Real Estate Trends

December 14, 2016

Average Manhattan sales price tops $2M for first time

Despite chatter about the luxury market slowing down, 2016 has seen Manhattan real estate prices continue to climb and set records. The average sales price for an apartment (including both co-ops and condos) was $2.2 million, topping the $1.9 million record set last year, according to CityRealty's newly released Year-End Manhattan Market Report. This is a whopping 91 percent increase from 2006. And things heat up even more in the new development sector, where 1,800 units sold for a projected total of $8.9 billion, a huge jump from last year's $5.4 billion for $1,464 units.
More record-setting data ahead

Real Estate Trends

December 12, 2016

Office landlord SL Green may trade One Vanderbilt for J.P. Morgan’s two Midtown office towers

By Dana Schulz

SL Green, the city's largest office landlord, "pulled off one of New York's biggest office deals of 2016" when they secured $1.5 billion in construction financing for their supertall tower One Vanderbilt, which is expected to ultimately cost a whopping $3.14 billion. The developer is now looking to rake in even more dollars off the deal, reports the Wall Street Journal, as they've proposed to J.P. Morgan Chase (one of the Syndication Agents in the financing) a swap out where the bank would trade its two headquarters buildings at 383 Madison Avenue and 277 Park Avenue for the recently-under-construction, 1,401-foot office tower.
More on the story

Real Estate Trends

December 12, 2016

Willem Dafoe unloads Lower East Side co-op for $860K

By Annie Doge

Though he's usually cast as the villain, off screen, Willem Dafoe leads a much less destructive life, splitting his time between Rome, Los Angeles, and NYC with his Italian-born wife Giada Colagrande. While in the big apple, the actor resides in a West Village penthouse, but in 2005, he and his son Jack purchased a Lower East Side co-op for $606,000. It went on the market for $850,000 in May, and judging by the listing photos (a little bit artsy, a little bit messy), it was either the younger Dafoe (a public-policy researcher) or another renter who was living there. The Observer reports that it's now sold above ask for $860,000.
See the place here

December 9, 2016

KBA Architects reveal ziggurat-like tower for Kellogg’s Diner-adjacent site in Williamsburg

By Dana Schulz

Back in March, 6sqft reported that a new hotel/rental tower at 500 Metropolitan Avenue had risen above ground, but there was still a bit ambiguity surroundings its final design. Now, just as the Williamsburg building has topped out, CityRealty uncovered the final renderings from KBA Architects. The firm created a 14-story, ziggurat-like structure that will slope down from the adjacent site of longtime local haunt Kellogg's Diner and offer a slew of trendy amenities.
More views and details

December 8, 2016

NYU reveals design for $1B 23-story building at controversial Greenwich Village site

By Dana Schulz

NYU's controversial plan to replace their Coles Sports Center site at the corner of Mercer and Houston Streets received approvals way back in 2012, but due to community opposition and lawsuits, they only filed plans and began demolition this October. The Wall Street Journal now shares the first renderings of the hulking, 23-story, 735,000-square-foot building at 181 Mercer Street designed by Davis Brody Bond (who's also responsible for the 9/11 Museum) and KieranTimberlake. It will cost a whopping $1 billion and host a bevy of uses, including 60 classrooms, common spaces, two cafes, practice/instruction rooms for the arts, three theaters, a giant athletic facility that'll have four basketball courts and a six-lane lap pool, 30 to 60 faculty apartments, and a 420-bed freshman dorm.
Lots more renderings and details

December 8, 2016

Norman Foster will design 985-foot tower at 50 Hudson Yards

By Dana Schulz

It's been 14 months since developer Related Companies bought the site of a former McDonald's at 34th Street and 10th Avenue, the final parcel needed to complete Hudson Yards. Initial reports said the site of 50 Hudson Yards would hold a 62-story, 1,000+ foot commercial tower, but Related and Oxford Properties Group have now revealed that the structure will rise 58 stories and 985 feet and be designed by starchitect Norman Foster. As first reported by Curbed, the news comes on the heels of BlackRock's decision to sign a 20-year lease for 15 floors, or 850,000 square feet, in the building, leaving their long-time Park Avenue home in a show of confidence in the mega-complex.
Get more details ahead

