Real Estate Trends

Anti-Trump financier sells Trump Palace pad for less than half of original ask

“The problem is real and will not go away anytime soon.” Image via Google Street View.

January 4, 2018

Anti-Trump financier sells Trump Palace pad for less than half of original ask

Back in June 6sqft reported on efforts by former Goldman Sachs executive Laurence Weiss, who had been trying to sell his 3,600-square-foot, four bedroom apartment at Trump Palace at 200 East 69th Street for two years, to get the building's residents to agree to ditch the Trump name. Weiss had originally asked $15 million for the Upper East Side condo and still had no buyer even at $8.9 million. The building's name remains, but Weiss has finally sold the apartment–for $7.4 million, The Real Deal reports.
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January 2, 2018

The evolution of Hudson Square: From the Printing District to ‘affordable’ luxury

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Hudson Square is undergoing another transformation. The neighborhood was once known as the Printing District because of the printing companies attracted to the large concrete and steel factory buildings located close to their Wall Street clients. In the 1970s and ‘80s, technology and design companies replaced the printing industry, attracted by the architecture, location, transportation options, and affordable rents. But the area is once again evolving. This time it's experiencing a boom of what developers and realtors call “affordable luxury" condominiums (in the $1 - $2 million range) due to the largest privately-initiated rezoning efforts in the history of New York City. Not only is the neighborhood growing in height and residences but a large fund has been set aside to increase the neighborhood's commercial mix, greenery, and traffic flow.
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Battle heats up over East Harlem park where a 760-foot tower is planned

Rendering of 321 East 96th Street via Perkins Eastman Architect

January 2, 2018

Battle heats up over East Harlem park where a 760-foot tower is planned

By Devin Gannon

Located on Second Avenue between East 96th Street and East 97th Street, the Marx Brothers Playground boasts a jungle gym and ball fields spread out over 1.5 acres. The East Harlem green space, which first opened in 1947 on land formerly occupied by the car barn of the Second Avenue Railway, has found itself at the center of a debate between preservationists and developers. As the New York Times reported, park advocates and city officials disagree on whether the parcel is considered a park or a playground. If it's a park, any plans to modify it require the approval from the State Legislature and the governor; playgrounds do not. While it seems irrelevant, the categorization of the land will determine whether a 68-story mixed-use tower will rise on its site, a project backed by city officials and affordable housing advocates.
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December 29, 2017

What to expect in the 2018 NYC real estate market

By Emily Nonko

2017 kicked off in the face of great uncertainty regarding how a former New York real estate developer in the White House would affect New York real estate. Despite a tumultuous year of politics, the city chugged along with new development, construction ranging from affordable to luxury projects, and record-setting prices for the residential market. […]

Real Estate Trends

December 29, 2017

Philanthropist’s condo at 15 Central Park West sells for $8.5M under ask

By Emily Nonko

Robert A.M. Stern's 15 Central Park West may be New York City's most expensive condo, but that didn't help financier and philanthropist (and onetime president of the building's board) Jeffrey C. Walker and his wife Suzanne in selling their four-bedroom pad there. They listed the unit for $38 million in March of this year, but it just closed for the considerably lower amount of $29.5 million (The buyer, as public records show, is hidden behind the title "Ciel CPW LLC"). Lucky for the Walkers, though, they paid a little over $21 million for the pad back in 2007, so they've still made a nice little profit.
It boasts Central Park views and a wine cellar

Real Estate Trends

December 28, 2017

65th-floor unit at 432 Park changes hands for the third time in a year-and-a-half

By Dana Schulz

The end of 2017 has seen a lot of record-setting headlines for 432 Park Avenue, namely the $91 million, three-penthouse sale that was the city's most expensive all year. And a sale at the supertall that came through city property records today makes it clear that there's no sign of slowing down. Unit 65A, a half-floor, three-bedroom spread, first sold in June of 2016 for $27 million to an anonymous LLC dubbed "432 Holdings LLC." This past September, the building's developers CIM Group and Macklowe Properties bought back the apartment for $27.9 million in a presumed attempt to let the seller buy a larger unit in the building. As The Real Deal reported, the seller did just that, upgrading to an 80th-floor unit that cost $39 million. But as of today, the developers have all but made their money back, as the 65th-floor residence sold yet again for $26.4 million to another LLC called "Mallow Enterprises."
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Real Estate Trends

For the ninth consecutive year, Dunkin’ Donuts ranks as NYC’s largest national retailer

Dunkin’ Donuts, photo courtesy of Robert S on Flickr

December 28, 2017

For the ninth consecutive year, Dunkin’ Donuts ranks as NYC’s largest national retailer

