Real Estate Trends

The City’s Prettiest Food Emporium, Famous for Its Guastavino Tiles, Is Closing

Photo by missvancamp on Flickr

November 24, 2015

The City’s Prettiest Food Emporium, Famous for Its Guastavino Tiles, Is Closing

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Guastavino tiles–a design technique for thin-tile structural vaulting brought to New York at the end of the 19th century by Spanish architect and builder Rafael Guastavino and his son Rafael Jr.–can be seen at 250 locations throughout the city. Most of these spots have grand public purposes, such as Grand Central, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, or the Municipal Building. But one locale has gained famed for its very un-grand function as the home of a grocery store. The Food Emporium underneath the Queensboro Bridge has occupied one half of the Guastavino-tiled arcade known as Bridgemarket since 1999. This Saturday at 5:00 p.m., though, it will close its doors for good, according to Bloomberg, which leaves the fate of the historic interior up in the air.
Find out more
Revealed: Zambrano Architectural Design’s Striking Yellow-Brick Rental in Central Harlem
November 24, 2015

Revealed: Zambrano Architectural Design’s Striking Yellow-Brick Rental in Central Harlem

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Here's our first look at Dabar Development's eight-story, mixed-use project set to rise at 400 Lenox Avenue in central Harlem. The 40,000-square-foot development will anchor the southeast corner of West 130th Street and Lenox Avenue and will house 30 rental units, 2,000 square feet of retail at the ground level, and a second-floor community space for Pentacostal Faith Church, the owner of the project site. The design provided by Zambrano Architectural Design rises flush with the street wall and sports a distinctive yellow-brick cladding of "elongated artisanal bricks." According to Dawanna Williams, managing principal at Dabar, "the facade is inspired by the historical masonry context of the surrounding blocks of Harlem." The two uppermost levels are cutaway from the corner resulting in a large recreational terrace for residents. As per plans filed with the DOB this past summer, floors 2-6 will contain six apartments each, while floors 7 and 8 will provide four units apiece.
More on the project
REVEALED: SHoP Architects’ Long Island City Waterfront Development
November 23, 2015

REVEALED: SHoP Architects’ Long Island City Waterfront Development

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Here's our first peek at Simon Baron Development, Quadrum Global and CRE Development's three-tower Long Island City development slated to rise alongside the former Paragon Paint factory building at 45-40 Vernon Boulevard. Permits for the first tower were filed with the DOB back in June and detail a 28-story, 296-unit rental tower designed by SHoP Architects. The tower is part of a larger master plan that will revamp the eastern extents of the Anable Basin inlet with a waterfront esplanade and bring an additional 14-story residential tower at 45-24 Vernon Boulevard and an eight story building along 45th Road. As per the renderings provided by SHoP, the design of the two lower towers is consistent with many of the firm's recent New York City projects and feature copper-clad, orderly bases yielding to playful facades of angled projecting windows. The central tower partially rises from within the rear section of the Paragon Paint factory building and its form will be a sheer 300-foot glass prism creased along each elevation to better capture sweeping views of the East River and Manhattan skyline.
More details ahead
Listings Go Live Today for NYC’s First Micro Apartment Complex
November 23, 2015

Listings Go Live Today for NYC’s First Micro Apartment Complex

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Carmel Place (formerly known as My Micro NY), the city's much-talked-about first micro apartment complex, began accepting applications for its affordable studios back in September (since then, 60,000 people have applied). And now, a press release from developer Monadnock has announced that listings for 12 of the market-rate units will go live today in anticipation of the February opening date. Along with the launch comes news of Ollie, "an innovative housing model that delivers an all-inclusive living experience." The nine-story modular development will have 55 studios ranging from 260 to 360 square feet, 22 of which will be affordable (of these, 8 will be set aside for formerly homeless veterans) and go for between $950 and $1,500 a month depending on family size and income. The remaining 33 will see prices ranging from $2,540 for a 265-square-foot, furnished, third-floor unit to $2,910 for a 335-square-foot, furnished, second-floor unit.
Find out more
Revealed: Boutique Condos Coming to 231 West 26th Street in Chelsea
November 22, 2015

