Urban farms, communal kitchens and outdoor terraced pools aren’t usually associated with Staten Island. But Urby, a new way of living, plans to change that. Under the watch of developer David Barry, whose firm Ironstate will also launch a similar living concept in Jersey City soon, the Dutch architecture firm Concrete created what can only be described as friendly living. In the words of Barry, the ‘thoughtful and not random’ development is a somewhat new concept: an urban community with premier amenities, with the health, happiness and wellness of its residents in mind.
With some 570 rental units in three distinct housing blocks (and another 430 units to come still), Urby sits on the North Shore waterfront, in Stapleton, a neighbourhood overlooking downtown Manhattan, just two train stops away from the Staten Island Ferry.
‘There's a bunch of industrial buildings, and it's a little scrappy still and kind of coming into its own. It's not one of those neighborhoods that has like, wow, gorgeous architecture,’ says Barry. ‘Like, you know, what Soho once was.’
In fact, the Stapleton Waterfront was a $32 million dollar undertaking by the city government, a note that Barry points to as a sign of urban regeneration, citing Battery Park, Williamsburg, and Astoria as other waterfronts that prompted neighborhood facelifts. With 380-sq-ft studios ($1,508), one-bedroom ($1,933) and two-bedrooms ($2,507) apartments, Urby has so far attracted a mix of renters, including about 50 per cent Staten Island locals, 40 per cent ex-Downtown Manhattan residents, and 10 per cent newbie New Yorkers. 'It’s an authentic vibe,’ he says.
The complex certainly has a Dutch touch. Concrete designed with community in mind, where public spaces prompt social interaction, whether from the interconnected public pathways or the filtered water pump (glass jugs are given to each tenant), echoing medieval European water troughs in city centres.
On-site, there’s a variety of dining options, pulling in local businesses, including Red Hook’s famed Hometown Bar-B-Que. But the locus of Urby is its public coffee house, designed to ‘metaphorically be a house’, says Barry. It’s run by Queens-born Coffeed, which also oversees the Bodega, both stocked with goodies made from Urby’s own farm produce. The farm also provides bounty for a weekly farmer’s market, with aisles of kale, cucumbers, tomatoes, sunflowers and some other 50 varieties. Urby just might be the proof that amid the pizza and red-sauce, the oft-forgotten borough of Staten Island can be a creative place to live for those from across the Harbor (and beyond).
Designed by the Dutch architecture firm Concrete, the development is focused on growing an urban community with premier amenities, with health, happiness and wellness in mind. Pictured: a view of the communal kitchen
Concrete designed with community in mind, creating public spaces that prompt social interaction
Urban farms, communal kitchens and outdoor terraced pools are just some of Urby's distinguishing features
The farm (pictured) provides bounty for a weekly market, with aisles of kale, cucumbers, tomatoes, sunflowers and some other 50 varieties
A view of the surrounding Stapleton Waterfront, which has been redevloped by the city at a cost of $32 million dollars
Urby's 570 rental units are divided into 380-sq-ft studios, one-bedroom and two-bedrooms apartments, perfect for city living
INFORMATION
Urby is now available for leasing. For more information, visit the Urby website
ADDRESS
Urby
7 and 8 Navy Pier Court
Staten Island, NY 10304
-
Designer Marta de la Rica’s elegant Madrid studio is full of perfectly-pitched contradictionsThe studio, or ‘the laboratory’ as de la Rica and her team call it, plays with colour, texture and scale in eminently rewarding ways
-
‘Nothing just because it’s beautiful’: Performance artist Marina Abramović on turning her hand to furniture designMarina Abramović has no qualms about describing her segue into design as a ‘domestication’. But, argues the ‘grandmother of performance art’ as she unveils a collection of chairs, something doesn’t have to be provocative to be meaningful
-
A local’s guide to Los Angeles by defiant artist Fawn RogersOregon-born, LA-based artist Fawn Rogers gives us a personal tour of her adopted city as it hosts its sixth edition of Frieze
-
This Rocky Mountains house is a ski-lover's dream escapeBozeman, a Rocky Mountains house by Pearson Design Group and Frederick Tang Architecture, is a contemporary retreat that sits low in its natural, Montana setting
-
Take a deep dive into The Palm Springs School ahead of the region’s Modernism WeekNew book ‘The Palm Springs School: Desert Modernism 1934-1975’ is the ultimate guide to exploring the midcentury gems of California, during Palm Springs Modernism Week 2025 and beyond
-
A wavy roof tops this sophisticated take on a backyard cabin in CaliforniaThis Californian Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) by Spiegel Aihara Workshop (SAW), offers an aesthetic and functional answer to housing shortages and multigenerational family living
-
Palm Springs Modernism Week 2025: let the desert architecture party beginPalm Springs Modernism Week 2025 launches on 13 February, marking the popular annual desert event’s 20th anniversary, celebrated this year through more midcentury marvels than ever
-
On the shores of Discovery Bay, this wooden house is the ultimate waterside retreatDekleva Gregorič’s Discovery Bay House is a structured yet organic shelter that blends perfectly into the surrounding Pacific Northwest landscape
-
The 10 emerging American Midwest architects you need to knowWe profile 10 emerging American Midwest architects shaking up the world of architecture - in their territory, and beyond
-
A light-filled New York loft renovation magics up extra space in a deceptively sized homeThis New York loft renovation by local practice BOND is now a warm and welcoming apartment that feels more spacious than it actually is
-
Inside Bell Labs, the modernist vision behind Severance's minimalist settingWe explore the history of Bell Labs - now known as Bell Works - the modernist Eero Saarinen-designed facility in New Jersey, which inspired the dystopian minimalist setting of 'Severance'
