Real Estate Trends

By Ondel Hylton and Julian Friedman

Although 400,000 is the official head count of residents in New York City’s public housing units, estimates say that figure may be much higher, and that 100,000 to 200,000 more people live there off the books, Slate reports. In a way it's hardly news: People live with relatives, friends and roommates while they aren't the primary leaseholders–almost standard fare in a regular rental apartment (though market rate tenants may run afoul of the lease if anyone wanted to make a case). The city's public housing units are over 50 years old and in dire need of updates and repairs, but because the city is becoming ever more unaffordable for anyone on a meager income, the real tally of people who live in these buildings could be as much as 50 percent higher than the official number.
Find out more about NYCHA's shadow population

Stuff You Should Know: How Air Rights Work

Image of One57 © Wade Zimmerman courtesy of Agence Christian de Portzamparc (ACDP)

March 3, 2016

Stuff You Should Know: How Air Rights Work

By Diane Pham

“For whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to Heaven and down to Hell.” Most folks outside the architecture and real estate industries are likely to believe that putting up a new skyscraper is simply about finding an empty lot to build up. However, those in the know understand that it takes much more than a stretch of space and a good […]

March 3, 2016

New Renderings and Video Released for Sheepshead Bay’s Waterfront Vue Condominium

Rybak Development's latest venture named the Vue Condominium will add a bit of pizzazz and a sizable plaza to a popular stretch of Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay. Rising from a prominent, full-block parcel at the intersection of Emmons and Sheepshead Bay Road, the envisioned eight-story structure replaces former neighborhood fixture the El Greco Diner, whose site was snapped up by Sergey Rybak and Jason Reznik for $13 million in late 2014. The project first appeared one year ago, and now a handful of renderings and a video have been released by the developers. The 175,000-square-foot structure will be the first LEED Certified building in south Brooklyn and will house 58 condos, 26,000 square feet of retail, two commercial office units, and a 134-car garage shared by tenants and businesses. The 9,000- square-foot plaza will take up a quarter of the development site and will have raised planters, ambiance lighting and bicycle parking.
Watch the video and see more renderings

March 2, 2016

Will Donald Trump’s Divisive Rhetoric Hurt His Real Estate Business?

By Diane Pham

Trump may have swept the southern states on Super Tuesday, but in true blue New York City and other regions with liberal leanings, the presidential candidate remains as polarizing as ever. As such, since announcing his run last year, Trump has been dumped by everyone from NBC (he was axed as the host of “Celebrity Apprentice” […]

Real Estate Trends

Lightstone’s Paris-on-the-Gowanus Rental Building at 365 Bond Street Opens

363-365 Bond Street, via Lightstone Group

March 1, 2016

Lightstone’s Paris-on-the-Gowanus Rental Building at 365 Bond Street Opens

One of the Lightstone Group's two new rental buildings in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood is set to open Tuesday. The new residence at 365 Bond Street, along with its neighbor at 363 Bond (a year from completion) represent a $350 million effort by the developer to build 700 luxury rental apartments on the left bank of the Gowanus Canal. Designed to look like an historic brick-walled warehouse, market-rate apartments at 365 Bond start at over $2,000 a month for a studio and over $3,000 for a one-bedroom unit, according to the Wall Street Journal. Lightstone President Mitchell Hochberg says the project was inspired by the Canal Saint-Martin neighborhood in Paris, known for a residential project near a similarly polluted waterway which helped create a "newly hip atmosphere."
Find out more

Beyond Bars: Designers Reimagine Rikers Island As a Destination

Curtis + Ginsberg Architects’ “city blocks”

February 29, 2016

Beyond Bars: Designers Reimagine Rikers Island As a Destination

The 413-acre plot of city-owned land, most of it landfill, that makes up Rikers Island is known more for its impenetrable prison than its waterfront property and breathtaking city views. Recently City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for the closing of the jail complex, reports Crains, calling it an "ineffective, inefficient,” symbol of outdated policies and approach to criminal justice. An independent commission headed by Jonathan Lippman, the state's former top judge, is creating a blueprint for accomplishing the prison’s closing. There is significant opposition to the idea, though others, from Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the New York Times editorial board are behind it.
Find out what could replace the jail

