Brooklyn

You don't hear much about the "townhouse alternative," as homeowners are more focused on the space and freedom of having a house, even if it's a small "condo alternative." But this high-floor, graciously arranged and elegantly detailed pre-war condominium at the park's edge in prime Park Slope asking $1.895 million has as much living space as a small house, without the stairs and expensive repairs. The three-bedroom home at 163 Prospect Park West also boasts a collection of subtle, sophisticated renovations–like concrete sinks in the master bath and dark, elegant walls in the den.
Tour this most satisfying apartment

April 19, 2017

Cobble Hill brownstone rental asks $8,500/month after a modern renovation

This may be a traditional Brooklyn brownstone on the outside, but the duplex rental occupying its parlor and garden floors looks as modern as it gets. The home, located at 284 Warren Street in Cobble Hill, underwent a gut renovation in 2007 and has been occupied by the same owner ever since. They're now renting out the bottom two floors for $8,500 a month, and any new renter is going to like one thing in particular, especially with summer coming up--a double-height wall of glass that frames the private, stone-paved backyard.
This way for a tour

Distinctive Homes

April 19, 2017

10 chances to live in hip East Williamsburg from $833/month

This rental building at 66 Ainslie Street may look like your quintessential warehouse conversion, but it was actually built from the ground up last year, designed by Aufgang Architects to blend in with East Williamsburg's trendy industrial vibe. Of its 50 apartments, 10 are reserved for those earning 60 percent of the area median income. These units include two $833/month studios and eight $895/month one-bedrooms and, as of tomorrow, are up for grabs through the city's affordable housing lottery.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

April 19, 2017

This bold corner loft will remind you of Williamsburg’s early artist outpost days

The 1,800-square-foot pre-war loft in the Northside Arts Industries Condominium is as classic as it gets, with impossibly high ceilings, exposed brick, wood beams and pipes and a flexible layout. The New York Times tells us that the building was developed back in 1983, when the neighborhood's north side was a burned-out jumble of factories, ethnic enclaves and a smattering of artists. The latter had come to escape Soho rents, taking over abandoned factories and warehouses and paying rents that averaged around $550 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. In 1986, a loft space in the building could be rented for $5 a square foot. Today, a sprawling home at 119 North 11th Street asks $8,500 a month ($57 a foot) and the trendy and amenity-packed neighborhood's artists have (mostly) escaped eastward once again.
Find out more about this totally 21st century loft

Distinctive Homes

April 17, 2017

$3.5M South Slope townhouse has incredible custom wall coverings and a home theater

Located just one block from Park Slope's 5th Avenue hub, a beautiful, Miles Redd-designed townhouse is listed for $3,495,000. The South Slope home at 258 11th Street has been totally renovated and rebuilt, with custom wall coverings and custom-mixed Farrow & Ball paint, but it still boasts that Brooklyn brownstone charm. Plus, the 3,334-square-foot beauty has four bedrooms, a moody home theater, and a magical private garden.
See the Park Slope townhome

Distinctive Homes

April 16, 2017

Dreamy duplex in a 19th century Boerum Hill townhouse asks $6,100/month

If you love the historic aesthetic of the Brooklyn brownstone, this Boerum Hill duplex will charm you. It's located on the top two floors of 433 Pacific Street, a 19th century rowhouse that's well intact. Any renter willing to pay $6,100 a month will have the benefit of living alongside two working fireplaces with marble mantlepieces, refinsihed original wide-plank floors and the original moldings. The listing says the space boasts "wonderful character," and we can't disagree.
Take the interior tour

Distinctive Homes

April 14, 2017

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC’s rental concessions

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): 3 Journal Square, Stuyvesant Town, 253 West 72nd Street, Myrtle & Steuben 2 Months Free at New Hell’s Kitchen Rental [link] 1 Month Free at West 72nd Street Prewar [link] StuyTown Offering $3,600 Move-In Bonus Until April 16th [link] 1 Month Free at Newly Launched Clinton Hill Rental [link] Renovated Rentals […]

Real Estate Trends

April 13, 2017

Increased demand and new condos leads to record home sale prices in Brooklyn and Queens

