Brooklyn

This four-story Carroll Gardens townhouse is impressive from the get-go. Located at 356 President Street, in a historic district, the 1869 home boasts a facade with an arched doorway, the original paneled doors and Italianate cast iron hand railings, and an impressive cornice. Inside, the historic details were recently restored, like eight fireplaces—five with ornate marble mantels—plaster moldings and ceiling medallions, decorative trim, and the original wood floors. On top of that, the backyard was redone by a landscape architect to include built-in seating and a bluestone patio. After all those upgrades, the impressive property just hit the market for a little over $4 million.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

October 10, 2016

New $3.3M Park Slope townhouse is a modern take on timeless design

It’s hardly breaking news that new construction townhouses are among the most popular architecturally significant ideas that developers are offering luxury buyers; a few are probably headed for a construction site near you. With all the enchantments of a modern house in the desert, woods or suburbs–and all the conveniences and innovations of Brooklyn’s Park Slope, this 2,256-square-foot home at 253 8th Street is the latest of such offerings in a section of the Slope generally better known for innovation than preservation.
Take a contemporary townhouse tour

Distinctive Homes

October 7, 2016

41 affordable units up for grabs in Williamsburg, starting at $788/month

The city's latest affordable housing lottery is for 41 apartments in a newly constructed Williamsburg building just two blocks east of McCarren Park. A project of Dunn Development, the Meekerman is the second development in the state completed under the LIHC Mixed-Income Pilot Program, and it provides housing for those earning less than 40, 50, 60, and 80 percent of the area median income. Rents in the energy efficient building--it employs high-performance systems and appliances, as well as solar panels--range from $788/month for studios to $1,403/month for two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Developer of the world’s tallest prefab tower in Brooklyn is exiting the modular business

Image via Field Condition

October 6, 2016

Developer of the world’s tallest prefab tower in Brooklyn is exiting the modular business

After boasting that it had “cracked the code” on modular construction, with plans for a Brooklyn factory, developer Forest City Ratner is exiting the prefab building business, reports the New York Times. The factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard will be sold to Roger Krulak, a former Forest City executive, along with the technology used to construct the world's tallest prefabricated steel structure, the 32-story 461 Dean Street in the Pacific Park complex in Brooklyn. Construction on the building has just been completed and 461 Dean is weeks from getting its first residents.
Find out more

Architecture And Design

October 5, 2016

Macro Sea’s David Belt takes us inside New Lab, an 84,000-square-foot thinkspace in the Navy Yard

By Diane Pham

The Brooklyn Navy Yard has since its inception acted as a pole for the cutting edge and creative, from its time as the "The Can-Do Shipyard" where U.S. warships assembled, to present day as urban farmers, photographers and filmmakers carve out spaces for themselves on the campus' more than 300 acres. But the latest most notable addition to the Navy Yard is most certainly New Lab. New Lab is the creation of Macro Sea (who many will remember brought dumpster pools to NYC a few years ago) and is a revolutionary hub that turns an 84,000-square-foot former shipping building into a thinkspace for nearly 300 engineers and entrepreneurs working in advanced hardware and robotics. Here, members whose work include everything from designing nano microscopes to using synthetic biology to engineer cities can take their ideas from concept to prototype to production under one roof. It's what the founders are calling "a breakthrough ecosystem of shared resources." In this 6sqft feature, we speak to New Lab's co-founder and Macro Sea Executive Director and founder David Belt. David is also the founder and Managing Partner of DBI, which is currently managing the realization of the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, amongst other high-profile projects around the city. Ahead, he takes us through the new facility and gives us some intel on what inspired the design, the cutting edge companies that have taken up space, and what he ultimately hopes to achieve with New Lab.
Learn more about New Lab with David here

October 5, 2016

$2.65M laid-back Carroll Gardens townhouse has historic charm and crayon-box cool

