Architecture And Design

January 13, 2016

See How Atelier & Co. Would Transform This 432 Park Unit Into a Palace in the Sky

432 Park Avenue recorded its first closing last week: a 4,000-square-foot, 35th-floor pad that sold for a cool $18.1 million. For the critics who find the supertower's minimalist exterior and Deborah Berke-designed interiors a bit too austere, take a peek at this layout designed by the classically-attuned firm of Atelier & Co. The unit's square footage and its north-, south-, and east-facing exposures are akin to the unit that closed last week. Raphel Viñoly/WSP Cantor Seinuk's structural tube design provides column-free layouts, allowing for flexible reconfiguration of interior spaces. For this 40th floor spread, Atelier nearly doubles the size of the master bedroom and removes the sitting room to create a vast living and dining area dissected by a grand and ornate bookcase.
See it all right here

Architecture And Design

January 13, 2016

Wireless and Beautiful Speaker-Cabinet Brings Design and Music Together

By Rebecca Paul

It's beautiful when two of our favorite things, like design and music, come together, and this innovative speaker-cabinet is the perfect combo. From Verona-based designer Paolo Cappello, the Caruso is what we like to call a conversation piece. It boasts a beautiful design in both its aesthetics and functionality, as it doubles as a wireless speaker system. The cabinet is adorned with a gramophone, accessed by your device via Bluetooth.
Get more info here

January 13, 2016

New Views of Robert A.M. Stern’s Limestone-Clad 70 Vestry Street

By Ondel Hylton and Heather Cooper Vivares

The Related Companies has launched the teaser website for its upcoming Tribeca condominium 70 Vestry Street. Related CEO Jeff Blau signed the purchase contract in December 2013 and closed on the six-parcel lot from Ponte Equities for $115.3 million in early 2014. Site excavation is already well underway, and new renderings of the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building have now surfaced. The project will pay homage to the neighborhood's distinctive warehouse architecture, and in true Stern fashion, will be clad in sumptuous French limestone.
More details ahead

January 12, 2016

New Renderings, Shape Shifts for Bjarke Ingels-Designed High Line Towers

By Michelle Cohen

New renderings have appeared via YIMBY for 76 Eleventh Avenue, the Bjarke Ingels-designed High Line-adjacent towers first revealed this past November. The planned project, developed by HFZ Capital with the goal of creating a "self contained kind of city," was expected to include a hotel, retail space, and around 300 luxury condos with prices to start at just below $4 million. The most noticeable changes from the earlier renderings, which showed the towers fitting together at an angle, show more space between the buildings, which now appear as more of a pair than two complementary parts of a "jigsaw-like" whole.
See what else has changed

January 12, 2016

Studiomama’s Metamorphic Wardrobe Transforms to Divide Your Space

By Michelle Cohen

This pastel and pale wood room divider by Danish designer Nina Tolstrup for Studiomama does at least two jobs, besides adding Scandi style to your room. It excels at closet duty, featuring a central hanging rail and ten drawers of varying sizes, but also functions as a room divider when its front doors are opened outward.
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January 12, 2016

Residential Projects Surface Along the Astoria Waterfront Ahead of New Ferry Service

By Ondel Hylton

The Astoria waterfront is poised to become the city's next high-density residential enclave, with more than 4,000 apartments planned within the Astoria Cove and Hallets Point developments alone. Just to the south, and more modest in scale, a six-story, 65-unit condominium building is preparing to rise from a block-through site at 30-05 Vernon Boulevard. City records indicate 3005 Vernon BLVD Joint Venture LLC purchased the lot for $3 million in 2014, and filed demolition permits in November to raze the existing one-story warehouse. Renderings provided by the building's architect, Young Kim of Tan Architect, show a white brick building with a glass curtain wall on its east- and river-facing elevations. As required by zoning, on-site parking is provided at ground level, and the garage roof will hold an expansive rooftop terrace. According to Young Kim, the development is moving forward and the team is in the process of filing building permits.
Find out more

January 12, 2016

See How 6 Columbus Circle Could Change the Central Park Skyline

By Ondel Hylton

Last Friday, a marketing brochure was released promoting the sale of 6 Columbus Circle, an 88-room boutique hotel that exudes a modernist '60s flair throughout its spaces. While the brick and limestone gem owned by the Pomeranc Group received an ungainly five-story addition in 2007, its ornate 58th Street facade survived intact–though now, its days may be numbered. The New York Observer reported last month that the owners have placed the building up for sale, tapping Cushman & Wakefield as exclusive marketers. With angled views of Central Park starting at less than 100 feet above street level, a source estimates the property could fetch a staggering $1,400 per buildable square foot, a pot of gold to developers' eyes. And the marketing brochure makes the possibilities very clear, conceptualizing a 700-foot-tall, mixed-use spire from the nimble, 42-foot-wide lot.
See how this could change the skyline