Once enticing New Yorkers with their cheaper rents and mortgages, the outer boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens have set record sales prices during the first quarter of the year. As reported by Crain’s, Brooklyn had a record-setting median sale price of $770,000, more than 16 percent higher than last year. This was driven by an increase in sales activity, with nearly 50 percent more transactions taking place this quarter compared with the beginning of 2016. In Queens, the median sale price was $485,000, but one- to three-family homes set a new record with both average ($697,946) and median ($650,000) sales.
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

My 1400sqft: Inside creative couple Molly Young and Teddy Blanks’ perfectly outfitted Williamsburg loft

Our ongoing series “My sqft” checks out the homes of 6sqft’s friends, family and fellow New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to the Williamsburg loft of Molly Young and Teddy Blanks. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

April 12, 2017

My 1400sqft: Inside creative couple Molly Young and Teddy Blanks’ perfectly outfitted Williamsburg loft

By Diane Pham

Melding belongings is often a struggle for couples who take the leap and move in together. Many fear that their individuality will be lost to their partner’s vision, personal items packed away because there’s “just not enough room.” But for Molly Young, a New York Times Magazine contributor and crossword puzzle creator, and Teddy Blanks, a graphic designer and director, checking one’s ego and a co-regent rule are key to creativity and authenticity in the home. In this week's My sqft, Molly and Teddy bring us into their incredible 1400-square-foot loft, a hidden gem situated within an innocuous factory building along an even more innocuous Williamsburg street. Filled with color, whimsical artwork, and quirky objects procured everywhere from eBay to Etsy to a failed Sotheby's auction, this pair's apartment reveals that cohabitation can and should be a co-creative adventure that both inspires and amuses.
go inside molly and teddy's home

April 12, 2017

Astoria, Morningside Heights and Bay Ridge have highest turnover of rent-stabilized apartments

Scoring a rent-stabilized apartment is a big win in New York City, as these regulated pads usually offer rent at below-market rates and provide tenants more protections against landlords. While more than 925,000 rent-stabilized apartments still exist in the city, these units turn over at a faster rate in certain neighborhoods than others, and their availability continues to dwindle (h/t WYNC). According to a new report by the city’s Independent Budget Office (IBO), the neighborhoods of Astoria, Morningside Heights and Bay Ridge all have high concentrations of rent-regulated housing built prior to 1974 and therefore, higher rates of turnover compared to other parts of the city.
Find out more

April 12, 2017

Skyscraper proposal drapes Billionaires’ Row tower with flexible materials

Yesterday, 6sqft shared a proposal for an inside-out Midtown tower that received an honorable mention in Evolo's 2017 Skyscraper Competition. Another that made the list is the Flexible Materials Skyscraper, an idea for a Billionaires' Row supertall with an exterior made of a new material that can be folded, cut, sewed, and turned over, falling into a pattern. The designers called it “draping,” and hope building skyscrapers with flexible materials will allow architects to explore a new model of building while also cutting down on the construction process.
See renderings of the skyscraper

Architecture And Design

April 11, 2017

Contest winners suggest a car-free 14th Street with shuttles and bike lanes during L train shutdown

Advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has been trying to stay focused on grounded solutions–literally, as opposed to the tunnel and skyway ideas that are also being discussed–to mitigate the anticipated possible chaos when the dreaded 15-month L train shutdown hits. The organization is aiming for the ear of the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the MTA which control street design and bus expansion, respectively. The group recently held an "L-ternative" contest seeking pedestrian-centered proposals for main transit corridors along the L line, such as 14th street, Gothamist reports. The winning proposal, called 14TH ST.OPS, imagines a (car) traffic-free 14th Street with a six-stop shuttle bus using dedicated lanes, plus protected bike lanes.
Check out the winning post-L-Train vision

April 11, 2017

$4.5M multi-family townhouse in Williamsburg boasts glass walls and a floating staircase