February 29, 2016

Riverside Center’s One West End Avenue Tops Off, Cantilevering Pool and All

Propelled skyward by the still-sizzling Upper West Side residential market and its dearth of buildable sites, the final phase of the Riverside South master plan is coming together alas. After decades on the drawing board, this southern-most, eight-acre segment collectively known as Riverside Center/Waterline Center has already spawned a pair of residential buildings designed by SLCE Architects and another by Pelli Clarke Pelli with Goldstein, Hill & West Architects (GHWA). Three other parcels to the west are now undergoing site preparation. Those lots will give rise to a trio condo and rental buildings whose developer, Boston-based General Investment and Development Companies (GID), has enlisted a trio of high caliber designers working with GHWA, the executive architect of record. Work has moved forward swiftly on the the plan's first two towers. The shorter of the pair, known as One West End , has just topped off its 491-foot concrete skeleton and is being developed through a partnership between the Elad Group and Silverstein Properties. The robust 41-story spire is the second tallest building on West End Avenue, only behind its more anonymous 521-foot-tall rental neighbor 21 West End.
Details, renderings, and construction photos this way

February 26, 2016

Actors Kerry Bishé and Chris Lowell Buy $2M Skylit Soho Loft

Actors Kerry Bishé (from the AMC drama “Halt and Catch Fire” and the film “Argo”) and "Veronica Mars" veteran Chris Lowell just picked up a gorgeous $2.25 million triplex loft with outdoor space at 196 Sixth Avenue near Hudson Square in Soho. Luxury Listings reports that the 1,292-square-foot loft has 20-foot ceilings, arched windows, exposed brick walls and massive skylights. Lowell listed his Greenwich Village loft back in December, and interestingly, his former bachelor pad also had big arched windows and exposed brick, though the new digs are definitely a bit of an upgrade and more of a love nest.
Take a look

February 26, 2016

Renderings Revealed for Downtown Supertall 45 Broad Street

Back in January, 6sqft uncovered preliminary renderings of downtown supertall 45 Broad Street, a project of Madison Equities and Italy-based Pizzarotti Group that's reportedly being designed by the architects at CetraRuddy. The design showed a presumably glass tower, "crowned by a distinctive pitched roof and an angling cantilever located some 400 feet above street level along its northern facade." After groundwork began at the site earlier this month, The Real Deal has now obtained more concrete views of the tower, which will stretch 1,100 feet high, have 86 floors, and contain 245 condo residences catering to entry- and mid-level buyers. The new renderings mimic the original massing, but show much more detail, like the golden, Gothic-inspired ribs traveling up the facade, the pointed crown, and the narrow mid portion.
More details ahead

Port Authority Will Hold Opening Ceremony for WTC Transportation Hub After All

On Tuesday, news broke that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would not be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony when the World Trade Center Transportation Hub opens next week. They called Santiago Calatrava's project "a symbol of excess." Perhaps feeling the backlash from their decision, the agency sent out a press release yesterday saying that though there will still be no event to mark the opening on March 3rd at 3pm, they will hold a ceremony once the Hub is fully up and running this spring, according to the Wall Street Journal. They credit their change of heart to a desire to thank the thousands of workers who built the station. Additionally, Port Authority Chairman John Degnan said, "It will stand, along with the memorial, museum and the buildings themselves, as a tribute the resiliency of the region."
More this way

February 25, 2016

Pricing Revealed for Market-Rate Rentals at Bjarke Ingels’ Via Tetrahedron

Bjarke Ingels' ever-captivating tetrahedron, officially known as Via 57 West and located at 625 West 57th Street, is set to hit the rental market on March 1st, and ahead of the launch, the Durst Organization has released pricing information, reports Curbed. In total, the flashy building will have 709 apartments, 142 of which are affordable and start at just $565/month. The market-rate units, however, will be considerably pricier, with an average asking price of $2,770/month for studios, $3,880 for one-bedrooms, $6,500 for two-bedrooms, $11,000 for three-bedrooms, and a whopping $16,500 for four-bedrooms. Eight listings have already gone live, and they're offering two months free on a 14-month lease or three months free on a 27-month lease.
More details ahead

February 24, 2016

Poll: Do You Agree With the Decision to Forego a Ribbon Cutting for WTC Transportation Hub?

