Real Estate Trends

Mayor’s Affordable Housing Plan Flawed, More Likely to Harm Brooklyn’s Most Expensive Nabes
March 26, 2015

Mayor’s Affordable Housing Plan Flawed, More Likely to Harm Brooklyn’s Most Expensive Nabes

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The revitalization of East New York is at the center of Mayor Bill de Blasio's affordable housing plan, but like his ambitious Sunnyside Yards project, his ideas for the fallen areas of Brooklyn are apparently also filled with holes. According to a piece published by the Wall Street Journal yesterday, de Blasio's plan to re-zone 15 neighborhoods to allow for taller and denser housing won't do much good for affordable housing. The main reason? The rents are too low. In fact, housing experts believe that his plan is more likely to hurt the character of Brooklyn's most tony areas, including Park Slope, Fort Greene, and Crown Heights, amongst many others.
More on their findings here
Fashion Stylist Joe Zee Sells Chelsea Pad to Famed Designer Narciso Rodriguez for $2M
March 26, 2015

Fashion Stylist Joe Zee Sells Chelsea Pad to Famed Designer Narciso Rodriguez for $2M

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In a very fashion-friendly transaction, stylist and journalist Joe Zee–creative director of Elle for seven years and currently the editor-in-chief and executive creative officer of Yahoo Fashion and host of a fashion-based television show called “All on the Line”–has sold his Chelsea apartment at 300 West 23rd Street to clothing designer Narciso Rodriguez for $2 million, according to city […]

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

Image by Jorbasa Fotografie / Flickr 

March 24, 2015

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

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In New York City there are currently about one million rent stabilized apartments–about 47 percent of the city’s rental units. So why is it so hard to snag one? What are the benefits of having one (other than affordable rent, of course)? According to the New York City Rent Guidelines Board nearly 250,000 rental units have lost the protections of rent regulation since 1994. Why are we "losing" so many of them?
Find out the facts and how they could affect you
Live in a Sprawling Queens Mansion; Things to Consider Before Subletting
March 24, 2015

Live in a Sprawling Queens Mansion; Things to Consider Before Subletting

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Some very important things to take into account before subletting your apartment. [BU] A sprawling Jamaica Estates mansion in Queens has hit the market for $3.49M. [Brownstoner Queens] A 100-acre manufacturing area in northern Inwood is being eyed for rezoning for housing and tech. [Curbed] New $200 million, 14-mile bus route unveiled for Queens. [NYDN] Robert Durst linked to yet […]

Two Best Friends Sell Their Massive Midtown Artists’ Loft for $4.83M
March 23, 2015

Two Best Friends Sell Their Massive Midtown Artists’ Loft for $4.83M

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Remember this amazing loft we featured on 6sqft back in September? Well it looks like it's found a new owner to fill its cavernous spaces. According to city records, the two-loft combo at 361 West 36th Street sold today for $4.83 million. While when we last wrote about this cool apartment we were going gaga over its beautiful 4,800 square feet of sun-soaked spaces, it turns out the story of the two women–both artists–who once dwelled within its walls is far better anything else found inside.
Find out more here
REVEALED: ODA’s New Bushwick Rental Project Looks a Lot Like BIG’s 8 Tallet in Copenhagen

ODA’s 10 Montieth Street (L); BIG’s 8 Tallet (R)

March 20, 2015

REVEALED: ODA’s New Bushwick Rental Project Looks a Lot Like BIG’s 8 Tallet in Copenhagen

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If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Bjarke Ingels should give himself a big pat on the back. A newly revealed residential design by architectural firm ODA for the Rheingold Brewery site in Bushwick looks a lot like Bjark Ingels Group's (BIG) 8 Tallet in Copenhagen. The Denmark building takes the shape of a figure 8 with a sloping ramp that runs from the base of the building to its roof, creating a large interior courtyard. Similarly, the 400-unit rental building planned for Bushwick at 10 Montieth Street has a subtle bow-tie shape with a sloping, zig-zagging green roof and amenity-laden courtyard. And just as 8 Tallet is the largest private development ever undertaken in Denmark, ODA's 400,000-square-foot building would be the largest residential building ever built in the area if completed.
More details on the proposed project
In Case of Fire, Take the Elevator to Safety
March 20, 2015

In Case of Fire, Take the Elevator to Safety

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If you work in a tall tower, throw everything you ever learned about fire safety out the window because the Fire, Buildings and City Planning Departments are re-writing the rules. In response to the supertalls popping up across Manhattan, the agencies are looking to create more occupant-evacuation elevators that can be used to move people down a tower in the event of an emergency. Because, really, can you imagine trying to flee down 90 flights of stairs?
READ MORE
NYC Rents Are So High Even Starbucks Can’t Afford Them

