Architecture And Design

January 10, 2017

Construction update: FXFOWLE’s Circa Central Park nears the finish line

Last we heard from Circa Central Park, the circle-hugging Central Park north condo from architects FXFOWLE and developers Artimus, the lottery had launched for 10 affordable units in the building. Seven months later, with occupancy slated for this year and nearly all apartments sold, CityRealty stopped by the Harlem site to check on construction. They've shared some great views of the nearly-completed glass, metal, and brick facade, which utilizes "a brise soleil system of horizontal louvers and vertical fins" to reduce solar gain and add depth to the structure by highlighting them in bright colors.
More details ahead

January 9, 2017

Tower 28, Queens’ soon-to-be second-tallest residential building, gets new renderings

By Dana Schulz

When it's completed in March, Long Island City's Tower 28 (formerly 28 on 28th) will be the tallest residential building in Queens at 647 feet and 57 stories--that is, until it's taken over by the 66-story Court Square City View Tower nearby (this will also overtake the 673-foot 1 Court Square as the tallest overall building in the borough). Though its superlative will be short-lived, Heatherwood Communities' rental at 42-12 28th Street will still offer panoramic views, which new renderings from architects Hill West tell us will be taken in from a top-floor observatory, as well as a host of swanky amenities to "rival any vacation destination." According to CityRealty, the new exterior and interior views also come with news that leasing will begin in March, ranging from $1,900/month studios to $7,500/month three-bedrooms.
More renderings and details ahead

January 9, 2017

Built in Poland and shipped in pieces, NYC’s biggest modular hotel project is 55 percent complete

By Michelle Cohen

The 20-story, 300-room project at 185 Bowery was constructed in Poland and shipped to New York in 210 pieces. Owned by Dutch hotel developer/operator Citizen M with Brack Capital Real Estate, the high-rise hotel at 185 Bowery is more than half done, reports the Wall Street Journal. It will be the largest permanent modular hotel project ever in NYC. Modular construction is more common in Europe; the developer already has nine hotels up and running and 14 in the works. They’ve used the technique of stacking sealed, factory-made units containing finished hotel rooms on the majority of those projects.
Check out photos of the sealed hotel pods arriving

SOM reveals official rendering for American Bible Society-replacing condo-rental tower

The former American Bible Society building (L); SOM’s new design for 1865 Broadway (R)

January 6, 2017

SOM reveals official rendering for American Bible Society-replacing condo-rental tower

By Dana Schulz

In the fall of 2015, the American Bible Society moved from their long-time home at Broadway and 61st Street to Philadelphia. Their Columbus Circle/Lincoln Center headquarters was built in 1965 by architects Roy O. Allen Jr. and Donald C. Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who created a 12-story Brutalist structure that was the first in the city constructed with load-bearing, pre-cast concrete exterior walls. But with the institution's recent departure came the sale of the building at 1865 Broadway for $300 million to AvalonBay Communities. The developer returned to the original architectural firm to create a new condo-rental tower at the site, and CityRealty has now uncovered SOM's first official rendering of what will replace their former work, which, interestingly enough, harkens back to the Brutalist aesthetic.
Find out more this way

January 6, 2017

New renderings of Court Square City View Tower, Queens’ future tallest building

By Dana Schulz

When plans were originally filed in February 2016, the Long Island City skyscraper since dubbed Court Square City View Tower was set to reach 964 feet. In April, it got bumped up to supertall status at 984 feet, making it Queens' future tallest building. It's since been dropped to 66 stories, but according to a new project page from architects Hill West (formerly Goldstein Hill & West), it will still be Long Island City's tallest tower, and therefore the tallest in the borough. CityRealty first noticed the updated details, which come with the first true renderings of the 800-unit condominium at 23-15 44th Drive. In addition to 360-degree views of Manhattan, the tower will offer an all-glass curtainwall facade, a retail base, and a slew of corner-apartment balconies.
More details ahead

January 6, 2017

Before & After: 10 NYC blocks and enclaves transformed by pedestrian-friendly design