Yesterday the Port Authority announced that they won’t be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony (or any type of celebratory event, for that matter) to mark the opening of Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub next month. They called the Hub “a symbol of excess” and cited the exorbitant $4 billion price tag as the […]

February 24, 2016

What You Can Do If You’re Injured On Rental Property

By Tom J. Moverman

Our ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week Tom J. Moverman, partner at the Lipsig Law Firm, a practice specializing in personal injury, joins 6sqft to offer up tips on how to avoid injuries on a rental property, and what to do if they do occur. In New York City, Manhattan remains the dominating force when it comes to new apartment construction. However, in recent years, boroughs such as Brooklyn have closed that gap considerably. According to BuildingCongress.com, Manhattan accounted for 37 percent of all of the apartment construction in New York City, and in Brooklyn, construction accounted for 36 percent of the rental property construction activity in the city. By the middle of 2015, there had been $10.5 billion in residential construction throughout the entire city of New York (to give an idea as to how much the volume has increased, there was just $11.9 billion in residential construction in all of 2014). With an increase in construction comes an increase in tenant injuries. When volume increases, the demand to get new buildings up and generating revenue quickly also increases, and this means that corners will often be cut to make sure that rents from tenants can be collected in time to start showing a profit. Unfortunately, people can get injured when corners are cut, and tenants need to know how to protect themselves and fight back.
find out more here

February 23, 2016

Groundwork Begins on Bjarke Ingels’ Curvaceous East Harlem Development

With approved permits in place, Blumenfield Development Group is ready to move forward on their Bjarke Ingels Group-designed mixed-use project at 146 East 125th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. Initial ground testing has taken place, and a construction fence has been erected along the lot's northern 126th Street frontage. According to permits filed in December 2014, the upcoming 230,000-square-foot building will contain 40,000 square feet of commercial space and 233 apartments, 20 percent of which will be designated as affordable.
More details ahead

There Will Be No Ribbon Cutting for the WTC Transportation Hub Opening

Santiago Calatrava: WTC Transportation Hub , New York (Photo: Mega Projects and Skyscrapers, via YouTube)

February 23, 2016

There Will Be No Ribbon Cutting for the WTC Transportation Hub Opening

When the subject of Santiago Calatrava's World Trade Center Transportation Hub comes up, what's most likely to come to mind is not the flying-bird-looking architecture, but the fact that it was so incredibly delayed (it’s six years off schedule) and over-budget (final construction costs ring in around $4 billion in taxpayer dollars, twice what was projected, making it the world’s most expensive train station). The latter is not sitting well with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who oversee the hub, as they've announced that they will not host an event to mark the opening during the first week of March, calling it "a symbol of excess," according to Politico. Similarly, Governors Christie and Cuomo, who control the agency, have declined to commemorate the opening.
Get the scoop

February 23, 2016

Rosario Candela-Designed Building at 915 West End Avenue Going Condo

West End Avenue is one of Manhattan's longest stretches of harmonious architecture. The nearly 50-block-long, better-looking half of Eleventh Avenue is the Upper West Side's answer to Park Avenue, without the median and with the community. The Avenue's rows of stately prewar buildings are raised to a mostly uniform height of 12 to 15 stories and appear as if some Haussmann-like visionary conceived their elegance and scale. Behind dignified masonry facades are wood-paneled lobbies and sprawling apartments that are stacked in classic sixes and sevens with staff quarters. Near the Avenue's starting point at Straus Park, at the northwest corner of 105th Street, 915 West End Avenue rises humbly without much fuss. The red-brick building, built in 1922, was designed by beloved architect Rosario Candela and is undergoing a conversion that would transform 43 of its 91 rental apartments into condominium residences, according to an offering plan submitted to the attorney general.
Find out more

February 22, 2016

Supermodel Irina Shayk Buys $6M West Village Condo at 150 Charles Street

By Annie Doge

If you don't know supermodel Irina Shayk from the pages of Sports Illustrated, you may recognize her as the often-photographed girlfriend of Bradley Cooper. Rumors have been circulating for nearly a year that the couple was looking to shack up together. First, Cooper was spotted checking out a sprawling $8.5 million spread at the Hubert in Tribeca in May, then Shayk listed her apartment at 166 Perry Street in the West Village for $4 million back in December. LLNYC now reports that the swimsuit model has picked up an off-market $6 million pad at 150 Charles Street, nearby in the West Village.
More on Shayk's (and likely Cooper's) new digs