Revealed: Boutique Condos Coming to 231 West 26th Street in Chelsea

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Here's our first look at a seven-unit boutique condominium slated for a mid-block site at 231 West 26th Street in northern Chelsea. The developer is the New York-based Azimuth Development Group who plans to supersize the existing four-story building between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Permits were filed and approved earlier this year and DOB signs have already been posted on the doorway. The 24-foot addition will blot out a few floors of lot-line windows of the adjacent co-op 233 West 26th Street, where a three-bedroom home is on the market for $4.5 million, a price that will likely be similar to its new neighbor.
More details ahead
REX Revealed as the Architects Redesigning the World Trade Center Performing Arts Complex

Image pointing to the site of the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center. Rendering by DBOX

November 20, 2015

REX Revealed as the Architects Redesigning the World Trade Center Performing Arts Complex

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Ever since Frank Gehry and his design for the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center (PACWTC) site got the boot last year, many have been eager to know who would be taking the helm in his place. Since July, the PACWTC has been working with an anonymous architectural firm to hash out a new concept, and now, nearly five months later, the board has finally released the name of the lead architect: Brooklyn-based studio REX led by Joshua Prince-Ramus, a former protégé of starchitect Rem Koolhaas. PACWTC chairman John Zucotti said in a statement, "The selection of REX and the Lower Manhattan District Council’s renewed commitment are critical milestones in our collective effort to create a vibrant new cultural and community anchor for all of Lower Manhattan. We are now two important steps closer to completing the World Trade Center and fully realizing our vision of Lower Manhattan as the world’s most dynamic, 24/7 urban community."
more details on the design here
Construction Update: 100 Barrow Street Rises Above Street Level From St. Luke’s Churchyard
November 20, 2015

Construction Update: 100 Barrow Street Rises Above Street Level From St. Luke’s Churchyard

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With the foundation finally laid, Toll Brothers' 100 Barrow Street has made its way above ground and will bring 35 brand new apartments to the West Village. The tower is being built on the site of a pre-existing parking lot on the full-block grounds of the Church of St. Luke in the Fields. While no demolition of existing structures or reduction of green space was necessary, the site does lie at the western edge of the Greenwich Village Historic District and across from the Archives Building, which is an individual landmark. Proceeds from the development will be used to fund the church's own new buildings, which include an expansion of its existing private school and the construction of a new mission where L.G.B.T.Q. homeless youth and under-served individuals can receive meals and shelter. The latter will also serve as a 24/7 drop-in center where people will be able to get a change of clothes and take showers.
More details and renderings this way
Permits Filed to Demolish a String of Buildings Near Gramercy Park for New Condo
November 19, 2015

Permits Filed to Demolish a String of Buildings Near Gramercy Park for New Condo

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Alfa Development has filed plans with the Department of Buildings to demolish a string of low-rise buildings huddled near the northeast corner of East 21st Street and Third Avenue. The development team led by Michael Namer is known for its environmentally conscious downtown condo towers, which include Chelsea Green, Village Green, and Village Green West. Now, Alfa appears set on sprinkling some of their sustainable magic on a corner-site in Gramercy that could hold a tower of more than 90,000 square feet and rise up to 210 feet tall. Last month, Alfa purchased the the four-building development site from Kevin Maloney’s Property Markets Group and Apex Investments for $69.6 million. The previous owners had planned to build a 25-unit affordable housing building to generate 40,000 square feet of bonus square footage for an undisclosed luxury development, but instead chose to sell the site to focus on other projects.
More details ahead
Luxury Buildings Help Drive Climate Change, Says New Study
November 18, 2015

Luxury Buildings Help Drive Climate Change, Says New Study

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"Elite Emissions: How the Homes of the Wealthiest New Yorkers Help Drive Climate Change" is a new report from Climate Works for All, a project of advocacy group ALIGN. As 6sqft has previously reported, New York City is expected to be hotter, rainier, and severely underwater in the future, and this new study points to luxury buildings as one of the main culprits. As first explained by Curbed, "The group looked at the Forbes Billionaire List, then Business Insider's 20 Most Expensive Buildings in New York City list, and cross-referenced this information with the city's Energy Benchmarking data." They then drew up a list of the top ten offenders, all of which received an F for energy efficiency. Leading the pack is 838 Fifth Avenue, followed by 101 Warren Street, Trump Park Avenue, and Trump Tower, respectively.
More details and the full list
MoMA Files Plans for American Folk Art Museum Expansion; Fifth Avenue Has the Highest Retail Rents in the World
November 18, 2015

MoMA Files Plans for American Folk Art Museum Expansion; Fifth Avenue Has the Highest Retail Rents in the World

