The tributes keep pouring in for Ralph Walker, the late trailblazing architect who is back in the news thanks to Walker Tower, the 50-unit luxury condominium developed by JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group. Walker Tower is being fashioned from one of Walker’s signature pre-war Art Deco skyscrapers in Chelsea, built at 212 West 18th Street in the late 1920s. Already the subject of an architectural exhibition held at Walker Tower last spring and a career-spanning biography published in September by Rizzoli, Ralph Walker is now receiving the documentary treatment. The short film above provides a great summary of Walker’s greatest works and his impact on the New York skyline, while also providing a guided glimpse inside Walker Tower.

The film is a great companion to last week’s Wall Street Journal feature story by Josh Barbanel, headlined “In Manhattan, Downtown Looks Up,” in which Walker Tower is held up as a shining example of what wealthy buyers are looking for in today’s real estate market: Spacious and meticulously finished Manhattan homes that blend traditional Uptown sensibility with a trendy Downtown location. Ralph Walker’s pioneering Art Deco style is an important part of that appeal.

JDS Development's Michael Stern and CORE CEO Shaun Osher in a Walker Tower penthouse. Photo by Fred R. Conrad/New York Times.

We’ve received an incredible amount of interest in Walker Tower ever since we pulled back the curtain on this beautiful pre-war building last November. Today we can finally say more. As the New York Times reports in its Sunday edition — the story is online right now — the ultra-luxury condominium conversion of this Ralph Walker-designed Art Deco skyscraper in downtown Manhattan will soon be hitting the market through CORE at prices of around $3,000 per square foot, with penthouses approaching up to $10,000 per square foot. The average size of these massive homes, there are 53 in total, will be approximately 3,000 square feet. The building, located at 212 West 18th Street in Chelsea, is being developed by JDS Development and Property Markets Group, and the process of turning a 1929 telephone building into a 21st century residential icon is intricate and complicated. The Times‘ C.J. Hughes touches on the transformation:

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