Chelsea

This renovated loft, asking $5.175 million, spans the full ninth floor of a classic early 1900s building at 142 West 26th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The 4,000-square-foot co-op apartment was designed by Fernando Santangelo, who is known for the famous Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles. In addition to reflecting a brilliant eye for color and detail, the home hits every luxury loft high note, from 11-foot ceilings to vast room proportions. Though it's currently set up with three "official" bedrooms, its current collection of spaces--including a formal living room, a great room, and a library--offer room for many more (see the "alternate" floor plan in the gallery below for just one version).
Tour the fabulous, flexible loft

Distinctive Homes

Lantern House, Thomas Heatherwick’s quirky High Line condo, rises and reveals residences

Photo of Lantern House on 1/3/20 by CityRealty

January 10, 2020

Lantern House, Thomas Heatherwick’s quirky High Line condo, rises and reveals residences

Related Companies has released new renderings of the residential interiors in Thomas Heatherwick’s Lantern House condo development on the High Line. The quirky towers—one is ten stories tall and the other rises to 22 stories—flank the High Line at 18th Street and stand out with their billowing glass walls that reinterpret “the modern bay window.”
Check out the renderings

For $7K/month, this Chelsea duplex is both penthouse and townhouse, roof terrace included

Images courtesy of Halstead.

January 9, 2020

For $7K/month, this Chelsea duplex is both penthouse and townhouse, roof terrace included

Available on February 15 as a short- or long-term rental, this duplex occupies the top two floors of a charming brick townhouse at 426 West 22nd Street on a prime Chelsea block. The 1,168-square-foot two-bedroom unit is two flights up, one of three apartments in the townhouse which is also on the market for $7.5 million. The penthouse, asking $7,000 a month, features a 160-square-foot terrace and top floor loft space.
Tour the penthouse-in-a-townhouse

Distinctive Homes

The Hell’s Kitchen Antiques Fair & Flea Market closed in 2018; Photo by S.J.I on Flickr

December 30, 2019

Famed flea market in Chelsea has closed

After nearly five decades in operation, a famed flea market in Chelsea officially closed on Sunday, the New York Times reported. Alan Boss, the owner of the Annex Antiques Fair and Flea Market, which first opened in 1976 on a corner lot on West 25th Street, said the landlords did not renew the market's lease. While Boss said he hoped to find a new location, there isn't much remaining in the expanding neighborhood. "The current location was the last available lot of any size," Boss told the Times.
More here

Real Estate Trends

New looks for Thomas Heatherwick’s quirky Lantern House condos on the High Line

Rendering courtesy of Related Companies

December 4, 2019

New looks for Thomas Heatherwick’s quirky Lantern House condos on the High Line

New renderings were released this week of Thomas Heatherwick's first residential project in the United States, providing a peek inside one of New York City's most unique new buildings. Developed by Related Companies, Lantern House consists of two High Line-flanking towers, one at 10 stories and the other at 22 stories, both with glassy bubbled exteriors. Four new images reveal its freestanding glass lobby pavilion which connects the two buildings and is pierced by two beams from the elevated park above.
See inside

Get a rare look inside the homes of the Chelsea Hotel’s last residents

The home of Suzanne Lipschutz, owner of antiques store Secondhand Rose. All Images by Colin Miller; courtesy of The Monacelli Press

December 2, 2019

Get a rare look inside the homes of the Chelsea Hotel’s last residents

Despite ongoing legal conflicts and stalled plans to convert the storied structure into a luxury hotel, the Chelsea Hotel remains one of the city’s legendary landmarks. Hotel Chelsea: Living in the Last Bohemian Haven, a new book published last month by The Monacelli Press, documents the homes of nearly two dozen current residents (there are about 50-60 remaining residents in total) who still embody the bohemian spirit of the Gilded Era hotel that was once home to seminal figures like Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Patti Smith, William S. Burroughs, and Thomas Wolfe.
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Distinctive Homes

$90/night Chelsea listing on Airbnb turns the spotlight on NYCHA housing

Queensbridge Houses. Photo credit: Metro Centric via Wikimedia Commons

November 11, 2019

$90/night Chelsea listing on Airbnb turns the spotlight on NYCHA housing

The New York Times recently told of a pair of visitors from Boston who signed up for a sweet Airbnb deal on a Chelsea pad for $90 a night–and were surprised to have it turn out to be a seventh-floor unit in the neighborhood's 11-building NYCHA Fulton Houses complex. The would-be guests noticed that "something seemed off," starting with the roach trap next to the bed. The travelers tipped off the company, who refunded their money, and their story quickly became internet history as yet another way homestay platforms are being taken advantage of and another log on the fire of the debate that rages over what to do about it.
Airb-n-beware?

