Real Estate Trends

For wealthy Chinese, Manhattan real estate has long served as a secure place to stash their cash, with these investors gobbling up high-end properties. In fact, "foreign direct investment in U.S. real estate rose to $104 billion in a 12-month period ending March 2015, a 10.4 percent rise over the prior year," according to The Real Deal. Of these foreign buyers nationwide, the Chinese make up 16 percent. And accompanying this rise, at least in NYC, is the rise of the all-cash buy. To show just how prominent this trend has become, RealtyTrac released data that shows in the first half of the year, 75 percent of Manhattan's cash buyers had Asian surnames.
More details here

Real Estate Trends

September 24, 2015

Why Chinatown Hasn’t Changed; NYC’s Priciest Homes Up for Sale

A look at why the real estate and retail landscape of Chinatown hasn’t changed, even as its bordering neighbors have. [NY Mag] The 25 most expensive homes on the market. [Curbed] Music exec Clive Davis nabs a $2M apartment at the Ritz. [NYP] The MTA will run extra trains into the Manhattan for Pope’s visit. […]

Real Estate Trends

September 24, 2015

Extell’s Church-Encroaching 10th Avenue Tower Tops Out, New Interior Renderings Revealed

By Ondel Hylton

With the opening of the 7 train extension earlier this month, things are finally starting to look up for Manhattan's far West Side–literally. Hudson Yard's Coach Tower is nearing its 900-foot apex, and Gary Barnett's Extell Development has topped off construction on its 610-foot high skyscraper at 555 Tenth Avenue. Extell's rental/dormitory project anchors a full block-front between West 40th and 41st streets, and cozies up next to (and above) the neo-gothic Church of Saints Cyril & Methodius and Saint Raphael, from which the savvy developer purchased 140,000 square feet of air rights from in 2012 for $16.5 million. According to previous reports, Barnett obtained the rights to build on the 18,000 square-foot parcel after signing a 99-year ground lease from the estate of Sol Goldman in 2011. The $480 million project is partly financed by means of $100 million from EB5 equity investors.
find out more here

September 23, 2015

Can the Pope Help Stop Extell’s South Street Tower?; Christina Aguilera Tours a $105M Condo

Inside the NY apartment linked to an investigation of Malaysia’s prime minister. [Quartz] Predictions for the fall real estate market. [DNA Info] Locals want the Pope’s help in stopping Extell’s controversial 800-foot tower neighboring the Manhattan Bridge. [Bowery Boogie] Christina Aguilera reportedly toured the $105M penthouse at 100 Barclay Street. The unit sits atop the Ralph […]

Real Estate Trends

September 22, 2015

Lawsuit Against Brooklyn Pierhouse Dismissed; The Queens Nabe Where Donald Trump Grew Up

The lawsuit against the Brooklyn Pierhouse over a 30-foot bulkhead blocking views has been dismissed. [Brownstoner] Rent the Williamsburg space that housed the now-shuttered Trash Bar for $20K a month. [Brokelyn] The Times delves deep into the Queens neighborhood where Donald Trump grew up—the wealthy enclave of Jamaica Estates. [NYT] The Second Avenue subway could be […]

Real Estate Trends

September 22, 2015

Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale Buy a $2.2M Boerum Hill Townhouse

Hollywood power couple Rose Byrne (best known for "Bridesmaids" and the television show "Damages") and Bobby Cannavale (Emmy award winner for "Boardwalk Empire") have scooped up a $2.2 million Boerum Hill townhouse, according to The Real Deal. Interestingly, the couple, who have been dating since 2012, bought the home at 453 Warren Street from another pair of actors, Annie Parisse and Paul Sparks. Sparks appeared on "Boardwalk Empire" with Cannavale; he and Parisse bought the property in 2013 for $1.79 million.
Have a look inside the couple's new love nest

September 22, 2015

Downtown’s Beekman Residences Tower Is Ready for Its Crowns – Now 50 Percent Sold

By Ondel Hylton

Rising from the birthplace of the romantic skyscraper, a svelte 51-story condominium known as the Beekman Residences will soon receive its twin pyramidal crowns. The to-be-illuminated, open-air pinnacles will bring the building's 599-foot roof height up an additional 51 feet, granting us skyline-watchers a new silhouette to gaze upon. While the tower's height is unremarkable in today's world of kilometer-high skyscrapers (it's only the 24th tallest building now under construction in the city), its peculiar design and prominent location overlooking Park Row is sure to add to the exceptional urban room created by the variously-styled towers surrounding City Hall Park.
More details ahead

September 22, 2015

Americans Are Spending More on Rent and There’s No Relief in Sight

Complaining about high rents is nothing new for New Yorkers, but we're actually not alone in our misery. According to a new study from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and Enterprise Community Partners, reported in the Washington Post, "nearly 15 million [U.S.] households could be 'severely cost-burdened' by 2025, meaning they'll be spending more than half their money on housing." Today, that statistic applies to 11.2 million households (one in four households), which increased by three million since 2012.
What's leading to this staggering rise?

