Rehab of substation completes E. 57th Street transformation.

An 80-year old East Midtown electric substation, slightly down at the heels, is dressing up in new finery to fulfill community expectations and to keep up with its tony new neighbor - the elegant 34-story luxury rental tower at 150 East 57th Street, between Lexington and Third avenues.

The substation is getting a $25 million electrical upgrading to provide greater traction power for East Side subways - and a spruced-up exterior designed to complement the adjoining tower.

The high-end tower, its richly-textured double-height lobby completed to welcome the new tenants who have begun moving in, is already more than 50 percent rented.

The 57th Street facade of the substation will be cleaned and repointed, revealing its decorative 1917 vintage brickwork. Polished granite wainscoting will be installed along the base. New anodized brass doors and window mullions and new windows will complete the streetfront transformation. The westerly wall of the substation will be reclad in the same gray/brown brick as the adjacent new luxury rental.

"The community has long campaigned to persuade the MTA to dress up the sooty relic and restore this fine East 57th Street blockfront," said Bernard Spitzer, who is developing the luxury building with Louis Brause. The total transformation has been facilitated by the interior upgrading, coupled with a financial contribution by the development company to redo the exterior.

"The timing is opportune and the design is in keeping with the character of our building and the urban qualities of the upscale neighborhood," Spitzer said, noting that 150 East 57th Street is flanked to the east by the 1917 building and balanced to the west by the five-story Colombian Center.

With its prestigious location and luxury amenities, the building is becoming an address of choice for professionals and top executives, drawn to the level of quality and amenities the building offers in its prestigious, central location between Tiffany & Co. and Sutton Place. These top-of-the-line luxury rental apartments have particular appeal for corporate executives seeking an elegant in-town home, Spitzer said, sparing them many tedious hours of commuting each week.

There are only five apartments on each floor and most have balconies. In addition, the top three floors will contain four of the most spectacular penthouse apartments in New York. These spacious urban homes have three or four bedrooms, full dining rooms, windowed kitchens, breakfast areas, large living rooms, three or four elegant baths and wraparound terraces. Two of these exceptional penthouses feature two-story cathedral living rooms with fireplaces, master bedrooms with balconies overlooking the living rooms, private roof terraces and maid's rooms.

The building's apartment mix includes alcove studios with dining galleries; one-bedroom apartments with dining areas off the living rooms; one-bedroom convertible apartments with two full baths, a dining gallery and a separate room which can serve as a dining room, second bedroom or den; and two-bedroom apartments with two baths and a dining gallery.

All of 150 East 57th Street's 145 spacious apartments include high ceilings, marble foyers and baths (with whirlpool tubs), granite top kitchen counters and bathroom vanities, state-of-the-art appliances and high fashion fixtures.

Tenants at 150 East 57th Street will also be given free use of the building's state-of-the-art health club and glass-canopied 45-foot-long swimming pool.

Spitzer has developed some of the City's finest residential buildings, including 800 Fifth Avenue and other fine properties on Fifth Avenue, Central Park South and Park Avenue, East 72nd Street and First and Second avenues. Louis Brause is president of Brause Realty, which owns 2 million square feet of commercial, retail and other properties in New York State and Connecticut. John Schimenti, the project architect, has long been associated with Spitzer.

Rentals at the new tower range from $2,550 per month for an alcove studio, up to more than $20,000 per month for the duplex penthouses. The marketing and rental agent is Gumley-Haft, Inc.