This $1.4M Chelsea loft is filled with storage and opportunity

Rendering: Spotless Agency, courtesy of Compass

October 14, 2019

This $1.4M Chelsea loft is filled with storage and opportunity

This light-filled Chelsea loft co-op at 100 West 15th Street offers original details remaining from its early factory days, like soaring 12-foot ceilings, massive windows, exposed brick, exposed wood beams, and an original metal column. The apartment, asking $1.39 million, is the result of combining two studios, with plenty of open loft space for creating a home, plus a level of lofted storage above.
Lofty ideas, this way

Distinctive Homes

WeWork’s private NYC elementary school, WeGrow, will close after current school year

Photo by Laurian Ghinitoiu courtesy of WeWork

October 14, 2019

WeWork’s private NYC elementary school, WeGrow, will close after current school year

Following a failed IPO and an impending takeover by Japanese parent company SoftBank amid an exodus of investors, office space sublease and coworking brand leader WeWork informed parents that the 2019-2020 school year would be the last for the newly-launched Manhattan elementary school, HuffPost reports. Rebekah Neumann, the co-founder of the company and wife of its recently-ousted CEO, Adam Neumann (and first cousin of Gwyneth Paltrow), had helmed the educational program for children ages three to nine, titled WeGrow, with a focus on education through play and interaction. The small New York City private school opened in 2018 with a tuition bill of between $22,000 and $42,000 a year. On the curriculum were yoga, dance and martial arts and weekly trips to an upstate farm to learn how to plant and harvest crops–in addition to fundamental courses, all with a heavy emphasis on creative expression and immersion in nature.
Find out more

179-year-old Chelsea townhouse featured on ‘Seinfeld’ seeks $8.65M

Listing images by Yoo Jean Han; courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty

October 11, 2019

179-year-old Chelsea townhouse featured on ‘Seinfeld’ seeks $8.65M

Seinfeld fans may recognize the exterior of this townhouse at 408 West 20th Street as the home of character Elaine Benes, though current owners Harry Azorin and Lori Monson, who bought the home for $950,000 in 1995, don’t get many questions about it anymore. “Maybe twice a month, someone would walk by, and they’d say, ‘Is this Elaine’s house?’...I’d say, about 10 years ago, it stopped,” Monson told the Wall Street Journal. Originally built in 1839, the residence is now on the market for $8.65 million. Even though Seinfeld was largely set on the Upper West Side, the house is actually located “on the most desirable street in Chelsea,” as the listing boasts, “perfectly positioned” on historic Cushman Row and overlooking the General Theological Seminary.
Get the full tour

Distinctive Homes

October 8, 2019

Thomas Heatherwick’s pair of bubbled condos on the High Line gets rebranded as ‘Lantern House’

The pair of unique condo buildings with a bubbled facade rising on the High Line will officially be called Lantern House. Located at 515 West 18th Street, the two condo towers were designed by Thomas Heatherwick's Heatherwick Studio, the firm behind the climbable "Vessel" at Hudson Yards and the under-construction floating park at Pier 55. Along with the rebranding, Related Companies announced on Tuesday that sales for the development's 181 residences will launch next year, starting at $1.7 million for one-bedroom units.
Details here

See the creative office complex proposed for a massive Art Deco post office in Chelsea

Rendering courtesy of Tishman Speyer

October 2, 2019

See the creative office complex proposed for a massive Art Deco post office in Chelsea