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The Diller Scofidio + Renfro expansion design for the American Folk Art Museum appears to finally be moving forward. [Curbed] This new tool helps you find a bank that invests locally. [Next City] Fifth Avenue is the world’s most expensive place for retail. [Crain’s] New construction photos of Zaha Hadid’s High Line-hugging condo building. [Tectonic] […]

VIDEOS: Jeremiah Moss’ Shuttered Storefronts and Alicia Glen’s Opposition to Retail Rent Control

Courtesy of James and Karla Murray authors/photographers of “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York“

November 17, 2015

VIDEOS: Jeremiah Moss’ Shuttered Storefronts and Alicia Glen’s Opposition to Retail Rent Control

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“The evidence of disease is everywhere,” claims Jeremiah Moss. No, he’s not talking about New Yorkers’ health; this is something he believes is even more merciless: hyper-gentrification. Moss, the pseudonymic chief editor behind the "bitterly nostalgic" blog Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York and the founder of the anti-gentrification movement #SaveNYC, and James and Karla Murray, authors and photographers of "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York" submitted a short film to last month's Municipal Arts Society Summit 2015. The ten-minute clip opens with a sinister assertion that “the soul of New York is dying,” and plays as a visual obituary of the small businesses we have lost over the past two decades. Shortly after Jeremiah's melancholic melodrama, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen was asked whether New York should adopt commercial rent control policies. Unconvinced this is an applicable solution, she instead emphasized that a "healthy and vibrant mix of businesses" is important and "bad" businesses must be allowed to fail. Nor is Glen convinced of the plight of the mom and pop, calling it a Manhattan-centric argument. While she acknowledges certain neighborhoods are changing rapidly, she says independent businesses are thriving in other boroughs.
Watch Jeremiah's video and hear more of Glen's argument
New Renderings of SuperPier: Google’s New NYC Digs + Bourdain Food Market To Arrive in 2018
November 16, 2015

New Renderings of SuperPier: Google’s New NYC Digs + Bourdain Food Market To Arrive in 2018

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Last month at the Municipal Arts Society's (MAS) 2015 Summit for NYC, Seth Pinsky, executive vice president at RXR Realty, shared a presentation regarding the development of the long-planned rehabilitation and conversion of Pier 57 aka "SuperPier." In addition to some new looks at the project, he revealed that the developers have largely secured financing and are finalizing talks with the Hudson River Park Trust. RXR are co-developing the project with Young Woo & Associates, and Handel Architects and !Melk Landscape Architecture and Urban Design are the commissioned designers. According to Pinsky, the 450,000-square-foot development will invest $350 million of private capital to redevelop the structure, and in return create hundreds of jobs, generate millions of dollars of revenue for the Hudson River Park Trust, and create a new destination for New Yorkers and visitors alike. The former NYCEDC head confirmed that the project will include 250,000 square feet of office space for a major technology company [Google], a 170,000-square-foot food and retail market [Anthony Bourdain], and an elevated park with an outdoor movie and performance amphitheater on the roof to be used for screenings for the Tribeca Film Festival. He also noted construction will begin during the first half of next year, with completion aimed for early 2018.
Lots more renderings and details ahead
REVEALED: Inside Bjarke Ingels’ Spectacular 57th Street Tetrahedron
November 16, 2015

REVEALED: Inside Bjarke Ingels’ Spectacular 57th Street Tetrahedron

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Those moving into Bjarke Ingels epic pyramid VIA 57 West next year will have a lot to look forward to. New renderings of the hotly-anticipated construction sited along West 57th Street have just been released (h/t Curbed) alongside a new teaser website inviting visitors "to a special preview" of the building. The new images, which come courtesy of The Durst Organization, reveal bright modern interiors with expansive river views, floor-to-ceiling doors and windows, varying room shapes, individual balconies, and lots of luxe fixtures, finishes and amenities.
Take a tour here
Starting Prices for Herzog & de Meuron’s Village Condos; Mansions for Under $1M
November 16, 2015

Starting Prices for Herzog & de Meuron’s Village Condos; Mansions for Under $1M

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The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has announced its 2015 building of the year. [CTBUH] Will the meatpackers of the Meatpacking District survive in the rapidly changing neighborhood. [Crain’s] Crown Heights gets a new art gallery. [Untapped] The developer of Herzog & de Meuron’s curved residence rising at 156 Leroy on the Hudson has revealed […]

