All articles by Ondel Hylton

Ondel is 6sqft's Market News Editor and the Digital Content Manager for CityRealty. He’s a lifelong New Yorker and comprehensive assessor of the city’s dynamic urban landscape. Ondel is an alumnus of Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture, and is a LEED accredited professional. Beginning his career as a Junior Architect at DaSILVA Architects, Ondel moved to the public sector as an Analyst Architect for the New York City Office of Management and Budget. Aside from CityRealty and 6sqft, he is a volunteer at the Skyscraper Museum, a docent for the Municipal Arts Society, and leads architectural tours around the city.
December 11, 2015

Demolition Begins on 500-Foot UES Condo Replacing the Art & Design Building

Demolition has begun at the Lenox Hill site of a forthcoming 30-story condominium being developed by Orlando-based Inverlad Development and Steve Mills’ Third Palm Capital. The future 45-unit, 481-foot tower will replace the five-story Art & Design Building at 1059 Third Avenue and utilizes development rights from an adjacent apartment building at 1065 Third Avenue, which will also host an entryway for the Lexington/63rd Street station of the Second Avenue Subway. The developers paid an entity associated with the Battaglia family $31.5 million for the property in 2012. Building permits were approved in late October, granting the team the go-ahead to build a narrow, slab-shaped tower designed by Manuel Glas. According to DOB filings, the first three floors will contain office space and a healthcare facility, and above are 32 residential units. The amenity floor on level 12 will feature a fitness center, spa, swimming pool, tenants' lounge, and an outdoor terrace. Above level 13, seventeen full-floor residences will possess commanding views of the burgeoning Billionaires' Row skyline, East River and Central Park.
More details ahead
December 11, 2015

MAPS: Where to Find the Five Best Condo Bargains in Every NYC Neighborhood

With so much focus given to top-of-the-market condo sales and listings, we decided to take a look at the condos at the more "affordable" end of the spectrum, highlighting available apartments priced furthest below their neighborhood median prices. This week we take a look at five listings in five neighborhoods: Chelsea, Park-Fifth Avenue between 50th and 79th streets, Fort Greene, and Murray Hill. But first, be sure to check out 6sqft's interactive maps which pinpoint five of the best available condo bargains in every Manhattan and northern Brooklyn neighborhood compared with their median prices.
Check it all out
December 10, 2015

Revealed: Karl Fischer’s 12-Story East Harlem Residential Tower

Here's our first peek at a 12-story residential building designed by Karl Fischer Architects for the northwest corner of 110th Street and Park Avenue in East Harlem. The property was picked up last fall by Brooklyn-based Isaac Schwartz who has now placed the 7,000-square-foot property on the market for $13.9 million. According to the sales brochure prepared by Ariel Property Advisors, the lots 1516-1520 Park Avenue and 94 East 111th Street present a full block-front opportunity to construct a development up to 48,600 square feet. The property would be delivered with DOB-approved plans that call for the 12-story, 44-unit residential building shown above.
More details ahead
December 9, 2015

Landmarks Approves Collegiate School Redevelopment: 66 Condos and Garden Planned

The development team involved in the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Collegiate School academic buildings adjacent to West End Collegiate Church announced yesterday that their two-building scheme has been unanimously approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Situated in the West End Collegiate Historic District on the Upper West Side, the residential development at 260 West 78th Street and 378 West End Avenue is being developed by the Collegiate Churches of New York and designed by Rick Cook of COOKFOX Architects. Funds generated by the development will be used to support the Collegiate Church's charitable and housing programs, as well as maintain its landmarked Dutch-Flemish Renaissance Revival campus.
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December 9, 2015

Revealed: Crowne Plaza Hotel Rises South of Times Square, Boasts Streetwall-Friendly Atrium

Construction is getting vertical on Raber Enterprises' 251-room Crowne Plaza Times Square South. The expected four-star, 118,200-square-foot building at 320 West 36th Street will only be the second in Manhattan to carry the Crowne Plaza flag, whose larger, 795-room location at 1605 Broadway has been operational since 1989. Situated between Seventh and Eighth avenues, the 8,200 square-foot parcel formerly held a parking garage that the team purchased with two other lots in December 2012 for $33.5 million. The metal-clad 28-story tower is designed by Flatiron-based Stonehill & Taylor Architects & Planners and will feature an 85-foot tall base that will thankfully adhere to the consistent streetwall of the Garment District. The base will be clad in corrugated-aluminum and its interior will hold an 80-foot high, galvanized steel atrium containing a restaurant and the reception lobby. The architects note that the metallic aesthetic "celebrates the neighborhood’s manufacturing and transportation hub heritage and also produce a play of light and shadow on the building’s deeply modulated surfaces." Flintlock Construction are the builders, WSP Flack & Kurtz the mechanical engineers and GACE, the structural engineers.
more on the project here
December 7, 2015

Could This Otherworldly 102-Story Tower Covered in Ornaments Be Coming to 57th Street?

