Blue brothers bring touch of glass to Lower East Side.

Fifteen years of hard work has left developers, Angelo Cosentini and John Carson, feeling Blue--and they couldn't be happier about it.

Blue is their much talked-about $17 million apartment tower that will change the skyline of the Lower East Side forever.

"We have been looking at [the plans for the building] for over a year and I am still excited by it," said Cosentini, the number cruncher in the Carson/Cosentini operation, officially known as On The Level Enterprises. "I can't wait for the building to go up. I can't wait to be driving over the Williamsburg Bridge and seeing it there, like a new gateway to New York.

"We have spent 15 years working to get to a position where we could build something that we wanted to build. We wanted to do something we could walk by 20 years from now and say 'Wow, I can't believe we built it.'"

If ever there was a building that could evoke such a reaction, it is definitely Blue. The 16-story tower has received a mixed reaction among Lower East Siders who've called it everything from a giant toilet bowl cube to just another overpriced luxury condo forcing them out of their once-affordable neighborhood.

However, even the naysayers have to admit the 16-story azure colored tower stands out in an overcrowded Manhattan market where developers are running out of phrases to describe their super luxury condos.

"Blue is definitely not your typical new construction project in New York City," said Carson, a carpenter by trade who oversees the development aspects of the partnership spawned from a chance meeting at a dinner party in the mid-80s. "Blue doesn't follow the formulaic brick and block building with typical code compliant setbacks."

Designed by internationally renowned architect, Bernard Tschumi--the former Dean of Architecture at Columbia University--Blue's curtain wall is glass in varying shades of blue, giving it a pixilated appearance. The look is further enhanced by its unusual angular design, a result of building on a site that incorporated air rights from more than one lot.

Cosentini and Carson had been scouting the neighborhood for several years as they built up their business as master contractors of high-end residential developments, getting a feel for the neighborhood and finding a site that would suit their ambitions.

They found the ideal spot on the parking lot of the once famous kosher restaurant, Ratner's, on Norfolk Street. Their vision piqued the interest of Tschumi, who was so smitten with the project that, despite being best known for his work in the cultural and public fields, signed on for his very first residential development.

"We knew that Bernard was one of the few contemporary architects with the vision and know-how to design a unique and visually appealing building given the requirements of the site," said Cosentini.

"We transferred air rights and added a third floor to two adjoining buildings, then positioned an outdoor terrace with spectacular views on the roof of that third floor. We acquired the rights to cantilever the building over the adjacent parcel, which gives the building its distinctive sculptured silhouette."

Cosentini said the three of them sat down together and brainstormed over the design, a highly unusual process for architects but, then again, this wasn't a usual project.

"We didn't know who would be willing to work with us," admitted Cosentini. "Architects tend to have their own vision of what they want to do and aren't open to a collaborative effort with a client, but then most clients don't truly understand the construction process the way we do."

And the pair was unwavering in their determination to see Blue come to fruition, even in the face of criticism from their friends and contemporaries. "A lot of them told us it was a big mistake to spend so much money on the facade," said Carson.

Added Cosnetini, "Everyone's reaction to us building in this neighborhood was, 'Are you crazy?'

"When we bought our very first building in Tribeca in 1991, I had the very same conversion with people, 'Is this really a neighborhood that's going to change?' The Lower East Side has bars, clubs, shopping, it's central, has good transportation. It's also a very accepting neighborhood, probably because of its history as home to immigrants of every nationality.

"That's why we could build something like this here. If we had tried to put it on Madison Avenue we would have hit a roadblock. As it is, we are trailblazers. Norfolk Street is now an enclave of modern architecture."

Indeed, the Switch building--so called because its angled metal facade switches back and forth giving residents views up and down the street--at 109 Norfolk was designed by Eric Bunge and Mimi Hoang of nArchitects and, just up the street, developer Paul Stallings opened his glass-walled Hotel on Rivington late last year

All three eyecatchers are built on former parking lots and, whether you love them or hate them, all three are changing the skyline and the character of the Lower East Side, the last holdout of gentrification in the city.

It's also a stone's throw from the neighborhood where fate brought Cosentini and Carson together in the early 90s. Carson--a Pennsylvania native who studied art at the state's Edinburgh University and attended graduate school for printing--was working as a carpenter. "A friend's neighbor needed a closet made into a bedroom," Carson recalled, "When I got paid for that job, I hired a guy to help me with the next job, and so my business was progressing."

Carson's wife, fabric designer, Sharon Slowik, was good friends with a sweater designer named Maya Neighbor. When Maya invited the couple over for dinner to meet her new boyfriend, Carson admitted, "I arrived for dinner late and expected to leave early--but I haven't left yet."

The new boyfriend turned out to be Cosentini. The Canadian native--the first generation of Italian immigrant parents--was living with Maya while he figured out his next move after losing his two Toronto restaurants during the 80s recession.

The two men hit it off immediately and, within six months, had bought their first building together at 576 Broome Street. "You could see the basement from the third floor," recalled Angelo. "It still had dirt floors."

With Carson's building skills and Cosentini's business acumen, the pair turned the building around, converting it to condos, which both of them still live in today with their wives, Sharon and Maya. The second building they bought was at 77 Hudson Street, an interim multiple dwelling they also successfully converted to a mixed used building, part of which they still own.

Their list of projects grew to include such developments as 58 Thomas Street, a seven story $7.5 million condominium; 637 Hudson Street; 219 17th Street in Brooklyn and; 25 North Moore Street. Known as the Atalanta Building, its $92 million renovation won the pair an Award of Merit from New York Construction News in 2001.

The pair also developed a reputation for high-end renovations, doing work for both private investors and a string of celebrity clients, including Michael J. Fox and Judd Hirsch.

But while their success has afforded them all of the trappings of wealth, the two men say their passion for their work is what drives them.

Said Cosentini, "It is very difficult to be a developer in today's climate. I am optimistic by nature, but we are competing with guys that, last week, were Wall Street traders who now want to be developers. I don't know that all of them will make money. We do it because we have a passion for it--but we are old fashioned enough to still want to make money."