Midtown East

November 22, 2016

New Isay Weinfeld-designed Four Seasons won’t resemble the historic restaurant at all

The 21st century incarnation of the iconic Four Seasons restaurant set to open at 280 Park Avenue will bear no resemblance to the original, beyond the famous name and the sign that fronted the "Mad Men"-era power lunch spot in the Seagram Building, according to the restaurant's co-owner, Julian Niccolini. The New York Post reports that the team behind the "new" Four Seasons–Niccolini and partner Alex von Bidder, the Bronfman family, landlord Steve Roth of Vornado and representatives of landlord SL Green Realty–approved the new restaurant's design, by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, last Friday.
A new femininity for the three-martini lunch?

Architecture And Design

November 21, 2016

Site of planned Norman Foster-designed Sutton Place condo tower to be auctioned off next month

By Michelle Cohen

The 262,000-square-foot project that includes plans for a 900-foot-tall luxury condominium tower drawn up by British architect Sir Norman Foster of Foster + Partners that embattled developer Joseph Beninati had hoped to build in the heart of Sutton Place is set to be auctioned next month, according to Crains. As 6sqft previously reported, the sale of the property at 3 Sutton Place was authorized in September to pay back creditors and partners who were owed money from the derailed project, and a source has told Crain's that an auction is scheduled for December 13 with bids due by December 8.
Find out more

November 21, 2016

This $649K co-op has pre-war charm, East Midtown convenience and room to grow

By Michelle Cohen

How much you love the location of this surprisingly-spacious-for-six-figures co-op at 155 East 49th Street just north of Turtle Bay in East Midtown might just depend on how much you like skyscrapers. Because though the spot is convenient to everything from MoMA and shopping to Grand Central Station and the subway, there are tall towers in every direction and many more, even taller, on the way. But this 10-story co-op does a pretty good job making the case for classic brick amid towers of glass and steel.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

November 8, 2016

Don’t miss your $23M chance to be Donald Trump’s downstairs neighbor

By Annie Doge

This "yuge" Trump Tower penthouse hit the market back in October 2015, but its $23 million price tag and location just a few floors below Donald Trump's personal residence have apparently not been the biggest selling points. As 6sqft previously noted, the sprawling (albeit gaudy) condo was once owned by the Donald himself, back when his parents lived there and when he reportedly rented it out for $110,000 a month to buddy Michael Jackson and then-wife Lisa Marie Presley. But if you're still itching to be neighbors with the presidential candidate, it's not too late.
Take a look around

November 7, 2016

Interior renderings, more details revealed for Richard Meier’s Turtle Bay tower

By Dana Schulz

The largest and tallest building in NYC from Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier is rising at 685 First Avenue, just south of the United Nations at 39th Street and First Avenue along the East River. Though developer Sheldon Solow bought the 30,000-square-foot site as part of his Turtle Bay South master plan 16 years ago, construction only kicked off in March. A couple months later, renderings were revealed of the 42-story slab tower's dark glass facade--a departure from Meier's typical beige designs and his first ever black building--and now the Times has shared the first interior renderings, along with new details about the residential breakdown (there will be 408 rentals and 148 condominiums) architectural specifics, and amenities.
More details and renderings this way

November 7, 2016

Spend 28 days a year in a ‘glamorous’ studio timeshare at the St. Regis for $165,000

By Dana Schulz

A six-digit figure that starts with the number one seems like a steal when it comes to anything Manhattan real estate related, but in this case it'll only get you 28 days a year, which factors out to roughly $5,900 per day. Curbed shares this fractional timeshare listing at the historic St. Regis hotel, an offer to stay in what's described as a "glamorous studio" and have access to the property's amenities.
Get the scoop

November 3, 2016

‘Scarface’ producer Martin Bregman cuts price of ornate Park Avenue pad by $2M

By Annie Doge

Producer Martin Bregman--most famous for his work on "Scarface," but also for "Dog Day Afternoon," "Serpico," and "Carlito’s Way,"--first listed his lavish, European-style Midtown East apartment a year ago, asking $8.9 million. The co-op at 417 Park Avenue has since gotten a price chop to $7.9 million in January and back up to an ambitious $9.9 million in August, and the Post now reports that it's back down to $7.9 million, as well as an $18,000/month rental. The flip-flopping residence is located in a stately, Emory Roth-designed co-op at 55th Street and features posh details like ornately carved fireplace mantles, a wood-paneled library with a built-in wet bar and hidden movie projection screen, and a television that comes down from the master bedroom ceiling.
Check out the whole place

November 1, 2016

Brownstone rental on Katharine Hepburn’s old block asks $4,000/month in Turtle Bay

By Emily Nonko

This charming top floor apartment is located in the townhouse at 247 East 49th Street, in Turtle Bay. It's just a few doors down from Katharine Hepburn's longtime New York home--she lived more than 60 years at 244 East 49th Street. If you're willing to endure the fourth floor walkup you can also call the block your home, as well as this $4,000/month rental apartment loaded with prewar details.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

October 18, 2016

SL Green breaks ground on One Vanderbilt, NYC’s second tallest tower – see new renderings

By Diane Pham

Yesterday 6sqft brought you a time-lapse video showing an entire Midtown block being demolished to make way for the 1,401-foot supertall One Vanderbilt. Now with a cleared site—plus $1.5 billion in construction financing secured—SL Green is ready to build anew, and Tuesday morning the developer held an official groundbreaking ceremony to mark the momentous occasion.
see more here