By Diane Pham

New York clocks in more steps on average than any other state in the country, and that number is most definitely skewed by New York City where more residents hit the pavement than the gas pedal. But in a town that's seemingly dominated by pedestrians, car culture maintains the right of way. According to Vision Zero, NYC's program to reduce traffic-related fatalities, being struck by a vehicle is the leading cause of injury-related death for children under 14, and the second leading cause for seniors. Providing more public space for pedestrians has become an increasing concern for the city over the last decade, and as such, a multitude of plans have been put forward to create sanctuaries from traffic or to reconfigure streets to keep people safe. But beyond preventing traffic accidents, by planting more trees, expanding sidewalks and bike paths, and installing seating, these urban renewal projects have also been key in promoting walking, biking, health and ultimately a more desirable and habitable New York City.
see more here

January 4, 2017

Mini Metros shrinks and simplifies 220 transit systems from around the world

By Dana Schulz

When D.C.-based graphic designer and transit enthusiast Peter Dovak tried his hand at creating a transportation-based app, he was taken by the clean, simple appearance of the icons he'd made for the navigation bar--small circles containing shrunken versions of metro or light rail systems. He's now designed them for 220 cities as part of his ongoing Mini Metros series, and made the colorful maps available as prints, mugs, and magnets.
Get a closer look

January 4, 2017

The Internet of Things: How our homes will know us better than we know them

By Cait Etherington

At the start of every new year, futurologists inform us of what the next 12 months might have in store. For 2017, there is widespread speculation that the Internet of Things will continue to reshape our lives and homes in profound and lasting ways. If you haven’t already familiarized yourself with the Internet of Things […]

January 4, 2017

Norman Foster’s 50 Hudson Yards will be city’s most expensive office building at $4B

By Dana Schulz

It's been less than a month since it was revealed that starchitect Norman Foster would be designing the Related Companies' and Oxford Properties Group's 50 Hudson Yards commercial tower, but the developers have already pegged the cost of the project at $3.94 billion, which will make it the city's most expensive office building, reports The Real Deal. The 985-foot tower, where BlackRock has already signed a 20-year lease for 15 floors, will surpass One Vanderbilt's projected $3.14 billion price tag and Bjarke Ingels' planned $3 billion+ High Line tower known as The Spiral, as well as One World Trade Center's current record of $3.8 billion.
Find out more

January 3, 2017

$40M Brooklyn Heights townhouse with a mayoral past is now four pricey rentals

By Michelle Cohen

After being on the market for over two years, Brooklyn’s priciest townhouse–a $40 million home at 3 Pierrepont Place–is now being offered as four rental units. 6sqft previously featured the home, known as the Low Mansion for the previous owner and businessman A.A. Low, whose son, Seth Low, became mayor of New York City in 1902. Spanning 17,500 square feet, the eight-figure townhouse boasted 15 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, and more than 9,000 square feet of garden and outdoor space with original details galore. Though even Matt Damon toured the grand Brooklyn Heights property back in September, the house hasn't found a buyer, so the owner is now offering the mansion as four luxurious rental homes from a $4,500 one-bedroom to a 1,700-square-foot top-floor unit for $12,000 a month (h/t Curbed).
Find out more

New renderings and details for Rafael Viñoly’s 125 Greenwich Street

By Dana Schulz

Construction at Rafael Viñoly’s slender skyscraper 125 Greenwich Street has reached street level, but as CityRealty uncovered, the tower that was slated to be taller than 1,000 feet over the summer (and previously 1,400 feet), is back down to 898 feet. Though this now makes it shorter than Fumihiko Maki’s 977-foot 4 World Trade Center one block north, fresh renderings show that the 88-story condo will still offer sweeping views of the city and harbor, which are shown for the first time from interior shots.
More views and details ahead

January 2, 2017

For $525K, this 1880 Dutchess County country house has a horse barn, a wood shop and a pond

By Michelle Cohen

If you owned this Dutchess County home, you’d never need to stay in a cute country inn; the historic Hyde Park/Pleasant Valley four-bedroom house resembles a quaint B&B from its outbuildings and pond to its cozy interiors (h/t CIRCA). Currently on the market for $525,000, 45 Marshall Road is about the most textbook example of an uncomplicated country home that we've seen in a while. And it might be just the thing for next year's Christmas card photo.
Explore the simple life

