Real Estate Trends

When I first interviewed Edward Baquero, President of Corigin Real Estate Group, his art curator, Elizabeth Fiore, was furiously texting him images from the Armory Show with potential art for two remaining walls in the stately 20 East End’s octagonal lobby. Baquero is a perfectionist to the nth degree with an obsessive eye for detail, highly skilled research capabilities, a luxurious aesthetic sensibility and a ridiculously funny sense of humor. These two alcove walls were just as important to Baquero as every other detail in his building, no matter how big or small. Nothing in 20 East End was chosen without thorough research and reason followed by multiple iterations of tests and retests. What Baquero created in 20 East End evokes a time when the Astors, Vanderbilts, and Rockefellers dominated Manhattan and defined luxury. Baquero is bringing back the best of the past and melding it with the present to create a model many will replicate in the future. Ahead, 6sqft talks with him about how he achieved this, his inspirations, and what it was like working with Robert A.M. Stern.
Hear what Edward has to say

March 19, 2018

Zayn Malik drops $10M on Soho penthouse after Gigi Hadid breakup

By Annie Doge

After supermodel Gigi Hadid bought a condo at Noho's trendy new building 10 Bond Street in July 2016, she was often seen leaving the building with then-new flame Zayn Malik. But the couple, dubbed ZiGi. Malik by their swarms of fans, announced their breakup last week, and it looks like the pop star was well prepared to begin his bachelor lifestyle, as the Post reports that just days after the news went public, Malik closed on a $10.69 million Soho penthouse at 63 Greene Street.
Check it out

March 19, 2018

Wunderbroker Ryan Serhant bought Jonathan Safran Foer’s perfect Brooklyn brownstone–at a discount

“Million Dollar Listing New York" star Ryan Serhant had recently taken over the listing for novelist Jonathan Safran Foer's gorgeous five-story Boerum Hill home, asking $8.995 million; the award-winning scribe first listed the home with Compass for $10.5 million last May. Now, according to The Real Deal, Serhant is the new owner of the 8,000-square-foot townhouse. Safran Foer bought the 1899 Greek Revival home at 374 Pacific Street for $5.4 million in 2014, so while the sale price represents a price chop, he didn't do too badly on the deal.
Take one last look

March 16, 2018

Restaurateur Keith McNally gets $10M for his French-country Greenwich Village townhouse

By Emily Nonko

After a long run on the market--renting at $25,000/month, $19,000/month, then listed for $13.95 million--restaurateur Keith McNally‘s 4,600 square-foot Greek Revival townhouse has sold. According to The Real Deal, an unknown buyer paid $10.3 million. McNally, behind buzzy establishments like Balthazar, Cherche Midi, Odeon, Café Luxembourg, Schiller’s and Minetta Tavern, bought the 1842 townhouse at 105 West 11th Street in 2000. The design is fit for a restaurateur, with a stunning kitchen, walk-in wine cellar and rustic French-country interiors.
Take one last look inside

New photos show Zaha Hadid’s stunning 520 West 28th Street in all its completed glory

Photo: © Hufton+Crow

March 16, 2018

New photos show Zaha Hadid’s stunning 520 West 28th Street in all its completed glory

6sqft last brought you photos of the amazing amenity spaces at Zaha Hadid's first New York City project, 520 West 28th Street. Now, Archinect reports that Zaha Hadid Architects have released new Hufton + Crow exterior facade images of the late starchitect's recently-completed High Line-adjacent condominium development.
More photos, this way

Crown Building penthouse may be in contract for $180M, beating NYC record by $80M

Penthouse rendering courtesy of Aman Resorts

March 16, 2018

Crown Building penthouse may be in contract for $180M, beating NYC record by $80M

Another Billionaire's Row sky mansion–this one with a piano lounge, two kitchens, a wraparound terrace, and two swimming pools spread out over five stories at 730 Fifth Avenue–is on its way to record-smashing glory, according to The Real Deal. Sources say an unknown buyer has spoken for the 12,536-square-foot residence in the actual crown of the Crown Building, to the tune of $180 million. If the sale closes, it will be the New York City's most expensive sale ever at $14,358 per foot (also a record), surpassing Michael Dell's $100.5 million penthouse atop Extell Development’s One57.
Check this place out

