Soo K. Chan, founder of Singapore-based firm SCDA Architects, says “good architecture should move the human spirit.” The practice’s first New York development, a ground-up condominium named Soori High Line at 522 West 29th Street, certainly elicits a high degree of “wow,” conveyed through its soaring 19-foot ceilings, equally tall windows, private heated swimming pools, and living room fireplaces. The $70 million project is a joint venture between Siras Development and Soo Chan’s real estate arm Oriel. 6sqft took a tour of the still-under-construction building, where it was clear that even in its raw unfinished state, the opulence of Soori’s homes is already undeniable.

See all the renderings and construction shots this way

Construction and sales have commenced on a glass-encased, 500-foot-tall condominium tower at 118 East 59th Street developed by Euro Properties and designed by Soo K. Chan of SCDA Architects. Situated mid block between Park and Lexington Avenues, the tower is surrounded by the crème de la crème of New York real estate, positioned within the nexus of several high-value locales: The Plaza District, home to the GM Building, commands the city’s top office rents; nearby shopping stretches of Fifth and Madison Avenues hold the world’s most coveted retail corners; and a one-mile long, super-luxury residential corridor, nicknamed Billionaires’ Row, straddles the southern bounds of Central Park and is set to reshape the city skyline into a trophy shelf of wealth.

More details ahead

This morning we revealed renderings of Six Sigma’s upcoming condo at 435 West 19th Street, which offers private pools as one of its amenities (along with a sky garage). We first saw this perk pop up at SCDA’s Soori High Line a few blocks north on 29th Street, where 16 of its 27 units will feature heating swimming pools. Then, a $13 million condo at 172 Madison Avenue touted its 50-foot-long private pool, and One Riverside Park, Extell’s notorious “poor door” building, flaunted its duplex’s private pools.

While this may be a new trend here in NYC, “Soo Chan, principal of Singapore-based SCDA Architects, has already made a name for himself in Asia as the pool master, designing towers with up to 120 private swimming holes,” as we previously reported. So now that New Yorkers are getting a taste of what it’s like, are private pools going to be the next incarnation of the can’t-live-without fitness center?

Images: Private pool at the Soori High Line via SCDA Architects (L); private pool at 435 West 19th Street via Six Sigma (R)

Last November, 6sqft brought you news that a 29-unit boutique condominium would rise at the edge of Billionaires’ Row, in that somewhat ambiguous zone occupied by Bloomingdale’s and Bloomberg LLP. Now, the high-end development’s teaser site has launched, which showcases a handful of images of the tower’s common spaces, and we took a trip to the site to get a first look at the construction progress.

Just last month, the two 4- and 6-story office buildings occupying the site at 116-118 East 59th Street were cleared, and recent Department of Buildings filings reveal that the envisioned $330 million tower will stand exactly 500 feet tall, making it spot-on-the-mark of what we (and other bean-counters) officially deem a skyscraper.

More details and renderings ahead

An exclusive condo tower is set to rise within the quickly changing area where Midtown East‘s commercial bustle tempers down into the elegant residential blocks of the Upper East Side. Located at 118 East 59th Street near Park Avenue, the unassuming site is being developed by Hong Kong-based Euro Properties, their first foray into the Manhattan market.

The mid-block tower will soar 38 stories yet contain only 29 units–another example of the city’s new and somewhat oxymoronic building type, the boutique skyscraper, which typically contains fewer units than a standard six-story co-op building, and even fewer inhabitants. This 59th Street project will join the ranks of 432 Park Avenue (1,398 feet/104 units), 520 Park Avenue ( 781 feet/31 units), and 125 Greenwich Street (1,375 feet/128 units) as buildings with the greatest height-to-unit-count disparity.

More on the tower here

Forget public pools and health clubs, the Soori High Line will offer private, heated swimming pools in 16 of its ultra-posh residences. Soo Chan, principal of Singapore-based SCDA Architects, has already made a name for himself in Asia as the pool master, designing towers with up to 120 private swimming holes. Now Chan’s water-inspired interiors have also come to the surface in New York. The 11-story, 27-unit building at 522 West 19th Street will feature 16 pools ranging in size from 23 to 26 feet long, 7 to 9 feet wide, and 4 feet deep.

More about the Soori’s pools this way

Renderings for 515 High Line have been revealed, and it appears the Soo Chan-designed building will be quite the standout. The images, unearthed by NY YIMBY, reveal an 11-story structure with a few distinctive qualities to set it apart, even as the competition from surrounding developments, including Zaha Hadid’s West 28^th street condo, grows steeper. The building has a simple base while the upper levels are defined by protruding slabs of glass that create a rippling effect. But the simple base, two sides of which will be facing the park, plans to be more than just a blank canvas. Taking the artistic nature of the High Line’s new buildings to the next step, 515 West 29^th Street’s base will serve as an actual canvas, showcasing the work of up-and-coming artists.

Check out more renderings here