Real Estate Trends

December 31, 2016

From a Trump presidency to rental prices, NYC real estate experts share their 2017 predictions

CityRealty spoke with New York City real estate experts—everyone from developers to architects to contractors to brokers—on their predictions for the upcoming year in the city’s ever-changing real estate market. From the presidential election of real estate magnate Donald Trump to the likely return of 421A tax incentives, 2017 promises big changes ahead. And yes, […]

Real Estate Trends

December 27, 2016

Amy Schumer finally sheds her Upper West Side walk-up penthouse

By Annie Doge

Amy Schumer will have a little extra to celebrate over this week. According to the Post, the comedienne has finally found a buyer for her Upper West Side co-op. Schumer originally put the adorable pad up for sale in November 2015 for $2.075 million and it's been on and off the market since then seeing several price chops. The home was last listed for $1.625 million and is said to be in contract with an unknown buyer for an unknown amount.
more details and photos inside here

December 22, 2016

Chloe Sevigny’s glamorous $2.75M Park Slope co-op goes into contract

By Annie Doge

Just 42 days after it hit the market for $2.75 million, and a mere two days since 6sqft and other media outlets reported on it, Chloe Sevigny's Park Slope co-op has gone into contract, a tipster tells us. The Indie actress bought the pre-war spread at 9 Prospect Park West for $2,053,000 in 2013, after which she completed a renovation that created a chic space with "a sophisticated mix of classic furniture and interesting artwork."
See the whole place

December 21, 2016

First look at the artsy common spaces of 5Pointz-replacing rental towers

By Dana Schulz

It's been three years since Long Island City's beloved graffiti mecca 5Pointz was whitewashed overnight and a year and a half since renderings first surfaced of the bland 41- and 47-story rental towers that would replace the site at 22-44 Jackson Avenue. Despite a perceived lack of respect towards the artistic community, G&M Realty’s David Wolkoff eventually said he planned to set aside 20 artists’ studios and displays to make up for those lost at 5Pointz, and it looks like he's making good on his word. HTO Architect, who designed the towers, initially put forth views of a large public park and rotating mural exhibit that would fill the space between the buildings, and now 6sqft has uncovered renderings from Mojo Stumer of the artsy entryway, lobby and pool, which reveal the graffiti-inspired logo for the project.
See it all right here

December 20, 2016

Late fashion designer L’Wren Scott’s Chelsea ‘Sky Garage’ apartment sells for $6.5 million

By Michelle Cohen

The Chelsea apartment that had been the home of late fashion designer L’Wren Scott has sold for $6.5 million according to public records. The 3,328-square-foot duplex at the Annabelle Selldorf-designed 200 Eleventh Avenue was listed earlier this year for $8.25 million after Scott’s tragic suicide shocked the fashion world in 2014 (h/t New York Post). Scott, who was Mick Jagger's longtime girlfriend, had purchased the home in 2010 for 5.6 million. The apartment was one of the building's famed Sky Garage units with a car elevator leading to a private 337 square-foot garage adjacent to the apartment.
Celebrity neighbors and a Sky Garage

December 19, 2016

Louis C.K. drops $2.45M on another Greenwich Village apartment

By Annie Doge

Comedian Louis C.K. (real name Louis Székely) already owns four units in a West Village brownstone, but these were joint purchases with his ex-wife, painter Alix Baily. Though they openly maintain a good relationship, he's now ventured out on his own, as the Observer reports that he dropped $2.45 million on a two-bedroom co-op at 101 West 12th Street, a larger apartment building a few blocks away.
Check it out

December 16, 2016

Durst Organization pays $173.5M for LIC site once slated for tallest tower in Queens

By Diane Pham

Back in 2015, Property Markets Group and the Hakim Organization announced plans to erect the tallest tower outside of Manhattan in Long Island City at 29-37 41st Avenue. The residential building, then dubbed Queens Plaza Park, would rise 914 feet atop a Queens Plaza site and boast high-end condos and a projected $363.2 million sellout. However, in July 2016, the developers abandoned those plans, putting the site up for sale for an undisclosed amount. Now, as the Times reports, the Durst Organization has scooped up the site for $173.5 million and is considering going forward with the massive construction, but as a rental tower with more than 1 million square feet.
READ MORE

December 15, 2016

Are concessions and a high vacancy rate a sign the rental bubble will burst?

By Michelle Cohen

In the past year or so, there has been no shortage of talk about inventory glut, flat rental prices and bursting bubbles; Now, Slate blogger Henry Grabar has rustled up some numbers and real-life examples to go with the chatter, and we're guessing they weren't too hard to find. According to Grabar, a vacancy rate at its highest since 2009 (with a staggering amount of inventory in the pipeline), and the percentage of rental price chops at a record 42 percent in October point to an impending renter's market of comparatively epic proportions.
More on the horizon, literally

Real Estate Trends

December 14, 2016

ODA’s Rheingold Brewery rental will offer 100 affordable units in Bushwick

By Dana Schulz

The day after securing a $93 construction loan, the Rabsky Group has announced that 100 out of the 500 rentals at their massive Rheingold Brewery development will be below-market rate. As Curbed notes, Bushwick residents have been advocating that the 400,000-square-foot project include affordable housing since it was first announced, spurred not only by the neighborhood's need, but the fact that Rabsky had no legal obligation to include affordable units.
READ MORE

POLL: Would you spend $500K for a down payment in Manhattan?

By Dana Schulz

6sqft has previously shared data that it only makes sense to buy a home in New York City after having lived here for 18.2 years, longer than anywhere else in the nation by a long shot. When and if that time comes, Manhattanities are looking to drop an average of $500,000 for a down payment, according to a new report from Property Shark. To put this figure into perspective, the average price nationwide to buy an entire home is $300,000. And in the Manhattan luxury market, the median down payment is a whopping $3.15 million, which might explain why, according to 2014 census data, only 32% of New Yorkers owned their homes.
What would you do?

Real Estate Trends

December 14, 2016

Average Manhattan sales price tops $2M for first time

By Dana Schulz

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.
READ MORE

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).
Find out more

December 2, 2016

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.
READ MORE

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.
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

Real Estate Trends

Pitch a Story

Interested in seeing the property in person?

Interested in seeing the property in person?

Distinctive Post Form

Get in Touch

Send us a Tip

Interesting in learning more about purchasing a new home?

Thinking about selling your home?

Sell a Home (Footer)

Before You Move On from this Page.

Your Passport to NYC:Subscribe for Local Insights and Stories!

Before You Move On
from this Page.

Your Passport to NYC:
Subscribe for Local Insights and Stories!