A historic post office in Chelsea is set to become a creative office complex. After more than a year of negotiations, Tishman Speyer and the United States Postal Service reached an agreement this week to develop 630,000 square feet of office space at the Morgan North Postal Facility, as the New York Post first reported. Constructed in 1933, the 10-story building encompasses an entire block from 9th to 10th Avenue and 29th to 30th Street and boasts a 2.5-acre private roof deck, the largest in Manhattan.
See images here

New Developments

New virtual art exhibition at High Line Nine highlights multiple artists at once

Shuli Sadé’s Wild, Heterotopias; courtesy of Related Companies

October 1, 2019

New virtual art exhibition at High Line Nine highlights multiple artists at once

A new art exhibit that opened last week at the High Line Nine in Chelsea appears to be an empty room of blank walls. But the exhibition, titled "Art Has No Limits," actually features art hidden in plain sight. Through the augmented reality art app Aery, visitors have access to multiple shows by different artists in the same space, at the same time. The new exhibit, which opened at the gallery between West 27th and West 28th Streets on Sunday, shows off work by photographer Shuli Sadé and neo-conceptual artist Richard Humann.
Details here

Events & Things To Do

$3M Chelsea duplex is lofty and light with lots of built-ins

Listing images courtesy of Douglas Elliman

September 30, 2019

$3M Chelsea duplex is lofty and light with lots of built-ins

Within walking distance of Chelsea Market, Union Square, and more, this three-bedroom Chelsea loft at 214 West 17th Street checks a lot of boxes. Beyond the location, the pad is in mint condition following a recent renovation and comes with conveniences like central air-conditioning and private laundry. The residence previously sold in 2012 for $1.865 million and is now back on the market with a fresh look and a $2.995 million price tag.
Take a look inside

Distinctive Homes

Chelsea Market’s underground, grocery-focused Chelsea Local will expand with new vendors

Photos courtesy of Chelsea Market

August 27, 2019

Chelsea Market’s underground, grocery-focused Chelsea Local will expand with new vendors

New York City's OG food hall, Chelsea Market, is set to expand in September. The market's lower level, known as The Chelsea Local, will nearly double in size—from 13,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet—and add a range of new vendors, including Black Seed Bagels, Las Delicias Patisserie, and Pearl River Mart Foods, a new grocery from Asian emporium Pearl River Mart. The addition will bring the market's total size up to 135,000 square feet, easily making it the largest food hall in the city.
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Food & Dining

This perfectly petite Chelsea one-bedroom has a huge backyard for $3.8K/month

Listing images by Rise Media; courtesy of Compass

August 27, 2019

This perfectly petite Chelsea one-bedroom has a huge backyard for $3.8K/month

This one-bedroom Chelsea rental at 229 West 16th Street—currently available for a 12-month lease at $3,795 a month—comes with a large private backyard that has almost as much square footage as the apartment itself. Inside, the newly renovated pad is petite but has a few clever space-saving ideas. Outside, you can really spread out and enjoy more than 360 square feet of furnished, landscaped outdoor space.
Take a look inside

August 16, 2019

‘American Gigolo’ director Paul Schrader lists West Chelsea condo for $3.25M

Oscar-nominated film director, screenwriter ("Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," “American Gigolo” and “The Last Temptation of Christ”) and Martin Scorsese collaborator and pal Paul Schrader just put his three-bedroom Chelsea condo on the market for $3.25 million. The sleek, contemporary home in the building known as Modern 23 at 350 West 23rd Street is just a block from the High Line and near the Hudson River Park and the recently-opened Hudson Yards.
Get a closer look

Chelsea’s first passive house building launches affordable lottery with units from $1,169/month

Rendering via ZH Architects

July 31, 2019

Chelsea’s first passive house building launches affordable lottery with units from $1,169/month

As Cityrealty reported, construction topped out at Flow Chelsea at 211 West 29th Street last fall; the 24-story building's distinguished stone facade and framed windows are all the way up, and as work winds down, an affordable lottery has been announced for 17 of the building's 55 units. Individuals and households earning 70 to 130 percent of the area median income are eligible to apply for studio through three-bedroom apartments with rents that range from $1,169/month for studios to $3,051/month for a two-bedroom. As Chelsea's median rent ranges from $3,112/month for studios to $7,295/month for two-bedrooms (figures per CityRealty listings), this is quite a deal.
Find out how to apply