© park row via photopin cc

March 19, 2015

NYC Rents Are So High Even Starbucks Can’t Afford Them

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You know rent is too damn high when mega chains like Starbucks start looking for cheaper spaces. The Commercial Observer reports that the city's rising rents are actually driving the coffee giant to less popular side streets as many of the leases inked for stores opened up some 15–20 years ago are coming up for renewal. Starbucks is currently paying just a fraction of what the market is demanding on a chunk of their more than 200 Manhattan locales, and they could soon see an end to several of their most popular shops.
FInd out more
Battery Park City, Harlem, and the Lower East Side Top the List of Child-Friendly Manhattan ‘Hoods

Image © Matthew Richmond

March 19, 2015

Battery Park City, Harlem, and the Lower East Side Top the List of Child-Friendly Manhattan ‘Hoods

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It's no secret that families are ditching Manhattan for Brooklyn or the Suburbs, where they can get more space for their money and maybe even a backyard, but a new report shows the shifting dynamics of those families who decide to stay in the big city. According to amNY, the analysis conducted by AddressReport.com shows that only 6 percent of households in Hell's Kitchen and the Financial District have a child under 18 living in them, and in neighborhoods like Midtown, Soho, the West Village, and Gramercy, most of which are often thought of as more family-friendly, only 7 percent of households have at least one youngster. To be expected, Battery Park City is ranked as the most child-friendly neighborhood, where 36 percent of households have a child. Another shoo-in is Tribeca at 26 percent. Surprisingly, East Harlem at 32 percent, Harlem at 29 percent, and the Lower East Side at 20 percent round out the top five, none considered traditionally family-oriented.
See the full map here
Sarah Jessica Parker Finally Sells Greenwich Village Townhouse for $20M
March 19, 2015

Sarah Jessica Parker Finally Sells Greenwich Village Townhouse for $20M

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After quite a few price cuts and almost three years on the market, Sarah Jessica Parker has found a buyer for her Greenwich Village townhouse at 20 East 10th Street. Originally listed for $25 million in 2012, and most recently re-listed in September for $22 million, the 6,800-square-foot, five-bedroom home finally entered into contract for $20 million, according to the Daily News. Parker and her husband Matthew Broderick bought the townhouse in 2011 for $19 million. They completed a full renovation, but reportedly the family never actually lived there, using the home as a massive closet and residing in another Village townhouse.
Take a look around the house here
Move Over Brooklyn, Hoboken Is the Hipster Capital of America
March 18, 2015

Move Over Brooklyn, Hoboken Is the Hipster Capital of America

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Is Hoboken really America's most hipster city? According to a study conducted by "data-driven" blog FindtheBest, Hoboken out-hipsters us all with its souped up offer of 13 cafes and one yoga studio per 10,000 residents—the vast majority of whom are aged between 20 and 34 years old. FindTheBest looked at the top 19 municipalities with 50,000 or more inhabitants, evaluating both the locale and people against certain attributes they deemed characteristically hipster. Hilariously, the site defines a hipster as one who associates with a "subculture all about nonconformity and effortless nonchalance" and embodies an appearance that conjures up one “reading Proust over an overpriced cup of coffee.”
More on the study here
Construction Update: COOKFOX’s 855 Sixth Avenue Tops Off, Ties for City’s ‘Shortest Skyscraper’
March 18, 2015

Construction Update: COOKFOX’s 855 Sixth Avenue Tops Off, Ties for City’s ‘Shortest Skyscraper’

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In the shadow of the Empire State Building, the concrete frame of 855 Sixth Avenue has quietly risen to its full 500-foot height. Spanning the full western blockfront of Sixth Avenue between West 30th and 31st Streets, the 41-story mixed-use tower, designed by COOKFOX Architects and co-developed by the Durst Organization and Fetner Properties, is poised to bring 190,000 square feet of commercial space and 375 rentals to the southern fringe of Herald Square later this year. While unremarkable in design and imperceptible in the city's skyline, the building's small claim to fame may be that its 152-meter (slightly under 500 feet) height is sometimes regarded as the benchmark figure for defining a skyscraper. Therefore, statistically, 855 Sixth could be considered the shortest skyscraper in New York. Huzzah!
More details ahead
Orlando Bloom Sells Tribeca Loft in Less Than One Month
March 18, 2015