This unassuming townhouse at 189 Luquer Street starts out with the advantage of being in a particularly cool little section of otherwise postcard-perfect Carroll Gardens, near Gowanus and the Columbia Street Waterfront without being a hike to the subway and steps from some of the best restaurants in the borough (Buttermilk Channel, Frankie's). While the home may not be palatial at 1,848 square feet, there are four bedrooms and a lovely outdoor space. It's move-in-ready if not decked out in marble and European kitchen gear, and the current owners clearly know the value of colorful surroundings. Rather than the usual shades of pale, crayola colors wake the bedrooms from boredom, and bright pops of red and riots of pattern appear in unexpected places
Tour the rainbow

Distinctive Homes

October 4, 2016

New York Wheel’s four 500-ton legs arrive in New York harbor

Despite its opening being pushed to April 2018, the New York Wheel is marking a major milestone--the arrival of its first physical components. According to a press release, the Staten Island Ferris wheel's four legs arrive today to the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT). When complete, the 60-story, 630-foot wheel will be the world’s tallest, so it makes sense that each leg weighs in at a whopping 500 tons and measures 18 feet wide and 275 feet tall.
See more photos this way

Uncategorized

October 3, 2016

Artist brings 4,000 redwood trees to Downtown Brooklyn

A big green sign that greets drivers from Manhattan coming over the Williamsburg Bridge reads, "Name It...We Got It!" Among the many things to which the borough can now lay claim: A dense grove of 4,000 redwood trees in the middle of Downtown Brooklyn's Metrotech Commons. It's this unlikely juxtaposition that has brought the trees, with roots in prehistoric times and known to grow bigger than the Flatiron Building and longer than the Brooklyn Bridge, to this spot steps from Shake Shack. The mini-redwood forest is called "Lost Man Creek," an art installation by Brooklyn-based artist Spencer Finch that opened on October 1. It's a scaled-down (to one hundredth the size) replica of a 790-acre section of California's Redwood National Park, planted in partnership with the Save the Redwoods League.
See more of this magical mini-forest

Events & Things To Do

September 30, 2016

Darling one-bedroom townhouse flat in Greenpoint asks just $660K

It's hard not to fall for Greenpoint's mix of waterfront loft energy and quaint, leafy old-school ethnic enclave. On a typically twee and tree-lined block in a prime spot between McCarren and McGolrick Parks, this one-bedroom-with-possibilities co-op at 100 Newel Street, asking $660K, is on the parlor floor of a totally charming building and has great prewar bones; the 800-square-foot apartment's layout, though, is somewhat in need of an update.
READ MORE

Distinctive Homes

September 29, 2016

Brooklyn ‘eco triplex’ with natural swimming pool and green roof renting for $1,400/night

This Carroll Gardens townhouse may be the only one in Brooklyn that lays claim to a "natural" swimming pool in its backyard. It was renovated with eco-friendly features in mind and you can experience it yourself through Airbnb for $1,395 a night. Three floors overlook ecologically landscaped gardens and water features that include a natural pond with native fish and turtles. Atop the house is a green roof with its own pergola. And inside, the home is decked out with antique wood floors, clay walls, and large sunny rooms with views of the surrounding greenery.
Check out the interior

September 29, 2016

Matt Damon checks out Brooklyn’s most expensive house, a Brooklyn Heights mansion with a mayoral past

By Annie Doge

Way back in February 2015, 3 Pierrepont Place hit the market for $40 million, making it Brooklyn's most expensive listing ever. The Brooklyn Heights Promenade mansion boasts 17,500 square feet, 15 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, and more than 9,000 square feet of garden and outdoor space, in addition to a wealth of period details. Plus it comes with a bit of historic pedigree; it was built in 1857 as the Low Mansion for businessman A.A. Low, whose son, Seth Low, became mayor of Brooklyn, mayor of New York City in 1902, and president of Columbia. Perhaps it's all these bragging rights that attracted Matt Damon, as the Post reports that he and wife Luciana Barroso recently toured the grand property.
See the entire mansion

September 28, 2016

Not too big, not too small, turnkey Prospect-Lefferts townhouse is just right–and just $1.95M

