Four 4-story brick buildings are the home to apartments, with first-floor retail space, a clubhouse, outdoor pool, fitness room and business center.

To make the first-floor space accessible, he arranged to raise and lower floors until everything was on one level and, where necessary, broke through walls.

Contemporary art will move to these new galleries from the first-floor space it currently shares with modern art.

While the first-floor space rented fast - to a restaurant, insurance company and other tenants - the upper story was not quite as popular.

"Even if a 300,000-square-foot building is replaced by one with a million square feet, the amount of first-floor retail space stays the same."

There would be first-floor commercial space and below-ground parking.

He said the design of the first-floor space, known as the Bar Room, had to be adapted to the realities of the structure.

The first-floor spaces include meeting rooms, offices, a lounge, kitchen, and a former swimming pool converted to a tumbling-mat area.

A tiny entryway led to a first-floor space jammed with magazines and neighborhood notices.

The business moved to a first-floor commercial space, and they renovated a small apartment on the building's rooftop for their home.