September 22, 2015

Andy Cohen Picks Up Fourth Co-op in West Village Building, Is Now Neighbors With Sally Field

The "Real Housewives" franchise must be doing well, because Bravo brainchild Andy Cohen has picked up a fourth apartment in his West Village building, 2 Horatio Street. And his latest buy, a $900,000 studio, makes him next door neighbors with none other than Sally Field, reports Variety. According to the source, Cohen's other real estate holdings in the pre-war co-op include a high-floor studio that he bought in 2003 for an unknown sum, a not-contiguous two-bedroom unit on the same floor that he bought in 2010 (and which was photographed for the New York Times) and another two-bedroom, directly above the one previously mentioned, for which he shelled out $2.6 million in 2014. His most recent acquisition is directly next door to the 2014 pad. Though this sounds a bit like a game of Jenga, we're sure there's a method to the reality guru's madness.
See the studio interior

St. Mark’s Last Record Store to Shutter; Negotiating Rent When You’re Up for Renewal

The last record store on St. Mark’s Place will shutter. [EV Grieve] Can you negotiate with your landlord when you’re about to get a rent hike? [Brick Underground] How Frank Gehry got his start—and to where he is now. [Bloomberg] The tallest building outside of Manhattan will be mostly rental units. [TRD]

Real Estate Trends

September 21, 2015

Units Finally Hit the Market at Jean Nouvel’s MoMA Tower

The time has finally come. After years of setbacks and teasers, units at Jean Nouvel's 1,050-foot-tall MoMA Tower, now officially known as 53W53, have hit the market. Nine listings (out of 139) went up on Corcoran, according to Curbed, ranging from a $3.17 million one-bedroom 19th-floor unit to a $50.9 million four-bedroom, 63rd-floor unit. When construction started earlier this year, rumor had it that the listings wouldn't be made public, but now that we know otherwise, we've got plenty of floorplan porn to ogle, as well as lots more interior renderings courtesy of designer Thierry Despont.
Renderings and floorplans right this way

September 18, 2015

Nets Rookie Shares a NJ Apartment With Two Roommates Because He Can’t Afford NY Rents

You aren't going to sucker Nets rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson into shelling out thousands and thousands a month just for a NYC zip code. As the Journal writes, the 20-year-old has called the city's rents "ridiculous," and even though he's earning $1.33 million for his first year with the NBA team, he'd rather have roommates than blow all that cash on an apartment.
more on what the Nets Rookie said here

September 18, 2015

Alec Baldwin Sells One of His Devonshire House Apartments for $2.1M

We've started to wonder what ever happened to Alec Baldwin's grand exit from NYC (remember that NY Mag article/tirade?), but city records released today show he's finally sold one of his Devonshire House apartments, so perhaps his move to LA has commenced. Baldwin owns a penthouse in the Greenwich Village building, a unit next door, and the recently unloaded eighth-floor one bedroom. He bought this last unit in 2013 for $2.25 million, listed it in March for $2.35 million, but only sold it for $2.1 million (maybe he really wants to get out of here).
See more of Baldwin's pad

September 18, 2015

A Hip, Modern Condo at Greenpoint’s Pencil Factory is Asking $800K

By Emily Nonko

Does it get anymore Brooklyn than this? A new development condo designed to look like a loft, outfitted with bookshelves, deer heads, and reclaimed wood furniture. The apartment in question comes from The Pencil Factory lofts, a former pencil factory turned condo development at 122 West Street in Greenpoint. Cool location, cool building, cool apartment—it's going to cost you a cool $800,000 for this one-bedroom unit.
See more

September 18, 2015

SHoP Architects Are Bringing a Wooden Condo Building to Chelsea

In March, an Austrian architecture firm announced plans to build the world's tallest wooden skyscraper in Vienna. They noted that by using wood as opposed to concrete they'd save 3,086 tons of CO2 emissions. Then, a study showed that timber buildings actually cost less to build. These benefits really must have stuck with SHoP Architects, who are developing plans for a ten-story residential building in Chelsea, overlooking the High Line at 475 West 18th Street, that will be made entirely of wood, according to the Wall Street Journal. SHoP's project came via a competition hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Softwood Lumber Board and the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, that asked architecture firms to design buildings at least 80 feet tall that employed wood construction technologies. SHoP's design, dubbed 475 West, won the competition along with a 12-story building in Portland. The firms will split a $3 million prize to "embark on the exploratory phase of their projects, including the research and development necessary to utilize engineered wood products in high-rise construction."
More on the project here

September 17, 2015

This Nomad Loft Was Created With Curbside Finds, Elbow Grease and an Eye for Beauty