Jaded by glass boxes and architectural imitations of styles gone by? Well this fascinating design by Mark Foster Gage Architects is sure to turn your architectural world upside down. Here's our first look at their 102-story residential supertower seemingly flown in from some advanced airborne civilization in a galaxy far, far away. While details are scarce, this eagle lands in the heart of Midtown's Billionaires' Row along West 57th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The whimsical design is a habitable sculpture of sorts, adorned from top to bottom in ornaments ranging from gears and propellers to an abstracted pair of birds diving in for a landing on two wing-supported balconies. The tower is topped by a temple-like observational platform which is then crowned by a golden wreath-like structure fit for any victorious Roman general.
more eye-popping visuals this way
December 4, 2015

First Look at Private Chelsea Residence Designed by TEN Arquitectos

Here's a first look at the mysterious home being built at 217 West 20th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in Chelsea. Plans filed with the Department of Buildings in 2014 detail the construction of a six-story, 10,000-square-foot, single-family residence designed by Enrique Norten's TEN Arquitectos. The occupancy schedule indicates that the first level will contain a garage, and a single dwelling unit will encompass all floors above. The exterior rendering posted on the project's construction fence depicts an impervious-looking first floor clad in a bronze-colored material. The next five levels are enclosed in a transparent glass curtain wall with brise-soleil screens floating beyond the building face. TEN has used this sun-shading and privacy tactic for many of their Latin American projects and the nearby Americano Hotel in West Chelsea.
More here
December 3, 2015

New Renderings of One Vanderbilt, Midtown’s Future Tallest Office Tower

The digital production studio Visualhouse has posted on their website our first motion video look at SL Green's 63-story office tower known as One Vanderbilt. Hailed to forever change the face of Midtown East and reinvigorate the business district, the $1 billion-plus, 1.6-million-square-foot tower was unanimously approved by the City Council this past summer, thus granting SL Green the green light to begin construction of the supertower immediately. Visualhouse's newly released renderings provide us with a clearer picture of how the building's full-block base will meet the street, and also remind us just how gargantuan the tower will be. According to the tower's architects Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), the tower will rise 1,401 feet to its spire, making it the second tallest building in the city upon completion. However, unlike the pencil-thin supertalls underway around Central Park, the project will throw up a substantial amount of bulk into the air.
See all the renderings
December 3, 2015

Flatiron’s 21W20 Finally Unshrouded – Take a Virtual Walk Through the Penthouses

Two penthouse units (yes, two) remain at Gale International's boutique condominium development 21W20. The 15-story mid-rise is Gale's first foray into the Manhattan market and has already placed 11 of the building's 13 full-floor homes into contract at an average price of $2,528 per square foot. Slated for occupancy by year's end, the project's construction netting has finally come down and the finishing touches are now being applied to the lobby. The 35,000-square-foot building is seamlessly nestled into the heart of downtown's Flatiron neighborhood within its timeless Ladies' Mile Historic District and presents a contextual exterior of blackened stainless steel, brick, and glass crafted by New York-based architects Beyer Blinder Belle. From street level, the building climbs unassumingly from a 25-foot-wide footprint. However, its upper four stories cleverly spill over onto the adjacent garage building, ultimately creating four breathtaking, 100-foot-wide penthouses.
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December 1, 2015

NYC Dominates the Country in $10 Million-Plus Sales, See Them All on 6sqft’s Interactive Map

In October, Coldwell Banker Previews International released their semi-annual report tracking the real estate trends and market activity in U.S. cities that attract the largest share of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). Unsurprisingly, New York City leads the lists of most closings recorded and listings on the market priced above $1 million, $5 million, and $10 million between the one-year period of July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015. More astounding, however, is that the number of closings recorded in the city above the $10 million price point is more than the sum of all deals in the next 19 cities on the list combined. According to the study, NYC raked in 217 residential closings of $10 million or more, followed by Beverly Hills and Los Angeles with 34 each. New York again leads the way with 367 listings priced at $10 million or more, followed by Miami Beach, Aspen, and Los Angeles. Regarding New York City, historical data from CityRealty tallies up a slightly higher number of $10 million+ closings over the same time period, totaling 241 such deals. The recently crowned most expensive building in the city, One57, garnered the greatest number of $10M-plus sales for a single building with a remarkable 30 deals -- which by itself is more than all cities in the country aside from the top three. The supertall tower was then followed by a three-way tie between 15 Central Park West, One Madison, and the Walker Tower.
Explore the $10M+ closings and listings on 6sqft's interactive map
December 1, 2015