Image via Wiki Commons

July 31, 2019

Chelsea Hotel owners have sent nearly $60,000 to de Blasio in attempt to gain favor for construction

It’s been several years since Ira Drukier and Richard Born took over as owners of the historic Chelsea Hotel with plans to turn it into a luxury hotel. The rent-stabilized tenants who remain in the hotel even as it’s been turned into a construction zone have filed multiple complaints with the city, hitting the new owners with violations and a lawsuit. But The City has uncovered a link between those complaints and Drukier and Born’s donations to Mayor de Blasio’s political funds. Over the course of less than a year—from August 2018 to June—18 checks totaling $57,400 were sent to de Blasio’s presidential campaign from either the owners or people associated with them. The checks started coming soon after city building inspectors began responding to tenant complaints about hazardous living conditions.
More details

Policy

July 30, 2019

My 1,400sqft: A bright Chelsea duplex does live-work duty for a hair stylist and her family

By Dana Schulz

When Cassie Harwood-Jacquet moved to NYC from Adelaide, Australia eight years ago, she thought she'd only stay for a few months. But after scoring a job in a salon (she'd worked as a hairstylist for a decade back home), meeting her husband Matt, and having him move to New York from Paris to continue his career as a menswear designer, she decided to put down roots. Cassie and Matt now have an adorable three-year-old daughter named Fanella Rose and a lovely, family-friendly duplex in Chelsea. To balance her life as a working mom, Cassie set up her own salon, Maison Jacquet, in their apartment. 6sqft recently paid the Jacquets a visit and got a tour of their contemporary, colorful, and comfortable home and chatted with Cassie about raising children in Chelsea, working from home, and how she and Matt decorated their space.
Take the tour and meet Cassie

To protect their Empire State Building views, these Chelsea loft owners forked over $11M for air rights

Image via Google Maps shows 206 West 17th Street in 2016. Now, the handful of single and four-story buildings has been replaced by a short, glassy retail space.

July 22, 2019

To protect their Empire State Building views, these Chelsea loft owners forked over $11M for air rights

Air rights can be bought by whoever values them the most. In most scenarios, that ends up being a developer, but that’s not always the case. The New York Times recently reported on a rather unusual deal made in 2016 when a group of Chelsea loft owners refused to let a proposed condominium tower obstruct their natural light and Empire State Building views. Instead, they came together and made a substantial offer to buy the air rights themselves: $11 million.
How much is a view worth?

Book-filled Chelsea loft with a private roof terrace seeks $1.25M

Listing images by Tim Waltman

June 28, 2019

Book-filled Chelsea loft with a private roof terrace seeks $1.25M

This “character-rich,” loft penthouse at 244 West 23rd Street offers stylish downtown living with a great Chelsea address that puts you right next to the Highline, art galleries, and everything else the vibrant neighborhood has to offer. But if you don't feel like venturing out, there's a huge library to keep you occupied. The one bedroom co-op filled with prewar details was recently renovated and just hit the market for $1.25 million.
Look inside

Distinctive Homes

A-Rod steps up his NYC real estate game with a new partnership to buy multiple apartment buildings

East Village photo via Flickr cc; A-Rod photo via Wiki Commons

June 26, 2019

A-Rod steps up his NYC real estate game with a new partnership to buy multiple apartment buildings

Just a few weeks ago, 6sqft reported that Yankee legend Alex Rodriguez had added his first New York City property to a growing real estate empire with the purchase of a 21-unit rental building in the East Village with fellow Shark Tank investor and real estate veteran Barabara Corcoran. The new partnership announced a plan to develop a portfolio of multifamily NYC buildings in undervalued neighborhoods. Now, the New York Post reports, the retired third baseman's A-Rod Corp. has teamed up with real estate investor Ofer Yardeni of Stonehenge NYC and seasoned broker Adam Modlin of the Modlin Group to buy multiple apartment buildings and bulk condo units throughout the city.
Find out more about A-Rod's new strategy

Celebrities

Yayoi Kusama’s insanely popular infinity rooms return to New York this fall

Image via Flickr

June 24, 2019

Yayoi Kusama’s insanely popular infinity rooms return to New York this fall