Trump’s NYC properties no longer considered ‘luxury’

Trump International via Wiki Commons; Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

March 13, 2018

Trump’s NYC properties no longer considered ‘luxury’

According to a new CityRealty report, President Trump is spreading fake news. Trump claims his branded luxury residential condominium and towers are more valuable than his competitors. In fact, the numbers tell a different story. In the past 10 years (2007-2017), Trumps’ properties’ average price per square foot has only risen 15% (from $1,529 to $1,741) compared to Manhattan luxury condominiums which have risen 56% (from $1,994 to $3,105) and all Manhattan properties which have risen 51% (from $1,237 to $1,864). What might be even more upsetting to the Trump Organization is that based on the prices condos in his buildings sell for, they are no longer categorized as luxury properties but as “middle-of-the-road investments in the wider world of the Manhattan condo market.”
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

Townhouse 2.0: NYC developers reinterpret the single-family home for condo living

27 East 79th Street townhouse, courtesy of Adellco

March 12, 2018

Townhouse 2.0: NYC developers reinterpret the single-family home for condo living

Space in New York City always comes at a premium--even Manhattan air rights cost more per square foot than the nation’s average home prices. Townhomes have long been seen as status symbols in NYC real estate. But despite being coveted properties, traditional townhomes require upkeep and maintenance that condominium owners do not have to deal with. In an effort to attract buyers and eliminate the hassles associated with traditional townhouse living, many NYC developers are building the “townhouse 2.0,” fully modernized new construction townhomes with access to all the services and amenities of a condominium building--the best of both worlds. Ahead, 6sqft has rounded up some of the best examples of townhomes 2.0 in New York City.
See them all here

Real Estate Trends

NYC RENTALS: New Listings at American Copper Buildings, VIA 57 WEST + More

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): VIA 57 WEST, 33 BOND STREET, THE VOGUE and GRAFFITI HOUSE See New Listings at VIA 57 West – Breakthrough Rental by Bjarke Ingles American Copper Buildings Now Leasing with 2 Months Free Jersey City’s Newly Opened 3 Journal Square Leasing from $1,770/Month The Silver Star: Long Island City Rentals Launch […]

Real Estate Trends

East Village’s landmarked Bathhouse Studios building is up for sale for $20M

Photo via Cushman & Wakefield

March 9, 2018

East Village’s landmarked Bathhouse Studios building is up for sale for $20M

By Emily Nonko

Once a free public bathhouse, now transformed into studio space, the Bathhouse Studios in the East Village has been listed for sale. The landmarked Neo-Italian Renaissance style building opened in 1905, offering public baths to the nearby crowded tenements. (Back then, bathing facilities were non-existent in apartments.) People used the seven bathtubs and 94 showers up until 1958, when the building shuttered and fell into disrepair. In 1995, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Eddie Adams and his wife Alyssa Adams bought and converted it into a high-end studio and work space. And now, it's a professional studio space you're able to rent out, or outright buy for a hefty $19.95 million (h/t EV Grieve).
It comes with air rights

Is New York City housing getting more affordable?

Image: Wikipedia

March 8, 2018

Is New York City housing getting more affordable?

According to a recent article by the Wall Street Journal, New York City housing may, in fact, be consuming less of our hard-earned dollars. Housing costs are responsible for an increasingly smaller chunk of New Yorkers' monthly budget, a new U.S. Census Bureau survey shows. The survey, conducted every three years, points to a record amount of new housing and a rental vacancy rate that's the third-highest since the survey first began in 1965. The Census Bureau survey found that the number of housing units had increased by 117,000 since 2011, a number that includes over 35,000 more rental apartments and 15,000 condos due to arrive in 2018 and 2019.
Really?