By Michelle Cohen

There was a time in NYC when there wasn't an expectation that an apartment or loft come with a full set of shiny new appliances and amenities; you could carve out a space for yourself over time, and end up with a beautiful, unique and comfortable home. That's about the time–1977, to be exact–when the owners of this cool and crafty Nomad loft, then a recent co-op conversion, bought it for $50,000 and moved in. Now this large two-bedroom 12th floor loft with a private terrace is on the rental market for $8,000 a month. The owners–she was an art historian who passed away about a year ago, he's a retired biophysicist–and their daughter had always been fond of the excitement of scavenging what others left behind–like a six-burner restaurant stove and what is now a veritable jungle of plants. The building had been used for light manufacturing, and the couple had to design the entire 1,620-square-foot space to make it a home. Since the space was completely raw, they could configure it any way they pleased. The loft was featured in a 2006 article in the Times, in which the home's late owner and main design force is described as having "a gimlet eye for the gorgeous."
Take a look around, this way...

September 17, 2015

How Two Women Live Comfortably in 350 Square Feet; NYC’s Leaning Tower of Pisa?

Residents of Chinatown and Little Italy want Historical District signs. The area received designation from the National Register of Historic Places nearly six years ago, yet no street signs have been updated to reflect such. [BB] Help get the 42nd Street theaters landmarked. [DNA Info] SHoP Architects First Avenue project is also taking shape. The building’s subtle […]

Real Estate Trends

September 17, 2015

First Renderings of Moshe Safdie’s 800-Foot Bancroft Building Replacement Revealed

Plans for the Bancroft Building have been ultra-hush with much speculation swirling around the design that would ultimately replace the recently demolished, and much beloved, landmark building. But now, the NY Post has the first official rendering of the luxury condo tower that could rise in place of the historic structure located on a block-through site between West 29th and West 30th streets. Though 6sqft was previously told by reps of the development that the rendering seen here was in no way an affiliated project, the two designs do remain visually similar.
more details here

September 17, 2015

Mats Zuccarello Is Second NY Rangers Player This Week to Scoop Up a Downtown Condo

We're not sure how "the Rags" are going to do on the ice this year, but they sure will have some nice digs to come home to. Just yesterday, we learned that New York Rangers center Derick Brassard scored a $4.1 million condo at One York Street in Tribeca. And today, the Observer reports that the team's right wing, and perhaps THE fan favorite, Mats Zuccarello has picked up a $3.15 million pad at 345 West 14th Street in the Meatpacking District. Zucc's new condo is spread out over 1,228 square feet and offers two bedrooms, views of Gansevoort Square, and high-end finishes.
Have a look around

September 16, 2015

POLL: Is Brooklyn Heading Into a Housing Glut?

Over the last year, building permits have risen by 156 percent, hitting levels not seen since 1963. And this percentage rises to 749 when compared with the 2010 post-slump low. This building boom is particularly rampant in Brooklyn, where, according to a report put out last month by CityRealty, northern Brooklyn alone will get 22,000 new […]

Real Estate Trends

September 16, 2015

NY Rangers Star Derick Brassard Scores a $4M Tribeca Condo

The Real Deal reports that New York Rangers center Derick Brassard has scored a $4.1 million condo at One York Street in Tribeca. The French-Canadian hockey star signed a $25 million, five-year contract extension with the Blueshirts last year, so it looks like this sprawling downtown pad is a celebratory gift to himself. The 1,670-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment boasts 14-foot ceilings, wide oak wood floors, motorized shades, and 200 square feet of outdoor space. The seller is interior designer Sterling McDavid, who bought the sixth-floor unit for $3.4 million in 2011.
Take a look around

September 16, 2015

Trader Joe’s to Open in Downtown Brooklyn’s City Point; REBNY Landmarking Report Flawed Says Data Source

Trader Joe’s has officially inked a 13,700-square-foot lease at the 1.9-million-square-foot site at City Point. It’s scheduled to open in 2016. [City Point; 6sqft inbox] Here are the before and afters of the numerous towers going up in Queens. [Rent Cafe] Red Hook’s upcoming massive waterfront tech campus has gotten an updated design. [Curbed] Airbnb […]

Real Estate Trends

September 16, 2015

Actress Kathleen Turner Sells Trump Place Condo for $3.8M

You know you're a star when you have a neon sign of your name hanging above your desk. The great actress, activist, and stage director Kathleen Turner has parted ways with her 200 Riverside Boulevard condo, selling it for $3.8 million according to city records released today. Turner bought the Trump Place pad in 2003 for $2.3 million. The three-bedroom, 2,086-square-foot Upper West Side home offers incredible views of Central Park, the Hudson River, and Manhattan skyline. A special feature is the custom solid cherry wood doors and cherry wood built-ins throughout. And while we love Ms. Turner on the stage and in film, we must admit we're not quite as impressed with her design aesthetic.
Look around here

September 15, 2015

Obama No Longer Staying at the Waldorf Astoria; 32nd Street Plaza to be Cleared of Homeless for Pope