January 11, 2016

This $1.95M Mediterranean Revival Home in Historic Fieldston Holds Some Modern Surprises

By Michelle Cohen

The leafy, well-tended Fieldston Historic District–one of New York City's only privately owned neighborhoods–lies within the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale. Here inside this 4,200-square-foot whitewashed stucco Mediterranean Revival home you'll find original 1901 details, modern, energy-efficient updates and at least five bedrooms–just twenty minutes from Lincoln Center. Altogether it's a mix of suburban quietude, townhouse grandeur and a New York City address, for $1.95 million. in addition to plenty of room on two stories for living and entertaining–plus outdoor space for gardening–there are a few 21st century surprises.
Take the tour

January 11, 2016

BONCHO: A Bike Poncho to Keep Your Legs and Feet Dry

By Rebecca Paul

The weather in New York can vary from sunny skies to downpours without notice, and most of us spend at least part, if not all, of our daily commute outside at the mercy of the elements. While the standard umbrella protects us from the rain when we're on foot, the bike riding community has continued to rely on plastic bags and oversized raincoats to stay dry, leaving their legs and feet exposed to the conditions. Thanks to VANMOOF and their new bike poncho design, cleverly named BONCHO, city cyclists are about to get a lot drier.
More on this clever product

January 11, 2016

Gramercy Park’s Luminaria Condo Conversion Lights Up in Preparation for Sales Launch

By Ondel Hylton

In anticipation of its official sales launch later this winter, Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate Group has illuminated Luminaire, a 103-unit condominium-conversion at 385 First Avenue in downtown's Gramercy Park neighborhood. According to the marketing team, the cool-blue lighting scheme, specified by Magnum, is inspired by the building's floor-to-ceiling windows and sun-bathed units.
more here

First Look at the 331-Foot Sheepshead Bay Tower Set to Dwarf Its Neighbors

By Ondel Hylton

In Manhattan, much of Brooklyn, and parts of Queens like Long Island City, a 300-foot tower isn't even news. But out in the once-sleepy waterfront community of Sheepshead Bay, it's sure to get people talking. Last September, it was revealed that a joint venture between Muss Development and AvalonBay would be building a 30-story residential tower at 1501 Voorhies Avenue that would be four times taller than almost anything else in the area. Now, here's our first look at the large and rather glassy behemoth designed by Perkins Eastman Architects. According to revised building plans, the tower is two stories shorter than initially filed and has a height of 331 feet, 6 inches to the top of its rooftop mechanical bulkhead.
More details and renderings

January 10, 2016

Robert Kuster’s Hand Blown Glass Balloons Keep the House Party Going All Year

By Rebecca Paul

With the holidays behind us and the cold weather finally setting in, our next party seems farther away than we'd like to admit. With most of us our days spent either in our office or our apartment, why not invite the party into your living space with these vibrant hot glass balloons from artist Robert Kuster? Mr. Kuster started blowing glass as a second career, but has since achieved more success than most artisans do in their lifetime. His beautiful chandeliers currently hang in prestigious galleries, magnificent homes, hotels, upscale restaurants and public installations across the country, and now your New York apartment can be added to that list.
READ MORE

January 9, 2016

First Look at Lions Group’s New Residential Tower in Long Island City

By Ondel Hylton

Another day, another Long Island City project unveiled. This new build comes in at 27-51 Jackson Avenue by way of Lions Group, who are already juggling three projects nearby: Jackson East, Jackson West, and ONE Queens Plaza. Last week, the LIC Post reported demolition permits were filed to raze the two small structures on the site. Construction permits have yet to be filed, but details from the project's EB-5 offering page show a 13-story, 38,500 square foot tower designed by Flushing-based Raymond Chan Architect. The project will rise directly alongside an under construction Gene Kaufman-designed Aloft Hotel at 27-45 Jackson Avenue.
More here

January 8, 2016

432 Park Avenue Records Its First Blockbuster Closing at $18.1M!

By Diane Pham

And so it begins! Closings at Macklowe Properties/CIM Group's Billionaires' Row blockbuster 432 Park Avenue have officially commenced with its first sale showing an impressive $18.116 million figure, as city records released this afternoon reveal. The unit is #35B, a massive 4,003-square-foot, three-bedroom pad with four-and-a-half baths, a private elevator landing, and 10-foot by 10-foot windows providing southern and western exposures with park views. Documents show that the palatial home was purchased via a LLC, 432 PARKVIEW.
more on the sale and the floor plan here

