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WALL STREET is the new Fifth Avenue. The strip - a historic symbol of global commerce, even though it's only a third of a mile long - is being transformed by lavish apartments and ritzy retailers.
French leather goods designer Hermes is opening a shop across from the New York Stock Exchange, and a BMW dealership has signed a lease for a showroom down the street. Upscale hoteliers, restaurateurs and clothing designers also have linked their exclusive brands to a spate of new luxury condominiums on the block.
"I think every building on Wall Street is a candidate for residential conversion," says Orin Wilf, president of Skyline Developers. His firm is transforming 37 Wall St., the former site of the Trust Company of America, into a 392-unit rental property.
Developers began turning many of lower Manhattan's old commercial buildings into residences a decade ago. In the past year, the pace of conversions on Wall Street itself has picked up momentum. More than one-third of the block's buildings have been made over, and the entire south side from Broad to Water streets is now apartment houses.
From high finance to high-rises
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