December 7, 2016

Condos at 432 Park selling at an average discount of 10 percent

By Dana Schulz

432 Park Avenue may be the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere and home to the most expensive apartment closing this year, but throughout 2016, the tower's ultra-luxury condos were selling at an average discount of 10 percent, according to an analysis by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. for Bloomberg. And a recent transaction saw an even greater price cut; Lewis Sanders, founder and CEO of Sanders Capital and former CEO of AllianceBernstein, bought an 88th floor penthouse for $60.9 million, 20 percent less than its $76.5 asking price.
What's the deal?

Real Estate Trends

December 6, 2016

‘Tonight Show’ announcer and ‘SNL’ writer Steve Higgins buys $1.8M classic UWS co-op

By Dana Schulz

Steve Higgins, announcer of "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" and SNL writer and producer, and his wife Ellen have dropped $1,797,000 on a traditional Upper West Side co-op according to recent city records. Though the listing says it'll need a renovation, the two-bedroom, pre-war apartment at 131 Riverside Drive has the coveted bones of a classic six--a large entry foyer, handsome fireplace mantle, 9' 10" ceilings, and attractive crown and picture moldings.
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December 6, 2016

Leonardo DiCaprio loses $2 million on sale of his eco-friendly Greenwich Village apartment

By Annie Doge

A $2 million real estate loss sounds like quite the hit, but to environmental activist and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, whose net worth is $217 million, it probably won't make too big of a dent. Back in 2014, he dropped $10 million on a three-bedroom Greenwich Village condo in The Delos, an uber eco-friendly building that boasts vitamin C-infused showers, purified air and water, in-duct aromatherapy, and posture-supporting flooring. He rarely resided there (he owns another environmentally conscious apartment in Battery Park City), but has been renting the apartment for $25,000 a month since March 2015 to Bill Clinton's economic policy advisor Jonathan Orszag. Now the Observer reports that the apartment has sold to an LLC for $8 million.
See the whole spread

December 5, 2016

One Vanderbilt confirms 1,020-foot observation deck

By Dana Schulz

It's been almost a year since 6sqft first heard inklings that One Vanderbilt--the city's second tallest tower--would offer a sky-high observation deck, and now that developer SL Green has secured $1.5 billion in construction financing and broken ground on the 1,401-foot supertall, they'e confirmed that the tower will, in fact, have an sky deck. Bloomberg reports that the viewing platform will be located at the 1,020-foot mark, which will make it the third-highest indoor-outdoor observatory in the city after the forthcoming 1,100-foot deck at 30 Hudson Yards and the Empire State Building's at 1,050 feet (One World Observatory is at 1,250 feet, but it's not outdoors).
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Colin Kaepernick scores $3.2 million pad in Tribeca’s luxury One York

By Annie Doge

Mansion Global reports that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who made national headlines and became a campaign topic when he chose not to stand during the National Anthem, dropped $3.21 million on a luxury condo at One York in Tribeca. The 29-year-old NFL player recently listed his San Jose mansion for $2.895 million, igniting rumors that he'll leave the team after this season. The sale in New York may add further fuel to the fire, but it actually closed in July through a family trust, prior to his August sit-ins.
See the apartment here

December 2, 2016

Jemima Kirke’s dad, ‘Bad Company’ Drummer Simon Kirke, buys $1.3M Gramercy co-op

By Annie Doge

English drummer Simon Kirke, of Free and Bad Company and father to "Girls" actress Jemima Kirke, sold his Hamptons beach cottage for almost $1.4 million over the summer, and it looks like he's used those earnings to buy a Manhattan home. Though he allegedly toured a $1.7 million spread at the famed Dakota in August, the Observer reports that Kirke spent of $1.3 million on a corner co-op at 201 East 17th Street in Gramercy.
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December 2, 2016