January 8, 2016

Developer Matthew Blesso Looks for a Profit on This Gorgeous Park Slope Townhouse

By Emily Nonko

The historic Park Slope townhouse at 857 Carroll Street hasn't spent a long time off the market. In February of last year, the developer Matthew Blesso settled in after buying it for $4.05 million. (We called his move a "total architectural 180," considering his previous pad was this green Noho penthouse he sold for $7.35 million.) Now he's put the Brooklyn property back on the market for a higher price than he bought it for, $4.695 million, with some upgrades to boot.
Take a tour inside

January 8, 2016

Could These Twin Glassy Towers Be Coming to the Greenpoint Waterfront?

By Ondel Hylton

Momentum is building along the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront. Since the Bloomberg administration's sweeping 2003 rezoning of the two-mile stretch of East River shoreline, nearly every buildable river-facing plot has been accounted for by developers. More than a dozen master plans are in the works, dominated by residential uses that scale upward to 50 stories and 600-foot heights. One remaining mystery lot is a block-long parcel in Greenpoint currently holding a two-story warehouse at 161-167 West Street (aka 53 Huron Street). The 65,000-square-foot site lies near the India Street ferry stop and is sandwiched between three development sites: Park Tower Group's ten-tower Greenpoint Landing master plan and Mack Real Estate Group/Palin Enterprises' 10 Huron Street (155 West Street), and The Gibraltar at 160 West Street.
More details ahead

January 8, 2016

New and Improved Design for Shalimar Management’s 543 Second Avenue

By Ondel Hylton

In a well-wishing New Year note, Charles Fridman, president of Shalimar Management, announced that their planned ten-story residential project at 543 Second Avenue will break ground this year, and he's now unveiled a revised set of renderings depicting a substantially different design. Evolving from banal to brutal, the previously thin-skinned, glass-and-metal design has been beefed up into an energetic, cast-in-place concrete structure of undulating floor slabs and tilting exterior columns. Fridman's page states: "We’re planning a 10 Story rental building with 1-2 bedroom apartments. Each apartment will have its own balcony, and part of the building will cantilever over our other property at 249 East 30th Street." Outdated building applications from early 2014 detail a 12-story building housing 18 units spread across 19,000 square feet of floor area. New permits have yet to be filed and according to Fridman, the team came close to building the previous design, but "thankfully" held off.
Find out more ahead

January 7, 2016

Renderings Revealed for Governor Cuomo’s $3B Penn Station Overhaul

By Dana Schulz

6sqft asked readers yesterday if Governor Cuomo would finally be able to get the Penn Station overhaul off the ground, after various news outlets reported that he would be announcing a plan to do just this. The majority of you said it wasn't going to happen, but it looks like the long-envisioned project has just gotten one step closer to reality. During a press conference yesterday at Madison Square Garden, the Governor revealed that he'll be heading up a major revamp of Penn Station, which he called "un-New York," according to Gothamist. The more than $3 billion redevelopment has been dubbed the Empire Station Complex, and a request for proposals will go out this week, due back in 90 days (not good news for the decade-old deal with developers Related Cos. and Vornado Realty). As expected, it includes the long-stalled Moynihan Station project that will convert the adjacent Farley Post Office into a large waiting area, similar in size to the main room at Grand Central. This will increase the size of the nation's busiest transit hub by 50 percent and will connect to the current station by a network of underground tunnels. Though several options are on the table for a redesign, the renderings released by the Governor's office show a glassy and light structure that's quite unlike the current space that Cuomo described as "dark, constrained, ugly, a lost opportunity, a bleak warren of corridors… a miserable experience and a terrible first impression."
More details and renderings ahead

January 7, 2016

Lower East Side Rental at Historic Federal Rowhouse Packs in Lots of Personality

By Emily Nonko

The modest Federal townhouse at 511 Grand Street on the Lower East Side has managed to hang in there since 1829. And today it is boasting a really cool rental apartment on its second and third floors, while the ground floor is home to a cafe. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit belongs to artists Steve Mumford and Inka Essenhigh, who rent it out as a short-term, fully furnished rental. This time around it's available from April 1st though September 30th, asking $5,000 a month.
See more

January 7, 2016

Revealed: Brack Capital’s 90 Morton Street Condo Conversion to Have Terraced Penthouses

