Real Estate Trends

In a presentation (pdf) Tuesday at the Association for a Better New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that plans for transforming a revamped Penn Station-Moynihan Train Hall complex into a "world-class 21st century transportation hub" were back on track and ready to roll, complete with a slew of new renderings and the selection of a developer-builder team including the Related Companies, Vornado, and Skanska AB, to redevelop the Farley Building.
Find out all the details

The scene on the day of the explosion, via Uptown Radio

September 27, 2016

Second Avenue explosion victim sells vacant lot for $6M

When the Second Avenue gas explosion tore through three East Village buildings in March 2015, George Pasternak lost his property at 123 Second Avenue, which housed the famed Pommes Frites and a deli, by no fault of his own. And when the city demolished what remained, he was charged $350,000. But this past March, he listed the vacant lot for $9.7 million, and now 6sqft has uncovered property records that show he's made the sale for $6 million, significantly less than the asking price.
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Real Estate Trends

September 27, 2016

Sales launch with new renderings at 242 Broome Street, Essex Crossing’s first condos

Only one of the 10 towers at Essex Crossing--the 1.65 million-square-foot, mixed-use, mega-development underway on the Lower East Side--will offer condos, and those looking to buy a residence there now have their chance. Curbed reports that sales have launched at 242 Broome Street, the SHoP-designed tower that will house 55 one- to three-bedroom condos, 11 of which will be affordable. As 6sqft previously shared, market-rate units will range from $1,275,000 to $7,000,000. Along with this news comes the first set of interior renderings from DXA Studio, whose designs "balance serenity with modernism."
More details and renderings ahead

September 26, 2016

‘House of Cards’ and ‘The Strain’ actor Corey Stoll buys $2.4M Windsor Terrace townhouse

Native Upper West Sider and actor Corey Stoll--best known for his Golden Globe-nominated role as Congressman Peter Russo on "House of Cards" and for playing Dr. Ephraim Goodweather on "The Strain"--has a new Windsor Terrace townhouse, according to LL NYC. He and his wife, Broadway actress Nadia Bowers, dropped $2.4 million on the charming and quaint home, which was recently renovated and is just one block from Prospect Park.
Take a tour

September 23, 2016

Sales have launched for LES luxury condos next door to Katz’s deli for $1.075M and up

Developer Ben Shaoul's new Lower East Side condos adjacent to Katz's famous deli at 196 Orchard Street have just hit the market. Definitely in line with the 21st century version of the storied neighborhood, the 96 newly-minted apartments have luxurious finishes, expansive views and enviable amenities, with units starting at $1.075 million for a studio.
This way for more details and lots of interior renderings

September 23, 2016

Bill and Hillary Clinton pick up $1.16M Westchester property next to current home

Despite hopes for a move to Washington D.C., the Clintons are expanding their Westchester property, as the couple has picked up a $1.16 million ranch-style residence right next door to their current home, a larger house that they bought back in 1999 for $1.7 million. As the Post first reported, the powerful pair now own an entire cul-de-sac at the end of a Chappaqua block. In addition to giving the Clintons more space to stretch out in, the buy will apparently also make life easier for the Secret Service.
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September 21, 2016

POLL: Is Journal Square the Next Brooklyn?

These days, everything seems to get the Brooklyn stamp. The Post even went so far as to declare Pennsylvania's Amish Country the new incarnation of the borough. But a bit closer to home, Jersey City's Journal Square is making serious headway in the race to become the next frontier. As CityRealty.com recently explained, the slightly-inland area, easily accessible to Manhattan via the PATH train, is prime for development due to lower land and construction costs than the waterfront. At least 10 major residential projects are planned for Journal Square, and according to Ken Pasternack, chairman of developer KABR Group, "Rents for a new-development high rise will be $40 a square foot here, as opposed to $100 in Manhattan. We’re betting tens of millions of dollars that in the next 10 years, the neighborhood will be a brand on par with Brooklyn."
Do you agree?

