Real Estate Trends

A collection of photos depicts what Brooklyn Heights looked like when Truman Capote was a resident in 1958. [Atlas Obscura] The city received a $10M grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to construct two bike and pedestrian bridges and to develop a short pathway along the Bronx river. [DNA Info] Hudson Companies’ plan for […]

Real Estate Trends

November 2, 2015

Upper East Side Townhouse by Modernist Pioneer William Lescaze Sells for $16M

After five long years on the market, the William Lescaze-designed townhouse at 32 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side has found a buyer, according to Curbed. As 6sqft previously reported, Lescaze was a Swiss-born, American architect who is credited with pioneering modernism in America. His personal Midtown East townhouse (the William Lescaze House) is considered the first modernist residence in New York City, built just one year prior to this 1934 uptown commission. The Upper East Side house sold for $12 million in 2008. Starting two years later, it's been on and off the market, ranging from $14 million to $19.5 million, but finally went into contract last week for $15.9 million.
More details ahead

October 30, 2015

Listings Launch for Zaha Hadid’s High Line Condos

Though sales launched earlier this month at Zaha Hadid's curving High Line condo building, her first commission in NYC, there were no public listings. The wait is over, though, as they've just gone live, providing long-anticipated pricing and floorplans. The eleven-story building at 520 West 28th Street in Chelsea will offer 39 two- to five-bedroom homes, all of which take advantage of the starchitect's signature swooping construction. They'll range from $4,950,000 to $50 million for the largest penthouse, but the three residences listed on Corcoran are a $6.4 million two-bedroom unit; a $9.4 million three-bedroom; and a $16 million four-bedroom.
Ogle the floorplans and renderings

Starchitect Vishaan Chakrabarti Scoops Up a $5.78M Condo at FXFowle’s 35XV

Image: Vishaan Chakrabarti image © Henry Hung Photography superimposed on a model unit image

October 29, 2015

Starchitect Vishaan Chakrabarti Scoops Up a $5.78M Condo at FXFowle’s 35XV

By Annie Doge

Vishaan Chakrabarti is closing out 2015 with a bang. After not only making a $4.995 million sale on his Flatiron loft earlier this month but also leaving his position at SHoP Architects to start his own firm, Partnership for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), the starchitect has just closed on a $5.78 million unit a FXFowle's dramatic Flatiron tower, 35XV. According to the Post, Chakrabarti's new pad measures just slightly smaller than his last at 2,324 square feet, but hosts three spacious bedrooms, each with en suite baths, and comes outfitted with a Lutron home automation system that includes touch-pads, remote controlled shades, lighting systems and temperature control.
Check out the floorplan here

October 29, 2015

Construction Spending Will Set a Record This Year; What Your Junk Mail Says About You

Your junk mail will reveal if you’re rich or poor. [Washington Post] Brooklyn is the best bet for house flippers. [NYP] MTA passes $26B budget to cover repairs, improvements and expansion efforts through the next three years. [The Wall Street Journal] Construction spending in NYC is expected to hit a record $39 billion this year. […]

Real Estate Trends

October 28, 2015

VIDEO: Watch My Micro NY Get Built and Go Inside a Completed Unit

6sqft reported in July that My Micro NY, the city’s first micro apartment complex, was fully stacked, reaching its 120-foot height at 335 East 27th Street on the border of Gramercy and Kips Bay. Then, just last month, it was announced that the $17 million development began accepting applications for its 260- to 360-square-foot affordable studios. Up until now, though, we've only seen renderings of the interiors, but a new trailer from the designers nArchitects takes us on a walk through of a completed unit (h/t Curbed), which, although tiny, is quite bright. The video also shows the entire construction process, beginning with fabrication at the Navy Yard to the units being stacked by crane.
Watch the video here

October 28, 2015

Explore the NYC Death Map; Steve Buscemi to Advise City on Affordable Artists’ Housing

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce has released a report saying that the borough is missing out on $6 billion in retail spending. [TRD] Shake Shack is in talks to open in Williamsburg. [TRD] The “NYC Death Map” will tell you who’s died on pretty much every corner and street of the city. [Gothamist] A “haunted” mafia mansion on […]

Real Estate Trends

October 28, 2015

Two New Handel-Designed Towers to Sail Onto the Greenpoint Landing Waterfront

Yesterday it was announced that Brookfield Property Partners is making their first Brooklyn venture by purchasing a majority stake in two Greenpoint Landing development sites for $59.7 million. While better known for their commercial ventures, Brookfield will begin construction early next year on 775 market-rate apartments on two waterfront parcels. The towers should be finished sometime in 2019 at the total cost of $600 million as part of the first phases of the of the 22-acre master plan which is being designed by Handel Architects. Plans filed with the Department of Buildings for Brookfield's sites call for a 30-story, 372-unit rental building at 37 Blue Slip and a larger 39-story, 401-unit tower at 41 Blue Slip. A cul-de-sac will separate the slab-shaped towers, which will open onto a waterfront esplanade designed by James Corner Field Operations.
More renderings right this way