On a quiet block of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens--lined with similar round-fronted row houses and low-rise brick apartments--this thoughtfully-renovated, 20-foot-wide limestone townhouse is move-in ready, no contractor required. Asking $1.95 million, 176 Lefferts Avenue changed hands in 2014 for $1.6 million, and just before that in 2013 for $830,000 to a local developer–so you can see how much property values in this neighborhood have changed in recent years. Though the home has been renovated for use as a one-family, it's legally a two-family if you wanted to take advantage of the income–or other expansion–potential.
Explore all three floors

Distinctive Homes

September 28, 2016

Modern Williamsburg condo with its own fire pit asks $1.89M

With its giant windows and 808-square-foot landscaped backyard, this Williamsburg condo marries indoor and outdoor space quite well. Located at 550 Grand Street, the two-bedroom duplex spans over 1,500 square feet and has just hit the market for nearly $2 million. Big windows that front the backyard bring a tremendous amount of light into the pad, including the lower-level bedroom area. And although 550 Grand is an older brick building, the interior has been completely redone with a modern, sleek aesthetic.
See more of the duplex

Distinctive Homes

September 27, 2016

More luxury condos may head to Billionaire’s Row as office tenants are vacated across from One57

Recent reports that the luxury housing market is slowing down may soon be dismissing Billionaires' Row, where several sites are in question to add to the strip's uber-high end array of residential offerings. The latest is at 140 West 57th Street, the Feil Organization's office tower right across from One57. The Post tells us that leases are not being renewed for tenants in the 14-story, landmarked building, where the developer "is said to have already drawn up floor plans for apartments."
The full story ahead

New Developments

September 26, 2016

Landmarked church in Boerum Hill gets transformed into a modern-industrial home

By Rebecca Paul

This landmark-district building in Boerum Hill was most recently a church, and before that a warehouse. The design team at Delson or Sherman Architects recently led the conversion of the property into a modern home that pays homage to both of these former incarnations by leaving raw materials visible while creating a bright and open floorplan.
See the whole space

Distinctive Homes

My 4000sqft: Inside artist Chad Lewine’s ‘minimal-vibrant’ Brooklyn Navy Yard 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 massive live/work space of a multi-disciplinary artist and designer in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

September 26, 2016

My 4000sqft: Inside artist Chad Lewine’s ‘minimal-vibrant’ Brooklyn Navy Yard loft

By Diane Pham

The artists lofts romanticized by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock are long gone in neighborhoods like the East Village and Soho, but if you turn your gaze across the East River to Brooklyn, you'll find that these spaces are far less elusive; Just have a look at the home of multi-disciplinary artist Chad Lewine. One year ago, Chad, a serial loft-liver, went house hunting deep within the Brooklyn Navy Yard and came across a building filled with working artists. At first he took up a room on the top floor of the four-story structure, but shortly after migrated to the second floor where he now shares an incredible 4,000 square feet with a fellow creative. In addition to providing Chad with a place to rest his head at night, the vast full-floor apartment also serves as an office, production studio, painter's workshop, photo studio, party pad and a place to experiment with what he calls his "minimal-vibrant" style. As Chad says, "I've been on the hunt for this kind of space all my New York City life."
take a tour of the space here

September 26, 2016

‘House of Cards’ and ‘The Strain’ actor Corey Stoll buys $2.4M Windsor Terrace townhouse

By Annie Doge

Native Upper West Sider and actor Corey Stoll--best known for his Golden Globe-nominated role as Congressman Peter Russo on "House of Cards" and for playing Dr. Ephraim Goodweather on "The Strain"--has a new Windsor Terrace townhouse, according to LL NYC. He and his wife, Broadway actress Nadia Bowers, dropped $2.4 million on the charming and quaint home, which was recently renovated and is just one block from Prospect Park.
Take a tour

September 23, 2016

Greenpoint row house features two-story kitchen and bone-dry wine cellar

By Rebecca Paul

The renovation of this row house, located in Greenpoint's landmarked historic district, was an inspired project right from the get go. The owner's original intention was to sell the home on account of its unstable structure, seasonal flooding, vinyl siding and asbestos laden facade. However, the team at Delson or Sherman Architects convinced them to give the property an architectural facelift instead. From the front facade to the backyard, the property has been majorly upgraded with some beautiful additions including a two-story kitchen and wine cellar.
READ MORE