Orlando Bloom Sells Tribeca Loft in Less Than One Month

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We speculated last month that Orlando Bloom's decision to list his Tribeca loft for $5.5 million, just five months after purchasing it for $4.88 million, might have had something to do with celebrity neighbor Taylor Swift, and it looks like that's the general consensus. The Daily News reports that the actor has sold his three-bedroom apartment at the Sugarloaf Warehouse building less than 30 days after it hit the market. Apparently, Swift and her A-list pals have turned the building into a paparazzi frenzy, which might have proved too much for the more low-key Bloom.
Take a look around the former Bloom abode
Slab of Plexiglass Dislodges at One57 and Falls on Two Cars Below

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

March 17, 2015

Slab of Plexiglass Dislodges at One57 and Falls on Two Cars Below

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Watch where you walk when treading near supertall towers. The WSJ reports that a stop work order has been issued at One57 after a kitchen table-sized piece of Plexiglass fell from the 22nd floor of the tower on Sunday, smashing into two parked cars down below. Thankfully no one was injured in the incident, but the accident is just one in a slew of construction mishaps that have plagued the building. In late February, glass from the tower landed on a neighboring building’s terrace, and last May, a windowpane fell from the 22nd floor, hitting a truck below. The building was also creating precarious conditions back in 2012 during Super Storm Sandy, when all of New York City looked on in horror as the support cable of an 80-ton crane at the top of the building broke, causing it dangle above their heads.
Is one57 cursed? Find out more here
Supermodel Freja Beha Erichsen Snags a Stunning $3M Carroll Gardens Townhouse
March 17, 2015

Supermodel Freja Beha Erichsen Snags a Stunning $3M Carroll Gardens Townhouse

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Supermodel and one-time Karl Lagerfield muse Freja Beha Erichsen has just scooped up a gorgeous Carroll Gardens townhouse for $3 million, according to city records. The edgy model's purchase comes as a bit of a surprise—as we would have guessed her to be more of a Williamsburg loft buyer than one looking in crunchy Carroll Gardens—but with one look at the gorgeous brick home, it's easy to see what pulled the Danish beauty in.
have a look inside
New Maps Show How Much You Need to Work in Order to Own a Home in NYC and Other Major Metros

Image via CityLab

March 16, 2015

New Maps Show How Much You Need to Work in Order to Own a Home in NYC and Other Major Metros

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Have you been thinking about buying a home in NYC? Well if you're single, get ready for a life of mortgage-gouging hardship. A new study conducted by the Martin Prosperity Institute takes a look at how much Americans spend on housing, where in the United States we're spending the most, and how many years we'll need to put in if we want to own a home in a big city.
maps and results here
New Renderings for 212 Fifth Avenue Show a Whimsical Top-Floor Restaurant and Enormous Clock
March 13, 2015

New Renderings for 212 Fifth Avenue Show a Whimsical Top-Floor Restaurant and Enormous Clock

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With the debut of their newly-sharpened website, the visual-realization whizzes at AJSNY are seeking to steal some Apple Watch buzz with this stunningly whimsical rooftop addition atop the now-under-conversion 212 Fifth Avenue in Nomad. The conceptual vision, designed by the rendering team themselves, shows a bronze-clad, multi-story addition wrapped with sinuous ribbons framing an enormous south-facing clock. Below the steampunk-esque penthouse, AJSNY depicts a standard condo-conversion affair of open layouts and double-height spaces for the 1913 neo-medieval tower. The team's images also give us an idea of what the official owners–Madison Equities, Thor Equities, and Building and Land Technology–have in mind for this quintessential Manhattan address. The scheme is not official or approved, but it certainly is creative.
More details on the proposed design ahead
New Map Reveals Which Luxury Skyscrapers Are Siphoning Your Tax Dollars
March 13, 2015

New Map Reveals Which Luxury Skyscrapers Are Siphoning Your Tax Dollars

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By now it's no secret that there's an unbalanced tax system in place for those living in the city's luxury towers, but exactly how much is being lost–and where–has for the most part been a mystery. To shed some light on just how much of our money goes into subsidizing the likes of One57 and its eye-poppingly expensive friends, the Municipal Arts Society (MAS) has created a map (h/t Gothamist) that shows not only how much tax each of the city's top buildings skip out on annually under the 421a tax abatement, but how long their exemption will last—which together can add up to staggering amounts for many. Last year alone, MAS found that we forfeited $1.1 billion in tax revenue and 60 percent of that went to building apartments in Manhattan targeted at the 1 percent.
Find out more here
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