October 28, 2015

Blockbuster Greenwich Lane Closes Its First Sales, Each Eight Figures

The first of five of the city's priciest developments has finally started to cash in, with two eight-figure sales recorded at Greenwich Village's rising mega-development, The Greenwich Lane. As 6qft reported in April, the ginormous, block-eating condo complex located at 145 West 11th Street is anticipated to make between $1.4 to $1.7 billion dollars at sell out. The first two sales, which appeared in public filings released yesterday, are a five-bedroom 4,537-square-foot unit (#8) which closed at $19.53 million, and similarly another 4,529-square-foot five-bedroom (#4) that closed at $16.32 million.
more on the significance of the two sales here

This Website Tells You Who Died in Your House and How

Forget paying to tour a haunted house; find out if you're living in your very own version with this creepy website DiedInHouse.com. According to Forbes, the site can determine whether someone died at a given address and even if a person was murdered, committed suicide, or if there were any arson instances or meth labs there. To arrive at these findings, they use death certificates, news reports, and 130 million police records. And while this is a fun little Halloween experiment, it actually has more serious implications. Statistics show that a death or serious crime in a home can drop its value by up to 30 percent.
More details ahead

Real Estate Trends

October 27, 2015

First Look at the Bow Building’s Interiors, Fifth Avenue Gem Comes Back to Life as Condos

Here's a first look at the interiors of Pan-Brothers Associates lovingly restored condominium development The Bow Building at 242 Fifth Avenue. Acquiring its name from the ornamental bow cast onto its facade, the structure's Queen Anne cast-iron front has been rehabilitated to its original 1885 grandeur. Once home to high-end antique furniture stores, tailors and art dealers, its sumptuously-scaled, arched windows will soon flood light into four bespoke units, each equipped with 11- to 20-foot ceilings and private outdoor spaces.
More info and all the renderings

October 27, 2015

How NYC Could Be Better, Architects Vishaan Chakrabarti and Gregg Pasquarelli Sound Off

SHoP architect Gregg Pasquarelli and Vishaan Chakrabarti of Partnership for Architecture and Urbanism (and formerly of SHoP) talk about all of the infrastructural and architectural improvements NYC needs. The pair cite solutions spurring change in other cities around the world as examples of what we should be doing. [Curbed via Wired] The NYC Marathon generates millions of dollars for the city […]

Real Estate Trends

October 27, 2015

REVEALED: Interior Renderings of Norman Foster’s Skinny Seagram-Neighboring Condo Tower

Norman Foster is a master when it comes to contextual thoughtfulness, and his latest creation slated to rise next door to Mies van der Rohe's iconic Seagram Building is one to be admired. Called One Hundred East Fifty Third Street (it takes its name from its address), the 63-story tower has just released a new set of interior renderings to Dezeen which show what the world's richest will be snapping up when units hit the market next week.
Have a closer look inside

65-Story Condo Tower Designed by CetraRuddy to Rise in the Downtown Skyline

Renderings of the tower at 900 feet, courtesy of CityRealty

October 27, 2015

65-Story Condo Tower Designed by CetraRuddy to Rise in the Downtown Skyline

Last week it was announced that the long vacant Financial District lot at 45 Broad Street would be redeveloped into a 65-story condominium tower through a partnership between Madison Equities and the Pizzarotti Group. According to The Real Deal, "The buyers closed on the purchase of the land for $86 million and secured a $75 million acquisition loan." While it is not yet clear what the project’s exact size and number of units will be, given the lofty ceiling heights of today's high-end condo developments, 65 stories could yield a tower of up to 900 feet.
READ MORE

October 26, 2015

Funny Woman Rachel Dratch Buys an Unamusing Gramercy Co-op for $1.65M

By Annie Doge

Actress, comedian, producer and writer Rachel Dratch is one of the least serious people in showbiz, so it's surprising that her latest real estate purchase is such a bore. The SNL alum picked up a $1.65 million co-op at 230 East 15th Street in Gramercy, according to city records released today. Depressing decor and utilitarian vibes aside, the two-bedroom spread does overlook the picturesque Stuyvesant Park and offer a decent amount of space. Plus, the neighborhood is a lot more low-key than celeb hotspots like Tribeca or Central Park West.
See more of the apartment here

October 26, 2015

Check Out the Views From 1,438 Feet in the Air at 111 West 57th Street

Last week, 6sqft brought you an up close and personal look at 111 West 57th Street's exterior facade mock-up, and now Property Markets Group (PMG), who is co-developing the super-tower with JDS Development Group, posted a nifty interactive panorama of the building's out-of-this-world views. Rising from the heart of Billionaires' Row (New York's very own Mount Olympus and preferred residence of our anonymous overlords), the building is 80 stories and 1,438 feet high and is nearly perfectly on axis to Central Park–an egotistical perk that Extell's Central Park Tower and Macklowe/CIM Group's 432 Park aren't granted despite having higher apartments.
This way for the views