Affordable Housing Lottery Launched for Related’s Yorkville Rental Tower at 205 East 92nd Street

Related Companies' playground-pouncing rental tower at 205 East 92nd Street has launched its housing lottery that provides below-market rents for 47 of the building's 231 units. The 36-story tower is in its home stretch of construction, prepping for occupancy in early 2016. Vested in the city's and state's Inclusionary Housing /421-a programs, 20 percent of the units will be reserved for low-income tenants. Fifty percent of the subsidized units will be reserved for residents of Manhattan Community Board 8 (covering the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island) and an additional 5 percent for municipal employees. Selected applicants will be provided apartments at a tremendous discount when compared to the neighborhood's market-rate rents. According to CityRealty, the median rental price for a one-bedroom in Yorkville stands at $3,210; and $5,398 for two-bedroom apartments. Affordable one-bedrooms at 205 East 92nd will start at $607 and two-bedrooms at $736.
More details and pricing
December 1, 2015

No Filter Needed: Watch NYC Glow Against an Otherworldly Autumn Sunset

New York City experienced a surreal sunset last Sunday; one of the best in recent memory. The sky was dull and overcast for most of the afternoon but when the sun began to sink below the cloud-line, the city transitioned to a hue often reserved for sci-fi films and the outlandish renderings of our banal real estate developments. The tie-dye sky was so vivid that even the prosaic glass-walled rental towers on the Far West Side appeared majestic. During the sun's 15-minute adieu, the sky transitioned from soft pink, to a ribbony purple, and then to an electric tangerine; ultimately billowing into a fiery blaze over New Jersey. So what caused the city to be enveloped into this watercolor masterpiece? According to ABC News meteorologist Jeff Smith, a storm over Eastern Long Island created a situation that when the sun was going down, light caressed the high- and mid-level cloud bottoms resulting in the gorgeous sunset, which 6sqft captured in a gorgeous photo series.
Check out all the photos here
November 24, 2015

Revealed: Zambrano Architectural Design’s Striking Yellow-Brick Rental in Central Harlem

Here's our first look at Dabar Development's eight-story, mixed-use project set to rise at 400 Lenox Avenue in central Harlem. The 40,000-square-foot development will anchor the southeast corner of West 130th Street and Lenox Avenue and will house 30 rental units, 2,000 square feet of retail at the ground level, and a second-floor community space for Pentacostal Faith Church, the owner of the project site. The design provided by Zambrano Architectural Design rises flush with the street wall and sports a distinctive yellow-brick cladding of "elongated artisanal bricks." According to Dawanna Williams, managing principal at Dabar, "the facade is inspired by the historical masonry context of the surrounding blocks of Harlem." The two uppermost levels are cutaway from the corner resulting in a large recreational terrace for residents. As per plans filed with the DOB this past summer, floors 2-6 will contain six apartments each, while floors 7 and 8 will provide four units apiece.
More on the project
November 23, 2015

REVEALED: SHoP Architects’ Long Island City Waterfront Development

Here's our first peek at Simon Baron Development, Quadrum Global and CRE Development's three-tower Long Island City development slated to rise alongside the former Paragon Paint factory building at 45-40 Vernon Boulevard. Permits for the first tower were filed with the DOB back in June and detail a 28-story, 296-unit rental tower designed by SHoP Architects. The tower is part of a larger master plan that will revamp the eastern extents of the Anable Basin inlet with a waterfront esplanade and bring an additional 14-story residential tower at 45-24 Vernon Boulevard and an eight story building along 45th Road. As per the renderings provided by SHoP, the design of the two lower towers is consistent with many of the firm's recent New York City projects and feature copper-clad, orderly bases yielding to playful facades of angled projecting windows. The central tower partially rises from within the rear section of the Paragon Paint factory building and its form will be a sheer 300-foot glass prism creased along each elevation to better capture sweeping views of the East River and Manhattan skyline.
More details ahead
November 22, 2015