This multi-family townhouse in Williamsburg, at 455 Grand Street, offers a buyer plenty of opportunities to get creative. It is currently configured with a ground floor commercial space, a basement recording studio, an owners loft, and rental apartments above. The listing suggests it could be transformed into a massive single-family property, or the zoning even allows you to build an extra floor. The current home, however, is full of cool details, like glass walls, lots of exposed brick and a floating staircase that leads you to a sleeping loft.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

April 10, 2017

Lotto opens for Bushwick church conversion, 20 units available from $822/month

It's been two years since Cayuga Capital's "horizontal addition" to the former St. Mark’s Lutheran School and Evangelical Church in Bushwick topped out, and now the 20 affordable apartments at the site are up for grabs through the city's housing lottery. The new, seven-story structure, along with the preserved 1890 Victorian Gothic church, and four-story former school building in between, will offer 99 rentals in total and have been dubbed The Saint Marks. The below-market rate units range from an $822/month studio to $1,071/month two-bedrooms, available to individuals earning 60 percent of the area median income.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

April 7, 2017

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC’s rental concessions

By Ondel Hylton

Live in a Former Tootsie Roll Factory with 1 Month of Free Rent [link] Grand Opening of Related Companies’ New Hudson Square Rental at 261 Hudson Street [link] American Copper Buildings Begin to Welcome First Residents [link] Two Months of Free Rent at Park West Village, Only One Block from Central Park [link] Upper West […]

Real Estate Trends

April 5, 2017

Plans revealed for new creative office hub above revamped Downtown Brooklyn Macy’s

Tishman Speyer has released plans for the 422 Fulton Street Macy's renovation that will turn a new 10-story space above the department store into a 620,000 square foot creative office hub called The Wheeler. Reflecting a recent trend in snazzy work spaces that attract TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information) clients, the space will comprise "620,000 square feet of opportunity in the center of downtown Brooklyn," according to the developer. On offer will be the largest floor plates in Brooklyn with 15+ foot ceilings that "leave plenty of room for huge ideas," and a sprawling rooftop terrace, part of an acre of outdoor space that "provides fresh air for fresher thinking." There will also be 130 subterranean bike stations with lockers and showers for workers who bike to work.
Find out more

April 5, 2017

Habitat for Humanity will build 48 affordable homes for New Yorkers

In New York City, and the rest of the country, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find affordable housing. To combat this, the Habitat for Humanity NYC announced a plan to build affordable houses for buyers in Brooklyn and Queens. The organization, aimed at constructing quality housing for families in need, will bring 48 units of affordable homes to these boroughs by redeveloping abandoned or foreclosed properties. Since most of these homes have been left vacant for decades, many are run-down and have negatively impacted the surrounding neighborhoods. As Brick Underground learned, the city’s Housing Authority first acquired these properties and then sold them to Habitat for Humanity at $1 each.
Find out more

April 5, 2017

Where I Work: Go inside Square Roots’ futuristic shipping container farm in Bed-Stuy

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we take a tour of the Bed-Stuy urban farm Square Roots. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! In a Bed-Stuy parking lot, across from the Marcy Houses (you'll know this as Jay-Z's childhood home) and behind the hulking Pfizer Building, is an urban farming accelerator that's collectively producing the equivalent of a 20-acre farm. An assuming eye may see merely a collection of 10 shipping containers, but inside each of these is a hydroponic, climate-controlled farm growing GMO-free, spray-free, greens--"real food," as Square Roots calls it. The incubator opened just this past November, a response by co-founders Kimbal Musk (Yes, Elon's brother) and Tobias Peggs against the industrial food system as a way to bring local food to urban settings. Each vertical farm is run by its own entrepreneur who runs his or her own sustainable business, selling directly to consumers. 6sqft recently visited Square Roots, went inside entrepreneur Paul Philpott's farm, and chatted with Tobias about the evolution of the company, its larger goals, and how food culture is changing.
Take a tour of Square Roots and get the full story from Tobias

April 4, 2017

Noroof Architects’ Bed-Stuy porcHouse re-imagines the classic American front porch

