The narrow side streets of the Financial District bespeak its status as the oldest portion of New York City, while the stunning architecture and sheer size of the towers that rise along those streets reflect the Financial District's more recent history as the capital of capitalism, and the center of the financial world. Look closer, though, and the Financial District's future is plain to see -- in the area between City Hall Park on the North and the bottom of Manhattan Island on the South, the Financial District has quietly emerged as one of the most luxurious residential neighborhoods in all of Manhattan, and is home to some of the most desirable rental listings in New York City.
While many of the Financial District's grand towers remain bastions of big business, many others have been converted in recent years into condominium developments or luxury rental buildings, and the number of people living in the district has doubled in the first years of the new century. And thanks to an influx of upscale shopping and restaurants and bars that range from posh to endearingly down-home, the New Yorkers who have flocked to the Financial District are living well in one of the most historically significant neighborhoods in Manhattan.
In some instances, they're even living in history. The sleek limestone skyscraper at 20 Exchange Place is both a New York City landmark and one of the hottest no-fee rentals in lower Manhattan. The elegant apartments for rent at 2 Gold Street offer ultra-modern luxury on one of Manhattan's oldest thoroughfares. More of the finer flats for rent in the Financial District can be found in the office-to-apartment conversion at 45 Wall Street has been and the Gothic Revival former headquarters of U.S. Steel at 71 Broadway, both of which have emerged as hugely sought-after downtown rental listings. The spacious, sun-filled lofts at 135 William Street offer Tribeca-style cool with a dead-center Financial District location. In a neighborhood marked by reinvention -- from Dutch colony to the first capital of the United States to the center of global banking and business -- the Financial District is doing it again, and has gracefully remade itself as one of the finest residential neighborhoods in Manhattan.
