SoMA at 25 Water Street is a completed office-to-residential conversion in Manhattan’s Financial District, with 1,320 apartments in a former office building expanded by ten stories. CetraRuddy led the design, and women led most of the project’s design roles, according to a 2026 account in The Construction Specifier.
What is SoMA at 25 Water Street?
SoMA is the residential redevelopment of the former office building at 25 Water Street in Lower Manhattan. Metro Loft lists the project as completed in 2025, with 1,320 residential units in 1.13 million square feet of renovated space. The Construction Specifier described it in 2026 as a conversion of more than 1 million square feet. The Construction Specifier and Metro Loft’s project page document the project’s scale.
The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation describes SoMA as the nation’s largest completed office-to-residential conversion in its project profile. The Construction Specifier called it among the largest conversions in the United States in its October 6, 2026 article. These are source-attributed descriptions, not a permanent ranking: completed projects and published rankings can change.
How women shaped the design team
The Construction Specifier reported that women led most design roles across architecture, interiors, and furniture and fixtures. It does not provide a headcount or percentage for women on the full project team. Founding partner Nancy J. Ruddy oversaw a team of more than 20 architects and designers, and the article identifies several of the design leads and contributors:
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- Sodam Ha, associate principal.
- Ximena Rodriguez, principal.
- Lindsey Doren, project architect.
- Emily Menez, architect.
- Jessica Delbridge, senior associate and interior designer, who coordinated the furniture and fixtures palette and brought hospitality experience to the work.
The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation identifies CetraRuddy’s interior design division as a women- and minority-owned practice led by Rodriguez and Ruddy. That describes the practice’s leadership; it should not be read as a numeric measure of the gender composition of every project role.
How the conversion made room for 1,320 apartments
The design combined the existing structural framework with new construction and residential planning. Metro Loft says ten floors were added above the original building; the Construction Specifier describes a ten-story rooftop addition. The trade article reports more than 52 distinct apartment layouts, from studios to one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes. Metro Loft confirms the added floors and unit total, but does not state a layout count.
Working with the existing framework while adding floors allowed the team to increase residential capacity without treating the project as a simple interior refit. The Construction Specifier also reports that trusses were incorporated into the conversion. The available project descriptions do not establish that every existing structure or building system was retained.
How daylight and shared space changed the interior
At the building’s center, the team created a three-story atrium. The Construction Specifier says it brings daylight into interior areas, links uses, and offers visual connections to amenity spaces. The atrium also functions as a shared gathering place, helping reposition the building’s interior around residential life rather than the routines of an office.
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The article reports that the new residences sit 7 feet above the sidewalk and 14 feet above the floodplain. Those measurements are reported by The Construction Specifier; Metro Loft’s project page does not independently confirm them.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the project matters to adaptive reuse
SoMA illustrates how a large office building can be reworked through several coordinated moves: retain and adapt parts of its structural framework, add new floors, plan many residential layouts, and create shared spaces that bring light and connection into the interior. Its unit count and added stories describe this specific project; they should not be treated as typical results for office conversions.
In a 2025 project press document hosted by SoMA, CetraRuddy founding principal John Cetra described the undertaking as unprecedented in scale and vision. The project’s documented combination of existing structure, rooftop expansion, residential planning, and interior redesign explains why the conversion is presented as more than a change of use.
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