Tag: vertical integration

• DDG Partners + GS Invest = Azur

  Last week I wrote about a project in New York by DDG Partners called 100 Franklin. If you missed it, go here.

  I didn’t, however, say much about the developer. Though at the time I was wondering why their website was no longer up.

  DDG Partners is a firm that I have written about several times over the years. They are a firm that I have always admired because of 1) their commitment to design and 2) their vertically-integrated approach to development. They do things like design, construction, and asset management all in-house.

  So I was interested to learn that back in May they announced a merger with French real estate firm, GS Invest. Prior to the union, GS had a portfolio of more than 3 million square feet across Europe. The new investment and development company is called Azur.

  Also interesting is the fact that Azur has started making proptech investments. Their first investment is in a company called Whiterock AI.

  For more about Azur, click here.

  2021.07.26

• Yellow trees

  I took this picture on a recent trip to New York:

  

  I liked the mid-block building and so I wanted to document it. That’s what I do when I walk around a city.

  When I went back to research the project later on, I then discovered that it was developed by DDG Partners, which I have been following for years. I think they do terrific work and I love their vertically-integrated approach to real estate development. Two years ago I mentioned them in a post called: 3 architects operating as developers.

  If you’d like to learn more about the project, you can do that here. It’s called 345MEATPACKING. 

  What I want to talk about today is how they wrapped the building during construction. Working with the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama – who at the time had an exhibition going on at the Whitney – they created a 120-foot reproduction of her painting Yellow Trees.

  Here’s a video of what that looked like (c. 2012). If you can’t see the video below, click here.

  [vimeo 79792779 w=640 h=360]

  What a great idea. But don’t tell anyone. I want to steal the idea for one of my projects.

  2016.11.26