(The Hunt)
NEW YORK — Zoe and Spencer Pepper met in preschool while growing up in neighboring Long Island towns. Years later, they reconnected as undergraduates at Cornell University.
After graduation in 2008, Zoe Pepper (then Zoe Cohen) moved to Manhattan and roomed with a friend in Murray Hill. Spencer Pepper headed to law school in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. As a summer associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, in the Financial District, he watched from his office window as the undulating New York by Gehry building (then known as Beekman Tower) rose on Spruce Street.
So when he finished law school and went to work full time at the firm, he and Zoe Pepper moved into a one-bedroom rental there. They liked its distinctive architectural qualities and its many amenities. And the location couldn’t be beat.
“I had been told the long hours that a big law firm would entail, particularly as a junior associate, so I thought it made sense to live close to the office,” Spencer Pepper said.
His walk to work took five minutes. Zoe Pepper rode the subway to midtown Manhattan, where she now is the director of rooms operations at the Westin New York at Times Square.
In 2018, Spencer Pepper’s firm announced its plan to move to Hudson Yards. It was good news for the couple: They could move to a location where both could walk to work.
“We both work crazy hours, but Spencer’s hours are super unpredictable,” Zoe Pepper said. “He could be on a deal where he doesn’t come home for two straight days. So having that flexibility to come home and take a quick shower or quick nap, that is super critical for him.”
Although her work hours are more stable, “I get called in a lot,” she said. “I will run there in a heartbeat for anything.”
The Peppers, both 32, were also up for exploring a developing neighborhood, as they had done when they moved to the Financial District in 2011. At the time, Zoe Pepper said, “there weren’t any good restaurants. We had to go to Tribeca to get a salad.”
The couple went on the hunt for a rental in late spring, intending to line up a one-bedroom before their July wedding so they could move in post-honeymoon. They wanted a new, amenity-filled building for themselves and Andiamo, their Italian greyhound.
“We kind of get this high on new buildings,” Zoe Pepper said. “They are so exciting. It’s so fun being the first person to live in your apartment. No one has sat on your toilet seat.”
Their budget was $5,000 to $7,000 a month. With some research on StreetEasy, Spencer Pepper narrowed down the options to a handful of possibilities in and north of Hudson Yards.
“I have a lot less patience for that stuff, and Spencer is super organized and detailed,” Zoe Pepper said. “I am extremely decisive, whereas he will crunch numbers and weigh all the pros and cons.”
MiMA, an 8-year-old rental building on 42nd Street east of 10th Avenue, fit their criteria. But, Spencer Pepper said, “It didn’t have that brand-spanking-new feeling that we really wanted.”
The Eugene, on West 31st Street, was closer to his office but farther from hers. They weren’t keen on the interior finishes or the location next to Dyer Avenue, the Lincoln Tunnel entrance and exit ramp, where impatient traffic seemed hazardous.
Then there was Oskar, on 11th Avenue near 43d Street, with just 164 apartments. The Peppers found the small size more appealing than a massive building with hundreds of units. It felt to them like a boutique hotel.
When they visited, it wasn’t quite finished. “It seems like the apartment is being built for you,” Spencer Pepper said.
They saw several iterations of one-bedrooms, some with balconies and many with interesting hallways and curves. The building also offers access to most of the amenities at Sky, across the street, the largest rental building in New York, with nearly 1,200 units. (Both were developed by the Moinian Group.)
The Peppers were able to sign the lease nearly two months in advance. They chose a one-bedroom with no balcony but with an extra half bathroom for $6,200 a month, and received three free months on a 27-month lease, with the monthly rent netting out to $5,511. They also received six free months at Life Time Athletic at Sky, a gym and spa that normally costs $199 per person per month. The one-time pet fee for Andiamo was $750.
The Peppers, who arrived in late summer, faced some construction-related issues, like a sporadic lack of hot water and workers coming and going from their apartment.
“It was certificate-of-occupancy ready, but not our-crazy-attention-to-detail ready,” Zoe Pepper said.
Now, she strives to take a fitness class every day, usually on her walk home from work. Spencer Pepper goes in the morning.
In their sunny one-bedroom, which looks straight down 11th Avenue, “I feel like I am floating in the middle of New York City,” Zoe Pepper said. Being on an avenue in midtown, however, is proving louder than being on a small street downtown. Late on weekday nights, “there is a honking contest outside,” she said.
They enjoy the small details, like a hidden refrigerator and dishwasher, closet lights that turn on when the door opens, and a walk-in shower rather than a tub. Their entry door uses a key fob.
Plans call for the building to go even more high tech. “Eventually, people will be able to open their doors with their smartphones,” said Toby Gingold, Oskar’s leasing manager.
The Peppers especially appreciate having that second half bath across the hall, so when Zoe Pepper rises extra early for work, she won’t wake her husband. She also loves walking to work. “Getting that extra hour of sleep is truly life-changing,” she said.
As for Spencer Pepper, his office move won’t happen until February, so he has temporarily assumed a subway commute. “I cannot wait to be able to walk to work again,” he said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.