Architecture And Design

September 23, 2016

Gorgeous woodwork abounds at this $1.25M prewar co-op in Prospect Heights

Intricate, carved woodwork is one of those details that you'll never find in new developments. A relic of the past, it can also be one of the most stunning features of an apartment. That's the case for this three-bedroom co-op, now on the market for $1.25 million, at 560 Dean Street in Prospect Heights. Separating the formal living and dining rooms is an impressive ornamental wood transom. It's paired with other prewar details like a decorative fireplace, the original wood mantle and oak flooring laid in a unique diagonal pattern. It's true what they say, they don't make 'em like they used to...
See all the prewar features

Distinctive Homes

September 22, 2016

Unleash your inner foodie at this year’s Taste of Red Hook

By Metro New York

Ten years ago, five or six new restaurants brought their food to a house in Brooklyn. Less than 100 people bought tickets for a tasting of the new businesses wares. More than $10,000 was raised for the Red Hook Initiative, a community nonprofit. It was a success. This year, tickets for the Taste of Red Hook are on […]

Events & Things To Do

September 21, 2016

Adorable 400-square-foot Park Slope studio asks just $335K

Who says you can't pack a lot of charm into 400 square feet? That's the size of this Park Slope studio, at 144 Park Place, now on the market for a reasonable $335,000. Located in a four-story, six-unit brownstone, the co-op apartment doesn't feel cramped thanks to pre-war details like high ceilings and wide archways. The original moldings and wood floors don't look bad, either.
Here's a look

Distinctive Homes

September 20, 2016

Fort Greene brownstone from ‘Girls’ looks even better in real life, asks $5.6M

Remember that season on Girls where Lena Dunham's character falls for a handsome doctor with a gorgeous, pristine renovated brownstone? The townhouse that hosted those episodes is, in fact, the same 5,600-square-foot landmarked home that just hit the market for $5.6 million. Located at 52 Oxford Street in leafy, historic Fort Greene, it's currently owned by actor, screenwriter, and sometimes interior designer, Billy Morrissette, and according to the listing, also did star turns on Elementary, SNL and Difficult People. But the five-story 19th-century beauty with thoughtfully chosen and luxurious finishes, a sprawling deck, a deep landscaped yard and an industrial-chic glass-walled sun room has plenty of star power even when the cameras aren't rolling.
Tour all five star-quality stories of townhouse glory

September 19, 2016

Stay in NYC’s first shipping container home in Williamsburg for $96/night

There's plenty of cool shipping container architecture that's popped up around the city in recent years, from a retrofitted carriage house to the home of a radio station. But the title of first (legal) home built entirely of recycled containers goes to this architectural gem in Williamsburg, made of six stacked containers totaling 1,600 square feet. The lovely, 320-square-foot ground-floor apartment is now up for rent through Airbnb for a surprisingly affordable $96/night.
See the whole place

September 16, 2016

Historic and possibly haunted mansion near Navy Yard is priced to scare at $4.5 million

Though we can see how the otherwise potential-filled historic–and allegedly haunted–Lefferts-Laidlaw mansion at 136 Clinton Avenue in the Clinton Hill/Navy Yard/Wallabout neighborhood may terrify prospective buyers with an ask of $4.499 million, an 1878 New York Times account describes the persistent and mysterious ring-and-run situation that apparently plagued the home’s then-resident, Edward F. Smith. Neither crafty attempts to discover who was responsible for “doorbells rung, doors rattled" on a nightly basis and a brick hurled through a window, nor police intervention could produce a culprit. The house became a fixture on the map of spiritualists who held seances on the sidewalk. Locals suggested the pesky poltergeist might be either a lawyer who had committed suicide on the premises, or, as Mr. Smith suggested (possibly with some sarcasm attached as it was, after all, Brooklyn), Satan.
Does this house look spooky to you?

September 16, 2016

Saudi billionaire seals the deal on the city’s highest home for record $88M