Art and real estate: The new relationship that’s selling big

180 East 88th Street living room, via March Made for DDG

March 7, 2018

Art and real estate: The new relationship that’s selling big

The architect Morris Adjmi looks to trends in art, more than in architecture, to inspire his work. “Art is more stimulating to me than the latest trends in architecture. Art is visceral and topical, it is much more immediate and it allows you to get into the zeitgeist of the time. In art, we see what is happening now, in architecture it takes a few years to show up.” More and more architects, developers, designers, and brokers believe in the powerful relationship between art and real estate. So much so, it is now understood that art sells real estate and real estate sells art. James Cavello, owner of Westwood Gallery, curated an art exhibit at 212 Fifth Avenue’s $73.8 million “Crown” penthouse with a multimillion-dollar collection of art, with works by Warhol, Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Robert Indiana, Charles Hinman, and Douglas Kirkland. On the relationship between art and real estate, Cavello says, “We share the same similar high net worth clients so developers and brokers look to individuals like me and my company to propose alternatives to staging the areas with furniture and drapes and, instead, work with the light and space and utilize the art as staging.” The Sotheby’s team behind 212 Fifth added that having Westwood Gallery stage art in the three-story, 10,000-square-foot unit, “Helped generate powerful awareness for Westwood Gallery with a level of visibility that is often unattainable for a stand-alone gallery.” Clearly, art and real estate have a very symbiotic relationship.
READ MORE

March 7, 2018

Halletts Point’s first rental tower gets new renderings, launches affordable housing lottery

By Dana Schulz

Less than a month after we got a first look at 10 Halletts Point, the first of seven buildings that will open at the Durst Organization's $1.5 billion Astoria mega-development, the Dattner Architects-designed tower is making headlines on multiple fronts today. Not only did a teaser site go live for the 405-unit rental tower, with even more new renderings, but the affordable housing lottery launched for the project's 81 below-market-rate apartments. These range from $947/month studios to $1,414/month three-bedrooms, all of which are reserved for households earning 60 percent of the area median income.
See the renderings and find out if you qualify for the affordable units

March 6, 2018

‘This American Life’ host Ira Glass gets $1.65M for chic Chelsea condo

By Annie Doge

Rodents be damned--despite being sued by their condo board for an alleged bedbug and rat infestation last year, “This American Life” host Ira Glass and his wife Anaheed Alani have sold their renovated Chelsea apartment at 159 West 24th Street for $1.65 million. They bought the apartment in 2012 for $1,265,000 and put it on the market this past November for $1.75 million, with the listing stating that the home was "unoccupied."
Take a tour

March 6, 2018

Extell’s Target-topping East Village luxury rental is now open; rents start at $3,695/month

Ambitiously dubbed EVGB–for "East Village's Greatest Building"–Extell Development's new rental building at 510 East 14th Street between Avenues A and B just hit the rental market. In addition to amenities like a fitness center, saltwater pool and rooftop deck, the new building is perhaps best known for its also-new retail anchor tenant, a two-level Target store, the chain’s first location in the neighborhood. The building's 110 market-rate and 50 affordable–the lottery for those launched recently–units are expected to be ready for occupancy by April. According to the building's just-launched website, available apartments range from studios for $3,695 a month to a three-bedroom unit for $12,425.
Take a look and find out more

St. Patrick’s Cathedral to get $7.2M from sale of air rights under Midtown East rezoning

St Patrick’s Cathedral via Wikimedia

March 2, 2018

St. Patrick’s Cathedral to get $7.2M from sale of air rights under Midtown East rezoning

Editor's Note: The owners of 405 Park Avenue are set to buy the development rights from St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Real Deal reports. MRP Realty and Deutsche Bank Asset Management will add four floors and 205,000 square feet of office space to their existing building. JPMorgan Chase and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week plans for the first project under the city's Midtown East rezoning: a 70-story tower to replace its old offices at the same Park Avenue site. And with the Archdiocese of New York this week reaching a tentative deal to sell 30,000 square feet of development rights from St. Patrick's Cathedral, the second project under the new rezoning could quickly follow. According to Crain's, if the sale happens the Archdiocese could pick up at least $7.2 million in air rights.
Find out more

February 28, 2018

Fashion exec buys $17M Dakota combo of Judy Garland’s and Roberta Flack’s former addresses