Revealed: Boutique Condos Coming to 231 West 26th Street in Chelsea

Here's our first look at a seven-unit boutique condominium slated for a mid-block site at 231 West 26th Street in northern Chelsea. The developer is the New York-based Azimuth Development Group who plans to supersize the existing four-story building between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Permits were filed and approved earlier this year and DOB signs have already been posted on the doorway. The 24-foot addition will blot out a few floors of lot-line windows of the adjacent co-op 233 West 26th Street, where a three-bedroom home is on the market for $4.5 million, a price that will likely be similar to its new neighbor.
More details ahead
November 19, 2015

Permits Filed to Demolish a String of Buildings Near Gramercy Park for New Condo

Alfa Development has filed plans with the Department of Buildings to demolish a string of low-rise buildings huddled near the northeast corner of East 21st Street and Third Avenue. The development team led by Michael Namer is known for its environmentally conscious downtown condo towers, which include Chelsea Green, Village Green, and Village Green West. Now, Alfa appears set on sprinkling some of their sustainable magic on a corner-site in Gramercy that could hold a tower of more than 90,000 square feet and rise up to 210 feet tall. Last month, Alfa purchased the the four-building development site from Kevin Maloney’s Property Markets Group and Apex Investments for $69.6 million. The previous owners had planned to build a 25-unit affordable housing building to generate 40,000 square feet of bonus square footage for an undisclosed luxury development, but instead chose to sell the site to focus on other projects.
More details ahead
November 16, 2015

New Renderings of SuperPier: Google’s New NYC Digs + Bourdain Food Market To Arrive in 2018

Last month at the Municipal Arts Society's (MAS) 2015 Summit for NYC, Seth Pinsky, executive vice president at RXR Realty, shared a presentation regarding the development of the long-planned rehabilitation and conversion of Pier 57 aka "SuperPier." In addition to some new looks at the project, he revealed that the developers have largely secured financing and are finalizing talks with the Hudson River Park Trust. RXR are co-developing the project with Young Woo & Associates, and Handel Architects and !Melk Landscape Architecture and Urban Design are the commissioned designers. According to Pinsky, the 450,000-square-foot development will invest $350 million of private capital to redevelop the structure, and in return create hundreds of jobs, generate millions of dollars of revenue for the Hudson River Park Trust, and create a new destination for New Yorkers and visitors alike. The former NYCEDC head confirmed that the project will include 250,000 square feet of office space for a major technology company [Google], a 170,000-square-foot food and retail market [Anthony Bourdain], and an elevated park with an outdoor movie and performance amphitheater on the roof to be used for screenings for the Tribeca Film Festival. He also noted construction will begin during the first half of next year, with completion aimed for early 2018.
Lots more renderings and details ahead
November 13, 2015

Construction Update: 45 East 22nd Street, Flatiron’s Future Tallest Tower, Gets Glassed

The emerald glass skin of Ian Bruce Eichner’s 45 East 22nd Street has begun its rise. The 777-foot-tall tower's structure is more than halfway up and the development team recently announced that sales have already surpassed the 50 percent mark. The svelte spire designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), sports a granite base with a sculptural glass tower that gradually broadens as it ascends. The architects have said that the juxtaposition between the base and tower stems from a difference of opinion between the developer and architects. Originally, KPF proposed an all-glass tower, which Eichner felt would too strongly clash with the masonry aesthetic of the Flatiron District. Ultimately, KPF embraced a stone base and a team was sent to China to select and procure each granite piece that would be arranged in an irregular and non-linear fashion.
See more right this way
November 12, 2015

VIDEO: What It’s Like to Pull Into a $1 Million Parking Spot at Annabelle Selldorf’s 42 Crosby

Soho's 42 Crosby Street left us all astounded last year when it was revealed that each of its ten on-site parking spaces would be priced at one-million dollars a pop. On a per square foot basis, the 200-square-foot rectangles will fetch more than the three-bedroom condominiums upstairs. The cool modernists at Selldorf Architects designed the 111-foot tall building, which is now finally getting its layered facade of metal and glass. We admit, the exterior is not nearly as exciting as what's depicted in the renderings, but remember, it's not yet finished! So while we await Selldorf's magic to fully brew, watch this terrific film created by VUW Studio, which shows what it feels like to be that lucky automobile coming home to its seven-figure parking spot.
Watch the envy-inducing video in its entirety here
November 11, 2015

