Renters: High-Kicking Through Four Pools

The amenities that have proliferated in luxury buildings don’t always get much traffic. When’s the last time anyone actually played one of those grand pianos or cooked dinner in a shared lounge?

On occasion, however, a building’s perks prove perfectly suited to a particular resident. Take Heather Langham–Schwartz, a Radio City Rockette whose in-season dance schedule can include four performances a day and who has had no trouble figuring out how to take advantage of four separate pools at 530 West 30th Street.

“I like to do a circuit — 10 minutes in each,” said Ms. Langham–Schwartz, who rotates between the building’s 82-foot lap pool, saltwater pool, cold plunge pool and hot tub, as well the steam room and the sauna, to recuperate from her demanding dance schedule. (Her season as a Rockette runs from October to January, with performances of the Christmas Spectacular starting in early November.)

She moved from TriBeCa with her then-fiancé, Nicholas Schwartz, into the building early last fall, a short time after the Related Companies opened the rental tower. The couple got married earlier this month.

“We had not thought about moving this far uptown, but I was browsing Related’s portfolio, saw this and was curious,” said Mr. Schwartz, a corporate lawyer who, if not quite as devoted to the building’s pools as his wife, does enjoy its Equinox-curated fitness center.

For him, a big part of the appeal was that the building, also known as One Hudson Yards — it is adjacent to, but not part of, the 28-acre redevelopment of the Hudson Yards site — was brand new. Previously, the couple had lived in a luxury rental that, though less than a decade old, was showing signs of wear and tear. Most of it was minor: scratched floors, peeling laminate on the cabinets, a chipped sink and doors that hung askew. But windows that leaked during rain storms and an occasional whiff of mold seemed to indicate more serious issues.

The couple found a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at One Hudson Yards near the high end of their budget — the monthly rent is $8,595, with an incentive of one free month that brings it to just under $8,000.

“The building was nice enough that it was worth it,” said Mr. Schwartz, citing the 10-foot ceilings and a kitchen with Miele appliances. The refrigerator is built into the cabinetry, and the oven comes with so many cooking settings that you can choose whether you want to bake your potatoes crispy or soft. Mr. Schwartz even used what they refer to as the “turkey-for-dummies” setting to roast a Thanksgiving turkey for friends last year while Ms. Langham–Schwartz was dancing at a holiday show.

Given their sometimes divergent schedules, having the two bedrooms has also proved helpful. If she finishes a long day at 11 p.m. and wants to get dinner and drinks with her Radio City friends afterward, she can sleep in the second bedroom without disturbing her husband, who often wakes up early for work.

The couple met in 2012 at Barry’s Bootcamp in TriBeCa, where Ms. Langham–Schwartz was working as a manager (many Rockettes who live in the city year-round teach fitness and dance classes during their off-season). Mr. Schwartz was a regular at the 8:20 a.m. class and often stopped to chat after working out.

$8,595 | hudson Yards, Manhattan

Heather Langham–Schwartz, 38, and Nicholas Schwartz, 35

Rent: One month free brings it to $7,878 a month.
Occupations: Rockette, dance and fitness teacher; corporate lawyer
Requiring study: The apartment came with a stack of manuals on how to operate the high-end appliances and electronics systems. After a year of practice, the couple say they seem to have mastered them all.
Their friends: “Couldn’t be more different,” said Ms. Langham–Schwartz. “Which is nice. The whole Radio City world is fun, but he brings me back down to earth.”
The building’s amenities: Are a regular destination. “It’s nice when the weather is bad and you don’t want to go anywhere,” said Ms. Langham–Schwartz. “It’s like a spa.”

When she told him it was her last day at the fitness studio, he invited her and a colleague to his building’s rooftop for drinks that evening. “I was about ready to move back to Arizona when I met Nick,” said Ms. Langham–Schwartz, who was living in a no-frills Harlem one-bedroom at the time. During her first few years with the Rockettes (she joined in 2009), she would go back to her home state during the off-season to resume her frugal life. About six months after meeting Mr. Schwartz, she gave up her lease and moved into his TriBeCa apartment.

“Moving in there, I felt spoiled. Moving in here, I felt very, very spoiled,” she said of One Hudson Yards. She loves the washer and dryer in the apartment, the huge walk-in closets and the deep soaking tub. And from behind their sound-dampening windows, they’ve both enjoyed watching the construction of the Shed, the cross-disciplinary arts center rising directly outside.

“We’re very curious to see what this area becomes,” said Mr. Schwartz. “It’s been fun during the construction. And it will be even more fun to see what it will be like when it opens.”

Moving in before the rental tower was finished meant they weren’t able to get a view looking downtown, which would have been their preference, but they have no intention of leaving anytime soon. After a year, their apartment is still pristine — though, as Ms. Langham–Schwartz has discovered, maintaining an unblemished space takes diligence.

“If you put wet glasses on the marble countertop, it leaves rings, so I never let anyone put wet glasses on it anymore,” she said. “And I get annoyed whenever I find marks on the wall. It would have been different if it wasn’t new when we moved in, but I like to try to keep everything perfect.”

Fortunately, for de-stressing, they can always head to the building’s game room, which has foosball, pool tables and shuffleboard. “I threw Nick a party in there when he became partner,” she said. “It was really nice. Instead of going to Arizona, we could have gotten married there.”