BUILD FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS

Dec. 17, 2012 - Real State Bisnow

Rockrose Development is overhauling its residential portfolio of eight high-rise luxury rental towers (the ninth, the 709-unit Linc LIC tower, is under development in Long Island City, above) to meet the needs of families and young professionals. “We just converted unused space in our Battery Park towers into children’s playrooms,” says VP Kathleen Gargan-Scott. In another LIC building, an underutilized game room was turned into a yoga room. (Perfect for playing Super Mario: Savasana.) Rockrose may also add a fitness center to one of its West Village towers, she says. The musts haven’t changed: doormen, valet services, gyms, lounges, roof decks, and social areas—including spaces for Fido.

Glitz and marble are passe, as young’uns instead opt for organic, natural materials, Kathleen (second from left) says. Rockrose recently partnered with the Fashion Institute of Technology for a competition in which 40 interior design students submitted designs for three model studio apartments at Linc LIC (you can see their handiwork when the leasing campaign begins in 2013). With Kathleen above are FIT studio instructor Michael Buchanan, student winnersKatherine Stec, Greg Bardwell, and Paola Barraza, FIT studio instructor Joseph Lembo, Rockrose COO Richard Brancato, and FIT assistant professor Eric Daniels.