Real Estate Trends

September 21, 2016

Sales launch at Renzo Piano’s first residential project in NYC

Last we heard from starchitect Renzo Piano's 565 Broome SoHo, his first residential project in the city, it was March and with construction underway, a slew of new renderings came online of the Soho condominium. Now Curbed reports that sales have finally launched at the pair of glassy, 30-story structures, with currently available units ranging from a $990,000 studio to a $6,135,000 two-bedroom (the penthouses and duplexes will top $20 million). Perhaps the most noteworthy tidbit from the press release is that some residences will feature "enormous private terraces with 25-foot private, saltwater pools," which seems to be a growing trend in the luxury market.
More details and new views

September 21, 2016

Debt-beleaguered site of Norman Foster’s 3 Sutton Place condo tower is cleared for sale

A US Bankruptcy Court judge has approved a plan to sell the 3 Sutton Place site at at 426-432 East 58th Street, one of the city's most luxurious old enclaves, reports the New York Post. Brokers have been selected to conduct the marketing of the 262,000-square-foot project that includes plans for a 900-foot-tall condominium tower drawn up by British architect Sir Norman Foster of Foster + Partners.
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A Trump empire built on $885 million in tax breaks has cost the city a fortune

If you've followed Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump's gold-plated real estate career, you might already know how much of his success has been due to his family's extensive political connections–and generous tax breaks, grants and incentives from the government and taxpayers. In case you haven't read Trump's 1987 bestseller "The Art of the Deal," the New York Times illuminates the role that hundreds of millions in tax breaks have played in the Trump empire. While Trump may not be much different from other developers in seeking tax breaks, the candidate vociferously paints a picture of a rigged system and a fixed game. But these very fixes have enabled him to achieve a net worth estimated at 4.5 billion and the opportunity to indulge a run for the nation’s highest office.
So what's been going on here?

September 16, 2016

Saudi billionaire seals the deal on the city’s highest home for record $88M

The most expensive apartment closing in New York City this year and one of the priciest sales ever is finally a done deal, reports The Real Deal. The apartment, the top penthouse at Rafael Viñoly-designed billionaire’s bunker 432 Park Avenue, is the priciest unit in the big-ticket building as well as being literally the city’s highest. As 6sqft previously reported, the buyer is Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Al Hokair. The sale price was $87.7 million—a skyscraping $10,623 per square foot.
More jumbo numbers, this way

Real Estate Trends

September 15, 2016

‘Humans of New York’ creator picks up $2.45M Chelsea duplex

You may not know Brandon Stanton by name, but you certainly know his photo-journalism project "Humans of New York." Launched six years ago, the social media sensation features interviews with thousands of people on the streets of New York, with special series focusing on groups like Syrian refugees and veterans, and it's now spread internationally. Stanton has encountered wild success, even authoring a book that spent 29 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and he's now scored a lovely Chelsea co-op, reports the Observer. He and fiancée Erin O’Sullivan dropped $2.45 million on the lovely duplex at 440 West 23rd Street, which features a two-level backyard garden.
See the whole place

September 15, 2016

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber buys second condo at Trump International for $7.6M

Though we're not sure about composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's political leanings in this country (he's a Conservative in Britain), he sure does seem to love some Donald Trump real estate. The Observer reports that the British musical theater impresario has dropped $7.6 million on a two-bedroom 35th-floor unit at Trump International in an off-market deal. He and his wife Madeleine already own another adjacent unit on the same floor in the Central Park West tower, which they bought in 2012 for $5.8 million after selling a Trump Tower duplex for $16.5 million in 2010.
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September 15, 2016

City Council approves La Central development, bringing nearly 1,000 affordable units to the Bronx

On Wednesday the New York City Council voted to approve the La Central development project in the Melrose section of the Bronx, the Daily News reports. The project, which will be designed by FXFOWLE architects, is slated to bring 992 apartments to the borough, all of them designated as affordable housing under Mayor de Blasio’s mandatory inclusionary housing (MIH) legislation. It is the biggest project to be approved to date under the MIH rules, which require some income restricted apartments in projects that need the city's approval.
Find out more and see more renderings

September 14, 2016

REVEALED: Thomas Heatherwick’s $150M climbable Hudson Yards sculpture ‘The Vessel’

It was nearly three years ago that Related Companies chairman Stephen Ross boasted that Hudson Yards' public art piece would be "New York’s Eiffel Tower," and after an unveiling today of the massive sculpture that will anchor the central public space, it seems he might not have been too far off.
More details and renderings this way

September 14, 2016

Interview: Time Equities’ Francis Greenburger, a Renaissance man in NYC

By 6sqft

Francis Greenburger is the definition of a Renaissance man. Beyond running the full-service real estate firm Time Equities, Inc., he also helms the Greenburger Center for Social and Criminal Justice, he serves as Chairman of the literary agency Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, Inc., and he is also deeply involved with the OMI International Arts Center—and this is on top of the numerous non-profits […]

September 13, 2016

$867 million in federal subsidies for three NYC sports stadiums a big loss

A recent Brookings institute study shows that federal government subsidies of big-ticket sports stadium construction are essentially money down the drain, The Real Deal reports. Three New York City stadiums--Yankee Stadium, Citi Field (both completed in 2009) and the Barclays Center--have accounted for a significant portion of these subsidies in the form of tax-exempt bonds, which have resulted in the loss of $3.7 billion in federal government revenues since 2000.
Not exactly a surprise...