By Rebecca Paul

"The great American front porch was just there, open and sociable, an unassigned part of the house that belonged to everyone and no one, a place for family and friends to pass the time," said architect Davida Rochlin in her essay "Home, Sweet Home." It was this idea that Brooklyn-based firm Noroof Architects kept in mind when redesigning this 1879 two-story, wood-frame home in Bed-Stuy. It was structurally sound and maintained original details like its covered porch with original cornice and trim, marble mantels, and carved stair balusters, but mechanically required a full gut renovation. To complete their "porcHouse" vision, Noroof added a two-story addition at the rear that they say "creates a kind of ‘interior portico.’"
See the whole place

Architecture And Design

April 4, 2017

Explore the homes of NYC’s notable writers with an audio-narrated tour

Some of the greatest literary giants of all time lived and wrote in New York City. In celebration of the 200th anniversary of HarperCollins, which was founded in NYC, the publishing company created an interactive walking tour map that narrates the history of each author as you walk (h/t DNAinfo). Just a few of the famed Big Apple authors include Harper Lee, Mark Twain, Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright.
Find out more

April 4, 2017

An upscale renovation transformed this $3.75M Williamsburg loft with a dramatic wall of glass

Gritty artist loft this is not--a high-end renovation for this pad in the Mill Building, located at 85-101 North 3rd Street in Williamsburg, left it feeling more like a luxury condo. (The $3.75 million price tag, too, befits a luxury listing.) While the former warehouse's exposed wood ceiling beams remain, new additions include a fancy kitchen with marble finishes, custom push button light switches throughout, and a sleek, glass-walled office space.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

April 4, 2017

The 10 best neighborhoods for New York City artists

Like most things in New York, creative communities come and ago as new development and rising rents force artists to move on to the next best, or cheaper neighborhood. While 6sqft found 'hoods like the Upper East Side, Harlem and Long Island City to be the best places for artists a few years back, we've updated our top-10 list to reflect the changing times. Ahead you'll find some areas you may expect--Sunset Park and Bushwick, for example, along with more up-and-coming artsy enclaves like Newark, Washington Heights, and the South Bronx.
The full list right this way

Massive high-rise complex with 900 apartments, retail, offices and schools coming to Downtown Brooklyn

View south down Flatbush Avenue

April 4, 2017

Massive high-rise complex with 900 apartments, retail, offices and schools coming to Downtown Brooklyn

Alloy Development announced plans to build a pair of towers at 80 Flatbush Avenue, a 61,000-square-foot parcel of land between Flatbush Avenue, Schermerhorn Street, Third Avenue and State Street. The developer–who, with the Department of Education, owns the land–has been selected by the city’s Educational Construction Fund to build the mixed-use complex as part of the redevelopment of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, which will move into one of the two new school buildings that will be part of the project. The second of the two will be a 350-seat elementary school. The project will also offer 900 apartments (200 of which will be affordable), a 15,000-square-foot cultural facility, 200,000 square feet of office space and 40,000 square feet of retail space.
Find out more about what's coming to the neighborhood

April 3, 2017

FREE RENT: Roundup of NYC’s latest rental concessions

By Ondel Hylton

Andre Kikoski-Designed Apartments in Chelsea Offer One Month Free & Discounted Deposits [link] Upscale Rentals in a Landmarked Building Offering Two Months Free [link] Hoboken’s New Rental 600 Harrison Now Leasing Spacious 1 to 3 Bedroom Apartments [link] Inspired Rentals at Leonard Pointe in Williamsburg Offering One Month of Free Rent [link] New Two-Bedroom Brooklyn […]

Real Estate Trends

April 3, 2017

$2.4M waterfront home in Mill Basin has its own pool, dock and jet ski ramp

Water lovers should fall in love with this freestanding home up for sale in Mill Basin, a neighborhood of South Brooklyn. Located at 2406 National Drive, it is directly off a deck with access to a boat slip, jet ski ramp and storage room. On top of that, the home has its very own built-in pool and hot tub. The 3,048-square-foot house, which holds a total of three bedrooms and two-and-two-half bathrooms, is now on the market for $2.395 million.
READ MORE

Distinctive Homes

April 3, 2017

Alexis Bittar, Clara Sunwoo ink leases at Industry City, bringing total fashion space to 350,000+ square feet