Secret Russian compound on Long Island shut down after Obama-issued sanctions

A Google Earth image of the property

December 30, 2016

Secret Russian compound on Long Island shut down after Obama-issued sanctions

By Dana Schulz

News of President Obama imposing sanctions against the two Russian intelligence agencies that were allegedly involved in the DNC hacking that affected the 2016 presidential election is perhaps the biggest news in the world right now, but it hits a lot closer to home than many New Yorkers may realize. The administration expelled 35 intelligence officials from the country and ordered two intelligence compounds closed, one of which is a 49-room mansion on a 14-acre property in Glen Cove on Long Island's ritzy Gold Coast (h/t Gothamist). NBC New York reports that, although the Soviet Union purchased it in 1951 to be used as weekend home for its UN delegates, many locals were never aware of its existence as a "longtime getaway for Russian diplomats" that was "also used for Russian intelligence purposes."
The full story

December 29, 2016

City eyes Gowanus Canal as the next ‘Little Venice’

By Michelle Cohen

Rezoning and the promise of public right-of-way on the west Brooklyn Superfund canal could bring an esplanade like Williamsburg’s, a recreation area and lots of new development. The light-industrial zone wedged between pricey Park Slope and Carroll Gardens hasn't accurately been a polluted flyover zone for decades, but the fact that it now boasts a flagship Whole Foods with a rooftop farm hasn't gone unnoticed. As 6sqft reported recently, the canal-side enclave, despite the sometimes-fragrant waterway in its midst, is on a par with its neighbors as one of the city's most expensive neighborhoods. Now Crain's tells of rezoning plans and lucrative developments that could open the door for a public esplanade and waterfront amenities like those along the Hudson and the East River.
Find out more about the Gowanus rezoning plans

December 28, 2016

Doc transforms from sofa to bunk beds with one swift motion

By Rebecca Paul

Sofa beds are convenient in nature and have become the norm for multi-purpose furniture, but a large flat bed is not always the best sleeping solution for multiple guests (or tiny apartments). Enter Doc, a cleverly designed sofa from Bonbon Trading that easily transforms from a contemporary, comfy sofa into stylish bunk beds with one simple motion.
Learn more here

December 27, 2016

Molekule: The first air purifier to use nano-technology to destroy indoor pollutants

By Rebecca Paul

Spending time outdoors is a beautiful thing, however, Americans on average spend 90 percent of their time indoors. What's more is that the air we breathe inside can be five times more polluted than what's outside. Indeed, indoor air can harbor everything from pollen to pet dander and dust, to more harmful things like mold, bacteria and viruses. While plenty of air filters have been designed to catch these pollutants, none of them have the ability to eliminate them—until now. Molekule is being called the first "molecular" air purifier, and it uses nano-technology to completely eliminate airborne contaminants.
READ MORE

December 22, 2016

Historic upstate farmstead offers a dairy barn, yoga studio, and luxe main house for $2M

By Emily Nonko

This 18th century farmstead, known as Spy Hill, is historic on the outside but has been renovated with modern, luxurious finishes inside. Located upstate in Brewster, New York, it's on the market for $1.95 million, CIRCA tell us. There's the main house, decked out with fireplaces, a large outdoor terrace with a covered veranda, as well as a guest house, three-level dairy barn, workshop, yoga studio, green house and heated in-ground pool and spa, all over four acres. Talk about an impressive property.
Now take the tour

December 22, 2016

Live in one of Manhattan’s rare rooftop cabins for $4,200 a month

By Michelle Cohen

Here's another tiny, pricey top-floor studio calling itself a "penthouse" in a buzzy downtown Manhattan neighborhood. Except this particular diminutive dwelling really is one-(or maybe two- or three-) of-a-kind in the city: It’s a rooftop cabin. Curbed calls it "NYC's most unusual rental." Every so often we get a chance to marvel at these quirky homesteads perched atop otherwise ordinary apartment buildings, and we don’t know whether we’d be thrilled to bits every morning to wake up in a country cabin on a city rooftop, or if we’d be totally over it. Let’s go with thrilled to bits–and take a closer look at this unusual aerie at 15 West 28th Street, asking $4,200 in monthly rent.
It's a cabin on the roof. How cool is that?