432 Park in Numbers: New Renderings and Superlatives Will Blow You Away

Now that Macklowe Properties'/CIM Group's 432 Park Avenue is nearing completion, with occupancy slated to begin in mid-2016 and 70 percent of units reportedly in contract, the development's marketing and branding agency DBOX has released a bevy of never-before-seen images of our skyline's newest icon. Being the tower of superlatives it is, it comes as no surprise that it boasts a marketing campaign to match. Employing sky-cams, drone photography, a million-dollar film, and breath-taking renderings and photography, 432 Park has perhaps the most elaborate promotional campaign ever conceived for a Manhattan condominium. With dozens of spectacular images to choose from, we hand picked a few to recap the development of this monumental supertower. We've also put together a timeline in numbers–from its record breaking height to its 1,200-pound marble sinks–to illustrate the extraordinary undertaking  that has paved the way for the tower to become the most successful and desirable condominium ever erected in the city (sorry One57).
See it all right here
November 11, 2015

Could This 19-Story Tower Replace Two Beloved Kips Bay Businesses?

The busy architects over at Issac & Stern posted on their website an image of a yet-to-be-built 19-story tower at 378-380 Third Avenue in Kips Bay. Their page indicates the building will be residential and commercial and will encompass approximately 61,000 square feet of floor area. The development would replace two existing five-story walk-ups that each contain well-regarded drinking and eating establishments. The ground floor of 378 Third Avenue is occupied by the east side branch of the highly rated Italian restaurant Coppola’s Trattoria, and next door at 380 Third Avenue, the ground floor is occupied by the bar Tavern on Third, which hails itself as one of the best Chicago Bears bar in New York City.
More details ahead
November 8, 2015

Morris Adjmi’s 465 Pacific Street Now 50 Percent in Contract

Just one month after kicking off sales, Boerum Hill's hottest new condominium development, 465 Pacific Street has already signed half of its 30 units into contract. Even more impressive is that the $55 million development is slated for completion some 18-months from now, with foundation pouring just commencing last month. The project is conceived by a partnership between Avery Hall Investments and ARIA Development Group who paid $18 million ($373 per buildable square foot) for the L-shaped lot in May 2013, a record for a large Brooklyn parcel according to Crain's New York.
more on the project
October 30, 2015

PBDW’s Nomad Hotel Prepares for 20-Story Addition to Historic McKim Mead & White Building

Alex Ohebshalom’s Empire Management may finally be moving forward with plans to convert a McKim Mead & White-designed bank building at 250 Fifth Avenue and construct a 21-story hotel-tower behind. The project is the latest to join Nomad's recent hotel boom that has produced the Ace Hotel, Nomad Hotel, Flatiron Hotel, and the upcoming Virgin Hotel. While building permits filed in July have yet to be approved, the existing six-story building recently cleared out its retail tenants, and its upper office floors now appear empty. Since the site lies within the Madison Square North Historic District, the owners, under the LLC Quartz Associates, had to secure approvals from both Community Board 5 and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. With a proven track-record of steering projects in historically sensitive areas towards approval, architects Platt Byard Dovell White were commissioned. PBDW uncovered that a mid-rise loft building was once proposed for the site and this evidence allowed for LPC to more seriously consider a taller addition to the 1907, palazzo-like building designed for Second National Bank.
Find out more
October 29, 2015

Times Square’s Marriott EDITION Hotel Breaks Ground, Will Boast 76,000SF of Food Space

Earlier this week, the five-star Marriott EDITION hotel, slated to tower over Duffy Square, broke ground. The 39-story, 517-foot tall building is being developed by a partnership between the Witkoff Group, Howard Lorber’s New Valley LLC, Winthrop Realty Trust, and Maefield Development. Going by the invented address of 20 Times Square (701 Seventh Avenue), the 370,000-square-foot tower will be the first hotel to rise directly along the Square's "bow-tie" area since Gary Barnett opened the W Times Square in 2000. Taking full advantage of its coveted, highly-trafficked location, the project will contain 76,000 square feet of retail and food and beverage space, as well as an outdoor roof terrace. Its six-story podium anchors the northeast corner of 47th Street and Seventh Avenue and will be wrapped by a 120-foot-tall, 18,000-square-foot LED display, which according to the Witkoff Group, "will be one of the largest and most technologically advanced in the world today."
More details and renderings ahead
October 29, 2015

REVEALED: 26-Story, LEED-Certified Hotel Coming to the Financial District

Here's our first look at Tribeca Associates upcoming 26-story hotel at 143 Fulton Street in the Financial District, where demolition at the site is already underway. The 90,000- square-foot tower designed by SLCE Architects will contain 228 rooms, ground-level retail, and typical hotel amenities such as a fitness center and a bar/lounge on the third floor. Hotel suites, found on floors 5 through 25, average ten per floor. The building will also seek LEED accreditation.
More details