I spend a lot of time writing about luxury condos as part of my work with gbNYC partner Elegran, and very little time actually visiting said condos. So while it's tempting to write, "if you've seen one luxury condominium, you've seen them all," it's probably more accurate of me to write, "if you've seen one Flash-driven website for a luxury condominium, you've seen them all." At some point, though, all these listings kind of collapse into one -- one endless state-of-the-art fitness center, one sprawling rooftop sundeck, and so dully on. But while Brooklyn's Toren has many of the same amenities and attributes as the endless parade of luxury condos in Manhattan that fills my days, a few notable things set Toren apart. For one thing, Toren is certified LEED Gold. For another, it's architecturally striking in the extreme, thanks to a gutsy Skidmore Owings & Merrill design. And for a third, Toren is flourishing where many cookie-cutter condos in Brooklyn and Manhattan are not. Call it real estate meritocracy, if you want.