By Devin Gannon

New Yorkers really do run on Dunkin'. According to a report from the Center for an Urban Future, beloved national coffee and donut chain, Dunkin' Donuts, has the most stores of any chain in New York City, with 612 stores total, a net increase of 16 stores in 2016 and 271 stores since 2008. In their tenth annual ranking, CUF's report found that the number of national retailers in the city increased by 1.8 percent from last year, with food retailers and restaurants showing the strongest growth. New to the list and ranking second is cell-phone store MetroPCS, which now has 445 stores citywide, adding a whopping 119 locations in the past year. Following Dunkin', Subway is the most popular fast-food chain in each of the boroughs, with a total 317 stores.
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December 28, 2017

Sen. Jacob Javits’ former Sutton Place co-op sells for $4.4M

By Devin Gannon

After first hitting the market in June for roughly $5.2 million, the former Sutton Place home of influential New York senator, Jacob Javits and his wife Marian, has found a buyer. Last listed for $4.35 million, the three-bedroom co-op at 322 East 57th Street was designed in 1933 by Joseph Urban, an architect known for his Art Deco style. According to the New York Post, Javits entertained socialites and political players, like Henry Kissinger, in his spacious 3,300 square foot duplex.
Check out the glass cube

December 27, 2017

Greta Garbo fans buy the actress’ longtime Sutton Place co-op for $2.5M over ask

By Dana Schulz

This sprawling three-bedroom at the exclusive Sutton Place co-op The Campanile may have a private location, incredible East River views, and old-world details such as wall-to-wall pine wood paneling, working fireplaces, and tons of built-ins, but it was its longtime resident who encited a bidding war. Mansion Global reports that Greta Garbo's longtime home (she lived there from 1954 until her death in 1990) has sold for $8.5 million, 43 percent higher than the $5.95 million it listed for back in March. The late actress' great-nephew Craig Reisfield said the buyers have “a reverence for my great aunt” and added that he anticipates them being "great stewards" of the home that's very much intact from Garbo's days.
See the high-end apartment here

December 22, 2017

Anthony Bourdain cancels plans for food market at Google’s Pier 57

By Dana Schulz

Despite hyping up his massive Singapore street hawker-style food hall and retail market at Google's Pier 57 development since 2015, Anthony Bourdain announced today that he won't be moving forward with the project, reports Eater. Back in March, his partner and CEO of what was dubbed Bourdain Market stepped down. At the same time, it was learned that they'd yet to sign a lease, both of which made the 2019 opening seem like a stretch. In a statement, Bourdain said, "It seems increasingly clear that in spite of my best efforts, the stars may not align at Pier 57 which is an especially complicated site for which we still do not have a lease."
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Real Estate Trends

Chinese buyer snags three penthouses at 432 Park for $91M

By Devin Gannon

After dropping a staggering $91.1 million, a buyer from China now owns three penthhouse apartments at 432 Park Avenue, the most expensive closing to date. Picking up units 92, 92B and 93B, the buyer, 432 Park Joy LLC, gets 11,906 square feet spanning two floors (h/t TRD). As 6sqft learned earlier this month, the combined units originally hit the market for roughly $120 million. Prior to this deal, the largest closing at the supertall was a penthouse that was asking $95 million but closed last year for $87.7 million. But it's still One57 that holds the record for the city's priciest residential deal, a penthouse that sold for $100.4 million in 2014.
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Real Estate Trends

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

Images (L to R): CAESURA, 777 SIXTH, 15 PARK ROW and 300 ASHLAND

December 19, 2017

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

By Ondel Hylton

In the Heart of Chelsea with an Entrance So Discrete It’s Almost a Secret [link] Caesura Leasing Launches for February 1 Move-Ins; Lending Library Lets Residents Pack Light [link] The Eugene Unveils The Hudson Club, Exclusive Rooftop Lounge with Panoramic City Views [link] 507 West Chelsea: Live Inside a 35-Story Glass Tower Above the High […]

Real Estate Trends

Everything you need to know about breaking a lease in NYC

Via Pixabay

December 19, 2017

Everything you need to know about breaking a lease in NYC

By Cait Etherington

Whether you’ve just been offered a dream job in Austin or decided to ditch New York City for a farmhouse in New Paltz, if you have a lease, you have problem. Leases are generally a good thing: They give tenants the right to stay in an apartment on a year to year or even bi-annual basis. If you need to vacate early, however, a lease can quickly start to feel like vice grip on your future. Fortunately, tenants, at least those living in rental buildings, do have some legal ways to opt out early. This guide outlines the ins and outs of lease breaking, how to find a qualified tenant, and what to do if you are currently renting in a condominium or co-op where lease breaking is a far more complex process.
Everything you need to know, right here