Richard Meier’s first NYC skyscraper starts its climb above street level in Turtle Bay

By Dana Schulz

Richard Meier's 685 First Avenue--the starchitect's largest and tallest building in the city to date--has begun its above-ground ascent, reports CityRealty. The 42-story, 460-foot-tall slab tower is located along the East River at 40th Street, just south of the United Nations, and has gained attention for its dark glass facade, a noticeable shift from Meier's signature beige aesthetic. Its 408 rentals and 148 condominiums are expected to be completed by early 2019, and now that construction is "craned and above street level," the project is well on its way.
More this way

December 2, 2016

State seeks proposals for massive development above South Bronx rail yard tracks

By Michelle Cohen

As the city's land costs rise, interest has been focused on the South Bronx, including the potential for a huge waterfront development above the MTA's Concourse Yards, as 6sqft previously reported. Now, Crains reports that Empire State Development (ESD) has invited developers to present offers for leasing or purchasing a 13-acre South Bronx rail yard along the Harlem River just north of the Willis Avenue Bridge and decking it over to build a residential or mixed-use project.
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Real Estate Trends

December 2, 2016

How 100 years of zoning has shaped New York City

By Cait Etherington

In October, city officials unveiled plans to rezone a large swath of East Harlem. The major thrust of the rezoning initiative is to bring more high-rise buildings to a corridor running several blocks along Park, Second, and Third avenues. By building up, city officials hope the neighborhood will increase its housing stock, including its affordable […]

November 30, 2016

Renderings revealed for adaptive reuse Maker Park along the Williamsburg waterfront

By Dana Schulz

Plans for Bushwick Inlet Park, a 28-acre open space along an unused industrial stretch of the Williamsburg waterfront, first came about in 2005, when the Bloomberg administration rezoned the area to allow for new residential development in exchange for the open space. Fast forward to last week, and the city finally acquired the last piece of land for the project, the controversial Citistorage site. Now that the park is on its way to becoming a reality, a trio of grassroots creatives hopes to bring their alternative vision for the former Bayside Oil Depot site to the forefront. Maker Park is the proposal to adaptively reuse this seven-acre parcel's architectural infrastructure--namely the ten 50-foot decommissioned fuel containers--and create a "park as creative as the neighborhood around it." The Architect's Newspaper recently revealed the first set of renderings, which showcase performance venues, art galleries, hanging gardens, reflecting pools, and an adventure playground.
More views and design details

November 30, 2016

Designers at ArX Solutions offer their own take on a Waldorf Astoria interior renovation

By Dana Schulz

The final checkout for hotel guests at the iconic Waldorf Astoria is March 1st, after which its new owner, Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group, will begin converting the 1,413 hotel rooms into 840 renovated hotel rooms and 321 luxury condos to the tune of $1 billion. Earlier this month, the developer filed these plans with the Department of Buildings, which also call for adding retail space, a restaurant, and a fitness center on the ground floors. They'll retain the historic ballrooms, exhibition space, dining rooms, and banquet rooms, but will still need approvals from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for any work on these public spaces; the building has long been an exterior landmark, but the LPC recently calendared a request to landmark the Art Deco interiors. Though no designs have been approved or confirmed, CityRealty dug up renderings from architectural visualization firm ArX Solutions that show their vision of space*.
More renderings and details

November 28, 2016

New renderings for COOKFOX’s 700-foot Financial District condo tower 25 Park Row

By Dana Schulz

Over the summer, L+M Development Partners demolished the former Financial District flagship of J&R Music and Computer World to make way for a 54-story, mixed-use condo tower at 25 Park Row, just across from City Hall Park in an area quickly becoming a more vibrant, 24-hour neighborhood. Site excavation is now well underway for the 700-foot building, reports CityRealty, […]