December 19, 2016

The problem with privately owned public spaces (‘POPS’) and how we can improve them

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

The Atlantic and the New York Times recently exposed the privately owned public spaces (known as “POPS”) in the Trump Tower as being far from “public.” As both journalists demonstrated, most of the Trump Tower public spaces were either cordoned off or non-existent, most notably, the case of the missing bench. A long bench was […]

December 16, 2016

Olin reveals renderings for $30M activity-filled eco-park on Tribeca’s Pier 26

By Dana Schulz

It was announced just over a year ago that starchitect Rafael Viñoly would donate his services to the Hudson River Park Trust to design an estuarium, a science education and research center, at the base of Tribeca's Pier 26. Now, Tribeca Citizen has brought us the first set of conceptual renderings of the $30 million Pier, which don't include Viñoly's building (other than as a placeholder), but show how landscape architects OLIN will transform the 800-foot pier between North Moore and Hubert Streets into a ecological park, complete with huge lounge net areas, sports fields, expansive lawns, a river esplanade, sandy dunes, wetlands to attract birds and wildlife, and elevated tree-lined pathways that are "inspired by being in the woods," according to DNAinfo.
See all the renderings

Architecture And Design

December 16, 2016

JFK’s TWA Hotel breaks ground, gets new renderings

By Dana Schulz

The shovels were out at JFK's TWA Flight Terminal yesterday, as MCR Development and JetBlue broke ground on their project to turn Eero Saarinen‘s mid-century modern masterpiece into the high-end, 505-room TWA Hotel. According to a press release, Governor Cuomo attended the festivities, noting that the conversion "will preserve this iconic landmark while cementing JFK’s status as a crown jewel of aviation." The news also came with two renderings that show the two, six-story, crescent shaped hotel buildings that will rise on either side of the existing structure.
READ MORE

December 15, 2016

Dry your plates between the buildings of Midtown with this skyline dish rack

By Dana Schulz

For many New Yorkers, the after-dinner ritual of loading up the dishwasher is pure fantasy. But while we're stuck scrubbing away in our under-sized sinks, this fun dish rack from the Whitney museum's gift shop is a nice reminder as to why we make the compromises we do. The flexible 3D model of Midtown Manhattan comes from Italian designer Luca Nichetto, who was inspired by the scene in the 2010 movie "Inception" where NYC folds into itself "like rubber."
READ MORE

December 14, 2016

Turn anything into a table or shelf in minutes using Be-elastic’s SNAP

By Rebecca Paul

NYC apartments often have irregular layouts and odd corners, and finding pre-made furniture that will fit nicely can often be a lofty task. As such, the founders of Be-elastic have designed an innovative furniture solution called SNAP to solve this problem. The SNAP assembly system is comprised of a simple snapping mechanism that allows users to design and assemble tables, stools, or shelving using whatever material they can find. The team has already experimented with a variety of items, creating tables from dart boards, vintage doors, and even bicycle wheels. But you can use your own design savvy to decide the color and number of legs your item requires.
READ MORE

New renderings from Albo Liberis offer up two visions for Brooklyn’s next skyscraping office tower

Rendering of 625 Fulton Street; image: Albo Liberis /Genesis Studios

December 14, 2016

New renderings from Albo Liberis offer up two visions for Brooklyn’s next skyscraping office tower

By Michelle Cohen

As the future Brooklyn skyline takes shape, one of the borough's largest office towers-to-be, a 36-story commercial skyscraper, is slated to rise at 625 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Brooklyn-based Rabsky Group purchased the lot for $158 million and, as The Real Deal reports, plans are in the works to create 700,000 square feet of leasable space, for which the developer is in talks with City Planning to take advantage of a plaza bonus. Albo Liberis (see Williamsburg's William Vale Hotel) has been commissioned as the architect, and while no design has been officially revealed or finalized by Rabsky, the firm's site does offer up some insight into what is being considered for the game-changing tower.
Check out the renderings

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