December 18, 2017

Extell’s first outer-borough skyscraper, Brooklyn Point, gets new renderings

By Devin Gannon

In October, Extell Development released a website with details about their luxury high-rise planned for Downtown Brooklyn. Two months later, they've released additional renderings of 138 Willougby, their first outer-borough tower. As YIMBY learned, the 720-foot skyscraper called Brooklyn Point, temporarily the tallest in Brooklyn, will have 458 condominiums designed by Katherine Newman that focus on blending "Brooklyn industrial chic” with a “refined mid-century aesthetic."
Get a first look inside

December 18, 2017

Macy’s executive pays $10.5M for Hilary Swank’s former West Village townhouse

By Emily Nonko

What was once Hilary Swank's picture-perfect townhouse, at 33 Charles in the West Village has found a new owner. Mansion Global reports that Harry A. Lawton III, the president of Macy's department store, paid $10.5 million for the three-story home. The townhouse was built in 1899, designated a New York City landmark in 1969, and has more recently undergone a gorgeous renovation. Adding to the home’s cachet, Swank lived here with then-husband Chad Lowe from 2002, when she purchased it for $3.9 million, until 2006, when it was sold for $8.25 million. The townhouse was then listed this June by Corcoran for $11.995 million and went into contract early November. The sellers, according to property records, are Clyde and Summer Anderson, who run Books-a-Million, the second largest bookstore chain in the U.S.
Take a look at the digs

‘True Blood’ actor Denis O’Hare sells landmarked Fort Greene carriage house duplex for $1.7M

Denis O’Hare image via Wikimedia Commons

December 15, 2017

‘True Blood’ actor Denis O’Hare sells landmarked Fort Greene carriage house duplex for $1.7M

By Michelle Cohen

The Fort Greene condo listed in September by actor Denis O'Hare of "American Horror Story" and "True Blood" fame has sold for $1.7 million according to city records. The Tony Award-winner and Emmy nominee purchased the duplex at 159 Carlton Avenue for a mere $175,000 in 1998. The landmarked 2,015-square-foot carriage house was formerly the Feuchtwanger Stable. O'Hare's husband, interior designer Hugo Redwood, spent the last 19 years renovating the historic condo, preserving the arched windows that once allowed horses and carriages to enter, transforming the space into an open, loft-like home. The condo was listed for $1,595,000.
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First official look at David Adjaye’s 800-foot Financial District condo tower

Renderings courtesy of Lightstone

December 15, 2017

First official look at David Adjaye’s 800-foot Financial District condo tower

By Dana Schulz

Nearly four years after wrapping up his first NYC project, Harlem's Sugar Hill affordable housing development, renowned British architect David Adjaye is inching closer to completing his first skyscraper in the city. Preliminary plans for his Financial District condo tower surfaced in May, but developer Lightstone has shared the first official reveal of the tower, now known as 130 William. The height has increased from 750 to 800 feet, or 61 to 66 stories, and it will hold 244 residences. Adjaye says the "rich history" of one of "the city's earliest streets" influenced the building's unique concrete form. "I was inspired to craft a building that turns away from the commercial feel of glass and that instead celebrates New York’s heritage of masonry architecture with a distinctive presence in Manhattan’s skyline," he said.
More details and renderings ahead

JFK’s TWA Flight Center Hotel tops out, on track to open in 2019 with the world’s largest hotel lobby

Image courtesy of MCR and Morse Development; Photo: Max Touhey.

December 15, 2017

JFK’s TWA Flight Center Hotel tops out, on track to open in 2019 with the world’s largest hotel lobby

By Michelle Cohen

MCR and Morse Development announced this week the topping out of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport less than a year after breaking ground on the project. Designed by celebrated 20th-century architect Eero Saarinen in 1962, The hotel is set to reopen in early 2019, when it will become JFK's only on-airport hotel. Saarinen’s iconic TWA Flight Center terminal building will serve as the hotel's lobby; at 200,000 square feet, it is thought to be the world's largest hotel lobby. Hotel guests and passengers will be able to access the hotel through the famous Saarinen passenger tubes that connect directly to JFK’s Terminal 5 as well as through via the AirTrain system.
Find out more about the rebirth of this mid-century modern icon

Sales at NYC’s 11 Trump-branded condos fall below average for the first time ever

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

December 13, 2017

Sales at NYC’s 11 Trump-branded condos fall below average for the first time ever

By Dana Schulz

As we close in on Donald Trump's first full year as President, it's interesting to look at his business endeavors have fared, and here in NYC, it looks as though the Donald's real estate empire is starting to crumble. According to CityRealty's Year-End Manhattan Market Report, both average sales price and average price per square foot at the 11 Trump-branded condos fell below the Manhattan condo average for the first time ever. Not surprisingly, the Trump International Hotel & Tower on Central Park West was the worst-performing, with average prices falling 27 percent. One of the company's most visible buildings, the condo was often the site of protests against the Trump administration throughout the year.
More on the 2017 market