October 26, 2015

‘Do the White Thing’: Jimmy Kimmel’s Latest Sketch Mocks Brooklyn Gentrification

25 years after the original “Do the Right Thing” was released, Jimmy Kimmel has made his own hilarious and painfully accurate sequel, “Do the WHITE Thing.” [DNA Info] The sign that marked Andy Warhol‘s former home at 1342 Lexington Avenue has been removed by its current owners. [NYDN] The iconic NYC diner will likely go extinct as […]

Real Estate Trends

October 26, 2015

First Peek at Alchemy Properties’ 26-Story NOMA Condominium

Here's our first peek at Alchemy Properties' upcoming mixed-use condominium development NOMA. Slated to rise 26 stories/316 feet from a 7,000-square-foot corner lot at 846-850 Sixth Avenue, the building will be the first ground-up condominium development in NoMad west of Fifth Avenue. With demolition just wrapping up on a single-story strip of retail stores, excavation will soon begin for a FXFowle-designed mixed-use tower that is slated to house 52 condo apartments and 13,000 square feet of retail space on its first two floors. Zoning diagrams filed at the Department of Buildings indicate the form of the tower will be composed of variously scaled and skewed interlocking volumes. Units with eastern exposures will have balconies.
READ MORE

October 23, 2015

Port Authority Announces Design Competition to Replace Hated Bus Terminal to the Tune of $10B

The chance to reimagine one of the most loathed buildings in Manhattan certainly must be appealing to designers, so it's likely the Port Authority will receive a lot of submissions for their newly announced international competition to replace the current bus terminal. Crain's reports that "The operator of the nation's busiest bus terminal approved a plan Thursday to move ahead toward replacing the overcrowded, dilapidated 65-year-old facility, with a goal of deciding on a final design by [September 2016]." It's expected that the project will cost between $7 and $10 billion and take several years to complete.
READ MORE

Real Estate Trends

October 23, 2015

A Closer Look at How XOCO 325’s Oh-So-Cool Melting Facade Was Created

Earlier, we gave you a look at DDG's rough-cut, bluestone facade at 12 Warren Street in Tribeca, and now, just a few blocks north within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, the team has de-shrouded the skeletal exterior of their upcoming condominium XOCO 325. Rising from a through-block site at 325 West Broadway, the 48,000 square foot development will house 21 light-filled residences upon its completion early next year. DDG picked up the site for $38.5 million in 2012, and in typical fashion, souped up the design with organic and environmentally inspired elements that charmed the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
more this way

October 23, 2015

DDG’s Bluestone Beauty at 12 Warren Street Finally Shows Some Skin

Fully-integrated design and build firm DDG has raised the curtain on their highly anticipated condo development 12 Warren Street. Designed by their in-house architect Peter Guthrie, its facade of roughly-hewn Pennsylvania bluestone is meant to evoke the natural uneven stacking of the material. In what must have taken quite the effort to detail, variously dimensioned slabs, ranging from standard-sized bricks to large lintel blocks, protrude from the exterior at varying depths. While more commonly seen underfoot as sidewalk pavement, here the brittle stone's soothing tone softens the building's ogreish form, whose still-shrouded cliff-like top will incorporate a wild display of projecting volumes and terraces. As simply stated by architecture critic Carter Horsely, "DDG continues its elegant campaign to make New Yorkers lust after bluestone rather than brownstone."
Find out more details about the development

October 23, 2015

Dramatically Angular West Village Penthouse Rental Wants $18K a Month

By Michelle Cohen

Whether Rogers Marvel Architects, designer of the dramatically-angled building atop which this 3,000-square-foot pad is perched, were inspired by the convergent lines of the Flatiron Building, had some tricky space issues to navigate, or just wanted to make a point, this triangular triplex at 1 Seventh Avenue South does its best to avoid looking like a contemporary interpretation of a ‘50s corner diner, and to some degree, succeeds. To be fair, the building conforms perfectly to its similarly-angled lot, undoubtedly no small feat. This high-floor haven offers three bedrooms, multi-floor terraces, a host of modern amenities (smart wiring, multi-zone heating and central air, to name a few) and the kind of big views–and neighborhood–that command big rents, so the $18K a month is no surprise. Though much of the apartment's decor and furnishings seem out of place for a glass-walled Downtown penthouse, as they say, there’s no accounting for taste. We don’t know if the rental is available furnished or mercifully emptied of its late-20th century Z Gallerie closeout haul, but with three floors and lots of outdoors, there's plenty of room, literally, for improvement.
Let's point out some highlights

October 22, 2015

City Subsidies Have Been Focused on Wealthy Neighborhoods; New Construction in Crown Heights Draws in Buyers

A new report from the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development shows that city subsidies have historically gone to the neighborhoods that need it the least. [Crain’s] Why it was faster to build subways back in 1900. [Atlas Obscura] New condos in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights account for 20 percent of the borough’s sales. [DNA Info] […]

Real Estate Trends

October 21, 2015

A Behind the Scenes Look at How SHoP’s Stunning Facade at 111 West 57th Street Will Come to Life