By Ondel Hylton

Here's our first look at Brack Capital's condominium conversion 90 Morton Street, also known as 627 Greenwich Street. The former printing building was built in 1911 and sits where the commercial lofts of Hudson Square (West Soho) scale downward into the West Village. Brack, headed by Isaac Hera, purchased the 120,000-square-foot corner building for $105 million in late 2014, and in September, the team submitted a $326 million offering plan to the office of the New York Attorney General. Building permits filed for the long-stalled conversion project last summer detail a 35-unit (29 condos) building that will remain 12 stories. It will only gain 1,649 square feet of construction floor area, and it appears its upper floors will be reconfigured into a succession of terraced penthouses. Though the architect of record is listed as Isaac & Stern Architects, the projecting volumes of the upper stories remind us of the work of Eran Chen's ODA Architects. ODA served as the design architects for Brack's 15 Union Square West and the James Hotel in SoHo.
More details ahead

January 6, 2016

Revealed: New Renderings of Renzo Piano’s SoHo Tower at 555 Broome Street

By Ondel Hylton

Here's a closer look at Renzo Piano's much-anticipated condominium tower planned for a full block-front in West SoHo, between Broome and Watts streets. Dubbed The SoHo Tower, the 25-story building is being developed by way of a partnership between SHVO, Halpern Real Estate Ventures, Itzhaki Acquisition and Bizzi & Partners Development. The team picked up much of the development site in 2014 for $130 million, and yesterday, the Commercial Observer reported they've secured the final portion of the project site at 555 Broome Street for $9 million.
Even more images of the new tower here

January 6, 2016

‘Inception’-Inspired Coffee Table Takes the Horizonless City to New Dimensions

By Rebecca Paul

Inspired by the 2010 movie "Inception", this wild wave-like coffee table was designed by Cyprus-based designer Stelios Mousarris. While this isn't the first time we've seen a designer draw from the impressive visuals of this stellar film (see: 'Inception'-Inspired Map Shows a Horizonless NYC), Mousarris is the first to take the mind-bending map concept beyond our screen and into three-dimensions.
see more images of this amazing design here

January 6, 2016

First Look at Madigan Development’s Upcoming Hudson Square Tower at 111 Varick Street

By Ondel Hylton

At the edge of the Holland Tunnel's Jersey-bound vortex, Madigan Development is planning to build a 15-story, 49-unit residential building at 111 Varick Street. Anchoring the southwest corner of Broome and Varick Streets in West Soho (aka Hudson Square), the tower is replacing a multi-story parking garage and will sit adjacent to another planned 19-story residential tower at 568 Broome Street. Renderings of 111 Varick show a blocky building clad in a drunken checkerboard pattern of glass and stone. While it has yet to be confirmed if the building will be a condo or rental, large layouts and its prime location between Soho and Tribeca allude to condos.
Find out more

January 5, 2016

Long Island City Rental Tower Will Offer Micro Units for ‘Gen Y Professionals’

By Ondel Hylton

Yesterday, 6sqft discussed how Long Island City's Purves Street is a hotbed of construction activity with no less than four residential towers underway along the 500-foot, one-block stretch. On a site situated between Thomson Avenue (where the pioneer condo Arris Lofts rises) and Court Square, Twining Properties has begun excavation work for a 27-story, 168-unit rental tower at 44-14 Purves Street. According to the developer's project page, the rental tower will be known as Watermark Court Square and is to offer "efficient apartment layouts designed for mobile professionals." The handsome albeit unremarkable design by Handel Architects is faced with grey brick and large windows. According to Department of Buildings filings, the ground-up, 302-foot-tall tower will rise along 44th Drive, while a two-story existing building will be rehabilitated along Purves.
More details and renderings

REVEALED: 45 Broad Street, Slated to Be Among the Highest Condo Buildings Downtown

** UPDATE as of 1/6/16: Pizzarotti CEO Rance MacFarland confirmed to Curbed that 45 Broad Street will be a 1,100-foot-tall, 86-story supertall tower. It will have 245 units that will cater to “entry- and mid-level buyers,” as well as five floors of commercial and retail space.

January 5, 2016

REVEALED: 45 Broad Street, Slated to Be Among the Highest Condo Buildings Downtown

By Ondel Hylton

Last October, it was announced that the long-vacant lot in the heart of the Financial District at 45 Broad Street would be redeveloped into a 65-story residential skyscraper by way of a partnership between Pizzarotti IBC and Madison Equities. Now, via Pizzarotti's project page, we have our first look at the design of the 300,000-square-foot CetraRuddy-designed tower that the development group affirms "will be the highest condo in Downtown Manhattan." The team will have to move quickly, though; at least two condo towers are proposed to be taller including Shvo's supertall at 125 Greenwich Street.
More details ahead

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