February 22, 2016

Pricing and Renderings Released for the Jackson, Industrial-Inspired Condo in Long Island City

Situated squarely between Long Island City's waterfront towers and its burgeoning Court Square and Queens Plaza business districts, an upcoming industrially-inspired condominium named the Jackson is beginning construction work. On Friday, the New York Times unveiled pricing information for the 70,000-square-foot project, and a polished set of renderings has been published on the developer's website. The 11-story, 54-unit project is being shepherded by a joint-venture among Charney Construction & Development, Ascent Development, and Tavros Capital. The development site, located around the corner from MoMA PS1, was formerly occupied by a parking lot and a nondescript two-story building. Fogarty Finger, the building's architects, have designed several other low- to mid-scale residential projects in LIC that complement the fleetingly-gritty neighborhood's aesthetic. Here they accomplish that by using raw material such as steel, concrete, and wood, as well as oversized windows that feel like an old industrial loft building.
This way for details, renderings, and pricing

February 19, 2016

Skyline Wars: What’s Rising in Hudson Yards, the Nation’s Largest Construction Site

By Carter B. Horsley

Carter Uncut brings New York City’s breaking development news under the critical eye of resident architecture critic Carter B. Horsley. This week Carter brings us the third installment of “Skyline Wars,” a series that examines the explosive and unprecedented supertall phenomenon that is transforming the city’s silhouette. In this post Carter zooms in on Hudson Yards. The Hudson Yards neighborhood in Far Midtown West is one of the country’s most active construction areas. Construction cranes dot its emerging skyline and dozens more are promised now with the district's improved connection to the rest of the city. Last fall, the 7-line subway station at Eleventh Avenue and 34th Street opened with one-stop access to Times Square. The newly-minted station features a lengthy diagonal escalator bringing commuters to the front-door of the huge mixed-use project being created over the rail yards west of Tenth Avenue between 30th and 33rd streets. Originally, a second station was contemplated on 41st Street and Tenth Avenue but transit officials claimed it could not afford the $500 million expenditure, despite the enormous amount of new residential construction occurring along the far West 42nd Street corridor. Nevertheless, the finished Hudson Yards station deposits straphangers into a new diagonal boulevard and park between 10th and 11th Avenues that will ultimately stretch from the Related Companies / Oxford Property Group's Hudson Yards master plan northward to 42nd Street.
read more from carter here

February 19, 2016

Reasonably Priced Condos at NINE52 in Hell’s Kitchen Hit the Market, Starting at $679K

After years of decay, the second building of the old Saint Clare's Hospital in Hell's Kitchen has been reborn. Named NINE52, due to its address near Ninth Avenue at 416 West 52nd Street, the seven-story red-brick structure has been rehabilitated into 155 affordably-priced condominium homes. Seven units at NINE52 hit the market earlier this week with asking prices starting at $679,000 for 450-square-foot studios, $859,000 for 725-square-foot one-bedrooms, and $1.319 million for an 875-square-foot two-bedroom. According to CityRealty's February Market Report, the median price-per-square-foot for closed condominium sales in Midtown West over the past 30 days stood at $1,833, a bit above the $1,603-per-square-foot asking prices at NINE52.
Get a look at the apartments

February 18, 2016

New Rendering, Details of Brooklyn’s Future Tallest Tower

A little over a month ago, 6sqft learned that Brooklyn’s first 1,000+ foot tower, designed by SHoP Architects, would rise a whopping 1,066 feet, amounting to 556,164 square feet of total space. It all started back in 2014 when developers Michael Stern and Joe Chetrit purchased 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension (a five-story mid-century building that takes up about one third of the triangular site in Downtown Brooklyn) for $46 million with plans to demolish it. Then, in December, they closed on the adjacent Dime Savings Bank building for $90 million, providing 300,000 square feet of air rights needed to construct the 73-story tower. Along with a new rendering, a piece today in the Times reveals some additional details, namely that the supertall will have nearly 500 rental units, at least 20 percent of which will be affordable under the city's 421-a program. But there's one issue that could make things a little complicated...
More on that, here

February 18, 2016

Common’s Shared Living Concept Brings $3,000 Bedrooms to Williamsburg