6sqft takes notice when homes in the storied Dakota at 1 West 72nd Street hit the market; word was out that the three-bedroom co-op in the iconic Upper West Side building that was the alleged onetime home of Judy Garland had recently changed hands after several price chops, and Roberta Flack’s mirror-walled co-op went into contract after having been on the market since 2015. Now Mansion Global reports that power couple Eric and Stacey Bendet Eisner are the buyers of the massive co-op combo. Ms. Eisner is chief executive and creative director of clothing company Alice + Olivia, and her husband Eric (son of former Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner) is an entertainment and media mogul.
See more of this iconic property combo

New details revealed for Pier 17, the foodie oasis coming to the South Street Seaport

A rendering of Pier 17’s proposed temporary rooftop structure via LPC/ Howard Hughes Corp.

February 27, 2018

New details revealed for Pier 17, the foodie oasis coming to the South Street Seaport

The Howard Hughes Corporation has worked since 2010 to revitalize the Seaport District as a destination for New Yorkers, bringing more than 400,000 square feet of cultural and culinary space to the waterfront. The highlight of the $731 million redevelopment remains Pier 17, a four-story building designed by Achim Menges with a see-through canopy, dining options, an iPic theater, retail and more. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the revised designs for the project in December and the New York Post has just learned more information about the project's timeline, with nearly everything set to open at some point this year.
More this way

More than half of NYC’s 20 most expensive sales were at One57 and 432 Park

432 Park Avenue via CIM Group/Macklowe Properties

February 26, 2018

More than half of NYC’s 20 most expensive sales were at One57 and 432 Park

The buyer of One57's $100 million penthouse was unveiled as Michael Dell last week, finally solving the mystery of which billionaire set New York City's record for the most expensive home ever sold. The reveal sparked CityRealty's interest in finding out where other costly buildings fall in comparison. Unsurprisingly, Midtown's One57 and 432 Park make up 12 out of the city's 20 priciest homes ever sold with single units going for $100.47 million and $91.5 million, respectively. While those two buildings on Billionaires' Row easily take the top three spots, 15 Central Park West ranks fourth, with its $88 million penthouse sold in 2012.
More this way

Real Estate Trends

February 26, 2018

This $6K/month West Village loft comes with a ton of exposed brick and a dash of fun

The listing for this "truly unique" 1,200-square-foot loft at 73 8th Avenue at the Meatpacking/West Village border tells of its "ton of exposed brick," and though we're not sure that's an exact measurement, we know it's asking exactly $6,000 a month to enjoy its one bedroom, 14-foot ceilings, wide-plank cherry wood floors and private outdoor paradise.
Looks like a fun place to live

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

Images (L to R): 525W52, Hudson Crossing, 27 ON 27TH and 247N7

February 24, 2018

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

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): 525W52, Hudson Crossing, 27 ON 27TH and 247N7 Neighborhood’s Rich History Embraced in 525W52’s Art Program; See the Installations Live at Hudson Crossing in Midtown West: Studio to 2-Bed Rentals from $2,475/Month Live in LIC at 27 on 27th: Rentals from $2,384/Month in Full-Service Luxury Tower Williamsburg’s 247N7 Offers Stylish Apartments […]

Real Estate Trends

Soon to be largest deliberately demolished tower ever, 270 Park Avenue proposal faces backlash

270 Park Avenue via MikePScott’s Flickr

February 22, 2018

Soon to be largest deliberately demolished tower ever, 270 Park Avenue proposal faces backlash

Plans to replace JPMorgan Chase's current headquarters at 270 Park Avenue with a much taller tower at the same site is facing opposition from architecture and preservation buffs, shortly after the proposal was announced. Not only will the project become the largest intentionally demolished building in history, as YIMBY reported, the landmark-worthy Union Carbide Building was also designed in 1960 by Natalie de Blois, a pioneer of American architecture and one of the few female senior designers at that time. As the first project under the Midtown East rezoning, JPMorgan Chase's existing 700-foot tall structure will be bulldozed to make way for a tower that will most likely be over 1,200 feet tall.
More this way

Image via Pixabay

February 22, 2018

NYC developments get smart: A look at the latest residential building technologies