver read the part of Dianna Ortiz, a nun abducted and tortured in Guatemala in 1989.

"It's a nonproductive use of a person," says Mr. Miller.

Mr. Fahari, who grew up in an Afghan village and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, was one of the driving forces of the institute along with Mr. Kaplowitz, its interim director.

In retrospect, this caution has served them well, as they avoided the kinds of over-leveraged deals that got developers such as Harry Macklowe and Tishman Speyer Properties into trouble.

The egos of architects inevitably shape many of New York City's great, and less-than-great, buildings.

William Rudin's father died a few days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and since then the son has emerged as a major force in his own right as a civic leader.

At this point, only the condominium apartment houses on Bedford and Berry are up.

Mr. Fahari, who grew up in an Afghan village and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, was one of the driving forces of the institute along with Mr. Kaplowitz, its interim director.

The corner of the building is covered in wrap-around, floor-to-ceiling windows, while the rest of the fenestration is offset, to break up the structure's bulk.

When Mr. Schwarting, a principal at Campani and Schwarting Architects, was hired to design the condo at the intersection with Broome, all that occupied the corner was a two-story structure, remnants, he says, of a fire that took down the rest of the building in the 1930s.

On the sloping 17th Street side, Mr. Fusaro kept the original portholes, and then complemented them with additional porthole-shaped windows of variegated size.

Yet, in a still-sputtering economy, and within a modernizing work culture that increasingly eschews the more hierarchical elements of traditional office life, employing a full-time receptionist whose sole job is to greet visitors and answer phones in a reception area that can cost more than $50 per square foot per year is going the way of two-window offices and three-martini lunches.

RECEP2 RECEP2 Some white-shoe law firms, investment banks and other businesses, of course, will never part with their receptionists who are often more form than function.

Yet, in a still-sputtering economy, and within a modernizing work culture that increasingly eschews the more hierarchical elements of traditional office life, employing a full-time receptionist whose sole job is to greet visitors and answer phones in a reception area that can cost more than $50 per square foot per year is going the way of two-window offices and three-martini lunches.

With luxurious floor-to-ceiling windows and views of bluestone Hicks Street backyards and Brooklyn Heights chimneys, the feel is Gordon Gekko-meets-Mary Poppins.

He takes tremendous pride in his family legacy, and in his family's ability to survive as an intact, relatively happy, well-regarded family despite the enormous pressures of running a family business.

"You know, my father always talked about how he was a steward for that period of time, so that he could hand that off to the next generation," Mr. Rudin says.

"In the scheme of things, it seemed like a reasonable trade-off."

That means that, if the lease is signed soon, the restaurant will open in the fall 2011.

The architects left exposed some of the connections between the old facade and the new structure, emphasizing the way in which contemporary issues are so often the result of historical contingencies.

The $15-million project is also a reminder that Kean, one of the largest schools in the state's university system, is near what Kean professor Hank Kaplowitz says is one of the country's largest populations of Holocaust survivors, now fast-diminishing.

"He didn't throw me out of the room, so I guess he thought it was OK," Mr. Fusaro says.

William Rudin manages his family dynasty from a modest office on the 33rd floor of the 44-story 345 Park Ave., surrounded by photos of his skyscrapers, his family and four poodles named Sebastian, Mocha, Biriba and Hopkins.

But, at second glance, it stands out subtly, a tribute to the success of architect Michael Schwarting's design, which has created an inventive building that fits in with, but doesn't kow-tow to, its surrounding environment.

Now Mr. Rudin wants to cut the price, according to people familiar with the matter, though they wouldn't say what his new offer is.

He heads up the Association for a Better New York, the organization his father founded in the 1971, and sits on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York University and numerous other organizations.

And he expects his cousin Eric's children to do the same.

Under the original 2007 deal, the family business, Rudin Management Co. would have paid $300 million for St. Vincent's campus, converting four hospital buildings and demolishing four others, replacing them with town houses and apartment buildings.