November 28, 2016

Locals push for Sutton Place rezoning ahead of auction for site of planned 950-foot tower

By Dana Schulz

Despite the fact that the site is headed to the auction block next month, local residents and elected officials are rallying to prevent the possible construction of a 950-foot condo tower on East 58th Street in tony Sutton Place. Curbed reports that the group, which includes Councilmen Ben Kallos and Dan Garodnick and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, have submitted a plan to the City Planning Commission that proposes a height cap of 260 feet for the area bounded by East 52nd and East 59th streets east of First Avenue where there is currently no limit on how tall apartment towers can be.
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November 21, 2016

‘Monk’ actor Tony Shalhoub drops $4M on classic Upper West Side co-op

By Annie Doge

Emmy Award-winning actor Tony Shalhoub of "Monk" fame, along with wife Brooke Adams, has picked up a $3,995,000 Upper West Side co-op, according to LLNYC. The pre-war pad at 15 West 81st Street boats a 60-foot-wide terrace with "side views" of Central Park and two master suites, as well as historic details like herringbone oak floors, nine-foot beamed ceilings, crown and base moldings, and original Emery Roth-designed doorknobs and hardware.
See more of the apartment

November 21, 2016

Site of planned Norman Foster-designed Sutton Place condo tower to be auctioned off next month

By Michelle Cohen

The 262,000-square-foot project that includes plans for a 900-foot-tall luxury condominium tower drawn up by British architect Sir Norman Foster of Foster + Partners that embattled developer Joseph Beninati had hoped to build in the heart of Sutton Place is set to be auctioned next month, according to Crains. As 6sqft previously reported, the sale of the property at 3 Sutton Place was authorized in September to pay back creditors and partners who were owed money from the derailed project, and a source has told Crain's that an auction is scheduled for December 13 with bids due by December 8.
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The neighbors who arrived first: Cherry Street residents prepare for One Manhattan Square

Images via Extell and Google Maps

November 21, 2016

The neighbors who arrived first: Cherry Street residents prepare for One Manhattan Square

By Cait Etherington

Images via Extell and Google Maps The construction of Extell’s high-rise condo development at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge is now well underway. When complete, 250 South Street (formerly 227 Cherry Street) will rise more than 80 stories above the East River and be home to just under 800 units, but that’s not all. As the Extell […]

Real Estate Trends

November 18, 2016

UES studio Andy Warhol rented for $150/month sells for $10 million

By Diane Pham

In addition to being one of the world's most iconic artists, Andy Warhol appears to have had the Midas touch for real estate. In 2013, Warhol's one-time townhouse on Lexington Avenue sold $5.5 million—he paid just $60,000 for it in 1959; then last October, the artist's former Montauk compound, which he paid just $225,000 for in 1972, sold for a whopping $50 million; and now, as The Real Deal reports, the ramshackle Upper East Side studio he rented for paltry $150 a month has just traded hands for an incredible $9.9 million.
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November 18, 2016

Long Island’s ‘Amityville Horror’ house finds a brave buyer

By Dana Schulz

Presumably unfazed by the gruesome murders that took place there in 1974, an anonymous buyer has picked up Long Island's notorious "Amityville Horror" house. The five-bedroom Dutch Colonial came on the market for $850,000 in June, and Newsday now reports that it went into contract this week. Likely due to the fact that the address is where then-23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot his parents and four younger sisters while they slept, the listing broker said she won't "discuss the terms of a sale until it’s closed."
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

November 17, 2016

Budget woes and design disagreements cause Port Authority to stall on new bus terminal plans

By Dana Schulz

Just two months ago, West Side elected officials and the Port Authority agreed to move ahead on the 10-year, $10 billion capital project to replace the current Bus Terminal, releasing five design proposals for a new building. But officials at the bi-state agency "have reached an impasse" on the project due to budget concerns and disagreements on the design, reports Crain's.
The full story

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