22 June 2013 www.TheRealDeal.com
AT
THE
DESK
OF:CARY
TAMARKIN
C
ary Tamarkin founded the Manhattan real estate fi rm Tamarkin Company, but he’s not your average New York City developer. A Harvard-trained architect, Tamarkin has a hand in designing all of the fi rm’s projects, which include the boutique condominium 456 West 19th Street — known for its curving upper balconies — and the highly anticipated 15-unit 508 West 24th Street, which will launch sales this month. And when deciding what to build and when, he said he’s guided by the urge to create homes that he “would want to live in” rather than by pure profi t. “I have an angel architect on one shoulder and a devil developer on the other,” Tamarkin said. Besides building condos, Tamarkin occasionally does a standalone project, like converting a West Village fi rehouse into a townhouse for CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. And his fi rm is currently working on its fi rst Miami project, a two-story retail building in the city’s Design District. Tamarkin showed TRD around his loft-like work space at 56 West 22nd Street. B Y G UELDA V OIEN
This model of the house Tamarkin designed for his family on Shelter Island does not show the swimming pool he briefly considered putting on the roof. “I decided you might not want gallons of water above where you sleep,” he said.
Tamarkin designs the austere lighting fixtures in many of his buildings. He created this lamp for use in future projects, and he’s currently talking with manufacturers about making it available in stores.
This chunk of plaster is from Tamarkin’s gut renovation of his Perry Street townhouse 15 years ago.
Tamarkin developed the nine-unit condo project at 47 East 91st Street in 2003, despite months of objections from neighborhood residents. Led by famed director Woody Allen, the locals were concerned that the project would obstruct their views. Tamarkin met with Allen and eventually the building was reduced from 17 to 10 stories. “The funny thing is, people hate developers; they love architects,” Tamarkin said. “So they don’t know what to do with me.” PHOTOGRAPH FOR THE REAL DEAL BY CHRIS MARTIN
Like everything in Tamarkin’s office, these photos of his children, Lucy, 14, and Eli, 16, are tacked to the wall instead of being framed. That allows him to constantly change what’s on display, encouraging spontaneity. “That way all the walls are useful,” Tamarkin said, “instead of being precious.”
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Tamarkin doesn’t have a smart phone, and uses an old-fashioned planner instead of an online calendar. “I don’t know how to do that stuff,” he said. “I’m sure I could learn, but I prefer it this way.” Each week, he photocopies the relevant pages of his planner and carries them in a folder to all his meetings.
While working as a Boston-based architect after graduating from Harvard, Tamarkin was commissioned to design this conservatory for billionaire John Kluge’s 7,000acre estate in Albemarle County, Va. “I like things that are going to be interesting ruins eventually,” he said. He said he later started a development firm “to make money.”
This jar filled with Wite-Out containers sits next to Tamarkin’s drawing board for easy access when he’s working on sketches. “I love Wite-Out,” Tamarkin said. “It’s like reverse drawing.”
5/30/13 6:17 PM