The Emmet Building at 95 Madison Avenue is officially joining NoMad’s office-to-condo wave, with new renderings showing the 16-story Gothic Revival tower trading cubicles for 65 residential units while hanging on to its ornate shell. The plan reshapes about 150,000 square feet of former office space into one- to five-bedroom homes, paired with a restoration of the limestone-and-terracotta façade and rooftop tweaks that include new skylights and a bulkhead.
The fresh visuals, credited to NQS Creative, show stripped-back, minimalist lobbies and bright, high-ceilinged apartments, along with an amenity lineup that reads like a modern condo checklist: fitness center, sauna, children’s playroom, game room, virtual-golf simulator and a pet spa, according to New York YIMBY. That coverage also notes plans for an exclusive Emmet Penthouse, while adding that the development team has not yet announced an anticipated completion date.
Design and approvals
Architecture firm FXCollaborative characterizes the effort as a careful, 150,000-gross-square-foot conversion that keeps and restores the landmarked façades and introduces only limited, targeted exterior changes to suit residential use, per FXCollaborative. Elevation diagrams prepared for the project show added windows above two ground-floor doorways and a new bulkhead at the roofline, alterations that were brought before both the local Community Board and the Landmarks Preservation Committee.
The Emmet’s landmark protections and backstory are spelled out in the official designation report, which highlights the building’s detailed Gothic Revival ornamentation and explains why façade restoration sits at the heart of the conversion plan, according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Deal history and financing
Developer Sunlight Development took control of the property in 2024 through a bankruptcy sale, a deal reported at roughly $65 million as the new owner shifted the asset toward residential use, according to Commercial Observer. To pay for the overhaul, NuVerse Advisors lined up a construction loan of about $99 million and tapped Sunlight as both strategic partner and general contractor for the conversion, as reported by REBusinessOnline. That financing report also noted that internal demolition work is already underway to ready the interior for its condo build-out.
Timeline and what buyers can expect
The sales side of the project is starting to come into focus. CityRealty lists an expected delivery in the second quarter of 2027, along with an initial price range cited in early market previews. Listings materials point to oversized windows, white-oak floors and in-unit laundry as standard interior features.
Planned layouts span one- to five-bedroom residences, with at least two penthouses on the upper floors proposed to feature private terraces. Final unit counts, firm pricing and an official sales launch are all still waiting on formal word from the developer.
Sitting at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and East 29th Street, the Emmet is an easy walk from the 28th Street 6 train and the R/W stations, access that helps bolster its pitch to buyers looking to straddle the NoMad and Gramercy neighborhoods, according to New York YIMBY. Once complete, it will join a growing roster of historic office buildings in NoMad that are being reworked into new residential inventory.
