http://ny.therealdeal.com/articles/c...frozen-in-time
Cool amenity or frozen in time?
April 30, 2009
By Marc Ferris
While the New York City real estate market is in something of a deep freeze, one building is rolling out a truly chill new amenity: an ice cave.
The cave, planned for the Setai at 400 Fifth Avenue, between 36th and 37th streets, is modeled on a European spa-type treatment. Inside the enclosed space, the temperature will be set to 45 degrees.
Big in Europe, ice caves — where patrons can rub ice chips on their skin — are the cooling counterpart to a sauna or other type of steam room.
While officials at the Setai declined to comment, Steven Kass, president of American Leisure, which designs and operates spas and fitness centers and helped create the ice cave at the Midtown Setai, said the cold temperatures are good for the body and the skin. "The ice cave is part of a series of thermal and water treatments that vary body temperatures at different levels of exertion, which is good for the skin, circulation and internal organs," he said.
Kass noted that the ice cave will be the first of its kind in Manhattan.
At the Setai in Midtown, the 3,500-square-foot ice cave — which will be made of glass mosaic tile and include a domed, igloo-like roof — will occupy about a quarter of the building's spa space.
The communal area also will include a Jacuzzi with a waterfall, sauna, fire pit, juice bar, relaxation area and a Turkish hamman — a heated slab of marble where treatments are performed.
Workout regimens that vary the body's temperature between hot and cold are becoming increasingly chic. "In countries with colder climates, like Russia and Finland, people lounge around in a heated Jacuzzi and then go roll in the snow," said Kass.
But with the market paused, some say such amenities are more of a liability than an asset. "No one is buying anything based on a great spa or an ice cave," said Barak Dunayer, owner of Barak Realty. "Everyone is looking for value, and if a developer can't convey that, then they won't sell apartments."