Chloe Sevigny’s Former East Village Co-op Sells for $2.1M
November 16, 2015

Chloe Sevigny’s Former East Village Co-op Sells for $2.1M

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Queen of indie films Chloë Sevigny unsurprisingly lived in the East Village in 2005, scooping up a garden-level co-op at 119 East 10th Street for $1,199,000 and becoming neighbors with fellow indie royal Parker Posey. By 2013, Sevigny made the inevitable move to Brooklyn (she stated that the East Village had become like a frat house) and sold her one-bedroom Manhattan pad for $1.76 million to tech power couple Halle Tecco and Jeffrey Hammerbacher. Despite the stylish renovation that the couple undertook, they listed the residence this summer for $2.2 million. The Post now reports that the home sold for just under its asking price to Shana Randhava, the executive director of the Estee Lauder Companies. Interestingly, they note that Sevigny "has been quoted about her love for Estee Lauder products, particularly their 'luxury compacts.'"
Check out the place
10012 and 10013 Are NYC’s Most Prized Zip Codes
November 13, 2015

10012 and 10013 Are NYC’s Most Prized Zip Codes

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212 Fifth Avenue may be the considered the ultimate New York address, but zip codes 10012 and 10013 are the city's most coveted. Forbes has just released their annual list of the 500 Most Expensive ZIP Codes in the nation, and amongst the top zips were the two that make up parts of the West Village, Soho, Tribeca and the Lower East Side. However, 10012 and 10013 were the only New York City digits to break the top 10. California actually counted the most spots on the list this year, including #1. Is NYC passé?
check out the top 20 zip codes here
Construction Update: 45 East 22nd Street, Flatiron’s Future Tallest Tower, Gets Glassed
November 13, 2015

Construction Update: 45 East 22nd Street, Flatiron’s Future Tallest Tower, Gets Glassed

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The emerald glass skin of Ian Bruce Eichner’s 45 East 22nd Street has begun its rise. The 777-foot-tall tower's structure is more than halfway up and the development team recently announced that sales have already surpassed the 50 percent mark. The svelte spire designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), sports a granite base with a sculptural glass tower that gradually broadens as it ascends. The architects have said that the juxtaposition between the base and tower stems from a difference of opinion between the developer and architects. Originally, KPF proposed an all-glass tower, which Eichner felt would too strongly clash with the masonry aesthetic of the Flatiron District. Ultimately, KPF embraced a stone base and a team was sent to China to select and procure each granite piece that would be arranged in an irregular and non-linear fashion.
See more right this way
VIDEO: What It’s Like to Pull Into a $1 Million Parking Spot at Annabelle Selldorf’s 42 Crosby
November 12, 2015

VIDEO: What It’s Like to Pull Into a $1 Million Parking Spot at Annabelle Selldorf’s 42 Crosby

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Soho's 42 Crosby Street left us all astounded last year when it was revealed that each of its ten on-site parking spaces would be priced at one-million dollars a pop. On a per square foot basis, the 200-square-foot rectangles will fetch more than the three-bedroom condominiums upstairs. The cool modernists at Selldorf Architects designed the 111-foot tall building, which is now finally getting its layered facade of metal and glass. We admit, the exterior is not nearly as exciting as what's depicted in the renderings, but remember, it's not yet finished! So while we await Selldorf's magic to fully brew, watch this terrific film created by VUW Studio, which shows what it feels like to be that lucky automobile coming home to its seven-figure parking spot.
Watch the envy-inducing video in its entirety here
432 Park in Numbers: New Renderings and Superlatives Will Blow You Away
November 11, 2015

432 Park in Numbers: New Renderings and Superlatives Will Blow You Away

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Now that Macklowe Properties'/CIM Group's 432 Park Avenue is nearing completion, with occupancy slated to begin in mid-2016 and 70 percent of units reportedly in contract, the development's marketing and branding agency DBOX has released a bevy of never-before-seen images of our skyline's newest icon. Being the tower of superlatives it is, it comes as no surprise that it boasts a marketing campaign to match. Employing sky-cams, drone photography, a million-dollar film, and breath-taking renderings and photography, 432 Park has perhaps the most elaborate promotional campaign ever conceived for a Manhattan condominium. With dozens of spectacular images to choose from, we hand picked a few to recap the development of this monumental supertower. We've also put together a timeline in numbers–from its record breaking height to its 1,200-pound marble sinks–to illustrate the extraordinary undertaking  that has paved the way for the tower to become the most successful and desirable condominium ever erected in the city (sorry One57).
See it all right here
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