Real Estate Trends

December 13, 2017

Essex Crossing rental gets new renderings and a new name to honor jazz legend Sonny Rollins

By Devin Gannon

Legendary jazz saxophonist and New York City native Sonny Rollins lived in an apartment on the Lower East Side home for many years during the late 1950s. Although the building he called home has long been demolished, the sprawling development rising on the same site, Essex Crossing, will pay tribute to the iconic artist by naming one of the buildings after him. The Rollins, a 15-story rental building at 145 Clinton Street, sits near the entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge, a spot where Rollins practiced every day for two years. As the New York Times reported, the Rollins, designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, will include 107 market-rate apartments, which start at $3,150 for a studio, $4,450 for a one-bedroom, $5,800 for a two-bedroom and $8,450 for a three-bedroom. Leasing will begin in January for these market-rate units.
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Real Estate Trends

Michael C. Hall buys $4.3M El Dorado classic six

Michael C. Hall image via Wikimedia Commons.

December 13, 2017

Michael C. Hall buys $4.3M El Dorado classic six

By Michelle Cohen

The iconic El Dorado seems to have retained some of its celebrity cachet despite the decampment of Alec Baldwin and Bruce Willis; the New York Post reports that Michael C. Hall of "Dexter," "Six Feet Under" and David Bowie’s “Lazarus” fame just snagged a 10th floor apartment at 300 Central Park West. The Golden Globe winner and his wife Morgan paid $4.3 million for a newly-renovated 2,200 square-foot two-bedroom unit in the Emery Roth-designed co-op, according to city records. The Golden Globe-winner also owns a two-bedroom apartment in the pricey Greenwich Lane complex at 160 West 12th Street which was on the rental market last year for $15,000 a month.
Take a peek

December 12, 2017

COOKFOX unveils design for five eco-conscious high-rises in Hudson Square

By Devin Gannon

COOKFOX Architects released new renderings this week of its five proposed high-rise buildings in Hudson Square, part of the redevelopment of St. John's Terminal into a nearly two-million-square-foot complex of housing, retail and office space. As CityRealty learned, the design calls for an industrial-meets-earthy design with deftly sculpted towers detailed with geometric setbacks and planted terraces. Located near Pier 40, the proposed buildings will hold a total of 1,586 apartments, with 30 percent of them below market rate, office spaces, a hotel and about 400,000 square feet of retail.
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December 12, 2017

Waterline Square mega-development tops out on the Upper West Side

By Devin Gannon

Waterline Square, a mega-development consisting of three luxury residential high-rises and measuring 2.2 million square feet, officially topped out this week, one of the most ambitious projects to hit the Upper West Side in decades. GID Development Group commissioned three major New York City architecture firms, Richard Meier & Partners, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Rafael Viñoly, to design One Waterline Square, Two Waterline Square and Three Waterline Square, respectively. The 263 condominiums of the development, located between West 59th Street and West 61st Street on the Hudson River, will commence closings in late 2018. There will also be 800 rental units available, with 20 percent of them below market rate. Hill West Architects serves as the executive architect on the project.
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December 11, 2017

Producer Bob Weinstein makes no profit on $15M Upper West Side townhouse sale

By Annie Doge

Bob Weinstein, founder of Dimension Films and co-founder of Miramax Films, which he started with his brother, disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, has all but broken even on the sale of his Upper West Side townhouse. He bought the huge home at 39 West 70th Street for $15 million back in 2009 with ex-wife Annie Clayton. They listed it for $19 million last February and then dropped the price to $17.9 million earlier this month, but city records published today show that it was sold again for $15 million. Not only did the buyer get a bargain, but they'll get to enjoy the home's period details, rear garden, terraces, roof deck, and a gym with a half-sized basketball court.
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December 11, 2017

Extell’s proposal for the Upper West Side’s tallest tower faces backlash from the community

By Devin Gannon

Architecture firm Snøhetta revealed last month their design for a 775-foot condominium tower at 50 West 66th Street, slated to be the tallest building on the Upper West Side. Developed by Extell, the condo will rise 69 stories and contain 127 units, featuring series of “sculptural excavations” that are “evocative of the chiseled stone of Manhattan’s geologic legacy,” according to the architects. As the New York Times reported, critics of the project from the UWS community say the tower would violate zoning restrictions in the area. Local advocate groups, joined by Council Member Helen Rosenthal and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, are pushing back against the construction of Extell's ultra-luxury tower. In a statement, Rosenthal said, "We will fight this project with every tool at our disposal."
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