September 13, 2016

$1B expansion of the Javits Center will commence this year

By Diane Pham

One of Governor Cuomo's biggest NYC projects will kick off construction by the end of this year. Per a press release released yesterday, the Cuomo administration has put out a request for proposals (RFP) for the first phase of the Jacob K. Javits Center's $1 billion expansion. The chosen firm will be responsible for the design and construction of a three-story building that will hold transformers, back-up generators, and other electrical equipment for the updated complex. This initial work will prepare the massive site for the larger expansion project that will increase the size of the events facility by 1.2 million square feet, bringing the total square footage to a hefty 3.3 million square feet.
more on the announcement here

Real Estate Trends

September 12, 2016

New views of curvaceous 15 Hudson Yards ahead of this week’s sales launch

15 Hudson Yards, the first of two residential towers that Related Companies and Oxford Properties have planned for the massive complex, started its climb into the far west side skyline back in March, and now, seven months later, it's readying for a sales launch this week. According to a press release, condos will start at about $2 million for one-bedrooms and go up to $30 million for the penthouses. To coincide with the 285 market-rate condos hitting the market (there will also be 106 affordable rentals, for which details have yet to be released), YIMBY has gotten its hands on new renderings of the 910-foot building, which, as 6sqft previously described, has been dubbed the "Morph Tower" for its "curvaceous and feminine design" from Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Rockwell Group. The images provide new views of the bundled quad of cylinders that make up its body, as well as its rectilinear base that will abut the Shed.
More renderings and details ahead

September 8, 2016

REVEALED: World Trade Center Performing Arts Center will be a translucent marble cube

After stalling for years, the $243 million World Trade Center Performing Arts Center started to make headway in recent months, first with a decision to go with REX as the designers and then with a $75 million gift from Billionaire businessman and philanthropist Ronald O. Perelman (who is gaining naming rights). And finally, the official renderings have been revealed, and they showcase a nearly 90,000-square-foot, translucent veined marble cube that both stands out as an impressive piece of cultural architecture and co-exists with the other structures on the WTC complex such as the 9/11 Museum and transportation hub. According to a press release from developer Silverstein Properties, "The Perelman Center is inspired by the Center’s mission to defy experiential expectations. Its design cues were taken from [an] aim to foster artistic risk, incubate original productions, provide unparalleled flexibility, and deliver the most technologically advanced and digitally connected spaces for creative performance."
See all the renderings

September 8, 2016

Author Junot Diaz makes a big profit on sale of Hamilton Heights townhouse

The Post reports that Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz's Hamilton Heights townhouse at 529 West 141st Street has entered contract for $2.3 million, after he paid a mere $380,000 for it in 2002. He won't be pocketing all of it, though, as the sale comes amid an "an ugly, five-year court battle" with ex-girlfriend and state Senate candidate Marisol Alcantara over ownership of the three-family home. But $2 million split two ways is not too shabby.
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September 8, 2016

Would you flee New York if Trump becomes president?

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Every four years, in the lead up to the presidential election, a new group of voters declare they will leave the country if their candidate does not get elected. According to the Google Data Editor Simon Rogers, searches for “how can I move to Canada” spiked 350 percent following March’s Super Tuesday results. But, in […]

Real Estate Trends

September 7, 2016

Kylie Jenner may have bought a $7M Tribeca penthouse

Unlike big sis Kim, Kylie Jenner may actually be paying for her NYC digs. Tribeca Citizen first reported information from an anonymous source that the model and youngest member of the Kardashian clan purchased a Tribeca penthouse, and Curbed determined, based on an Instagram photo and sales records, that it may be the $7 million top-floor unit at 15 Leonard Street. The five-bedroom triplex not only has luxurious interior details like floating concrete stairs and a limestone-clad master bath, but it boasts six outdoor terraces (perfect for setting up film crews).
Check it out

September 6, 2016

Molly Ringwald sells East Village duplex to noted fashion photographer for $1.7M