Even though the fate of the major part of the building was sealed during the conversion, the street level retail space was left almost untouched. After the conversion, the original trading space for the New York Wool Exchange Company on the ground floor served as a pop-up gallery, a restaurant and later as storage: all before being “rediscovered” as a potential apartment.

The space was bought by Mark Colaio, a senior managing director at a financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and his wife either for $150,000 in June 1998 or for $1,734,000 in June 2001 (it is unclear due to incomplete document scans on nyc.gov).

In 2001 architects Todd Ernst and Frank Servidio started to work on the space and soon found a mural by Keith Haring hidden beneath a coat of paint and the AC equipment. The Keith Haring Foundation confirmed the authenticity of the mural. It is believed that the mural was made in 1979 when Keith Haring was part of a group exhibition at the School of Visual Arts where he was studying painting.

Ernst said to New York Magazine: “The fact that it actually survived is amazing. It’s next to a sprinkler pipe and it’s made of shoe polish and alcohol, and it’s water soluble.”

Mark Colaio died in the 9/11 attack .

It is unclear when the work on the 7,500-square-foot triplex was finished. But in June 2007 it was listed on the market for $16 million. Besides the mural, the apartment has 2 bedrooms, 3,5 bathrooms, 45 by 45 feet ballroom with 25 foot high ceilings, a wine cellar and a gourmet kitchen.