October 17, 2016

Watch the time-lapse demolition of an entire Midtown block for supertall One Vanderbilt

By Michelle Cohen

6sqft recently reported that One Vanderbilt, developer SL Green's new Midtown supertall, has secured $1.5 billion in financing, giving the green light to the 1,401-foot-tall, full-block office tower slated to rise at One Vanderbilt Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets directly adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. Demolition of a full block of commercial buildings next to Grand Central began a year ago to make way for the tower. Now, YIMBY brings us a time lapse video of the lengthy demolition courtesy of One Vanderbilt’s PR team.
Watch an entire block of pre-war buildings disappear

October 14, 2016

This $825K Turtle Bay condop is a greenhouse and a treehouse with a little bit of loft

By Michelle Cohen

This unique condop (financially a co-op with condo-like rules) at 310 East 46th Street in Manhattan's genteel east Midtown Turtle Bay district is one of those apartments that makes you go, "hmm..." While it has plenty of eye appeal with a stunning glass atrium wall, Chrysler and Empire State Building views, 12-foot vaulted ceilings and custom teak built-ins, the current layout makes it hard to transcend long, narrow studio status, which makes the $825,000 ask seem like less of a deal. What's here, though, is a sight to behold; and there's potential. And amenities!
See what the options are

Distinctive Homes

September 28, 2016

$1.5B in construction financing secured for Midtown supertall One Vanderbilt

By Diane Pham

It's full steam ahead for SL Green's new Midtown supertall, One Vanderbilt. Early this morning the developer announced it had closed on $1.5 billion in financing for its 1,401-foot, full-block office tower slated to rise directly adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. As SL Green Managing Director, Robert Schiffer expressed in a statement: “Closing on the construction financing means that nothing stands in the way of One Vanderbilt becoming an iconic addition to the Manhattan skyline.”
find out more here

September 21, 2016

Debt-beleaguered site of Norman Foster’s 3 Sutton Place condo tower is cleared for sale

By Michelle Cohen

A US Bankruptcy Court judge has approved a plan to sell the 3 Sutton Place site at at 426-432 East 58th Street, one of the city's most luxurious old enclaves, reports the New York Post. Brokers have been selected to conduct the marketing of the 262,000-square-foot project that includes plans for a 900-foot-tall condominium tower drawn up by British architect Sir Norman Foster of Foster + Partners.
Find out more

September 16, 2016

Saudi billionaire seals the deal on the city’s highest home for record $88M

By Michelle Cohen

The most expensive apartment closing in New York City this year and one of the priciest sales ever is finally a done deal, reports The Real Deal. The apartment, the top penthouse at Rafael Viñoly-designed billionaire’s bunker 432 Park Avenue, is the priciest unit in the big-ticket building as well as being literally the city’s highest. As 6sqft previously reported, the buyer is Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Al Hokair. The sale price was $87.7 million—a skyscraping $10,623 per square foot.
More jumbo numbers, this way

Real Estate Trends

Friday 5: Live in Midtown for less, modern towers now offering free rent

Every Friday 6sqft rounds up five of the best rental deals showcased on CityRealty.com’s no-fee rentals page, a space where house hunters can find the best concessions being offered by landlords across the city.

September 2, 2016

Friday 5: Live in Midtown for less, modern towers now offering free rent

By 6sqft

If you love being in the thick of it all, there's no area of New York that pulsates quite like Midtown. With ample entertainment and dining options along every street and on every corner; stunning architecture spanning numerous decades and styles everywhere you look; and no shortage of transit options to deliver you to just about any neighborhood in a matter of minutes, this neighborhood is made for the truest of urban explorers and city enthusiasts. Ahead are five extra-tall modern towers that put the city's spectacular offer up close and personal—and they're all giving out free rent!
check out who's offering deals here

Uncategorized

September 1, 2016

Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown lists elegant Sutton Place triplex for $9.75M

By Diane Pham

As you would expect from a former editor of one of the world's most recognized lifestyle magazines, Tina Brown has for the last 20 years found refuge in a spectacular home in an equally spectacular building at 447 East 57th Street. But now the media mogul, who also served as an editor at The New Yorker and founded The Daily Beast, and her journalist husband Harold Evans, who himself boasts quite a resume having held top positions at the likes of U.S. News & World Report and The Atlantic, have listed their elegant Sutton Place abode for $9.75M. According to the listing, the triplex comes with five bedrooms, 5.5 baths and an incredible 19'x64' private walled-in garden. But what might be the most alluring feature of this maisonette is that it's more than once served as the backdrop for riveting conversations (and surely some heated arguments) with names like Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Henry Kissinger and Angelina Jolie. As Brown so breezily told the Journal, “Yes, we love to entertain our friends, but there is always content to the evening, where we try to bring exposure for someone that has something incredible.”
Have a closer look inside this special home

September 1, 2016

City studying the cost of allowing landmarked Midtown East properties to sell their air rights

By Dana Schulz

Last week, the city released their long-awaited Midtown East Rezoning plan, a controversial upzoning of the area bound by Madison and Third Avenues and 39th and 50th Streets that would encourage taller, more modern office towers to attract commercial tenants. One of the debated points is the proposal to permit owners of landmarked properties to sell their air rights across the district, whereas now they can only be transferred to sites directly adjacent or above the existing structure. The city has now embarked on an appraisal of these unused development rights, which amount to 3.6 million square feet and will likely be distributed to the 16 new towers that the rezoning would yield over the next 20 years. As Crain's explains, hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, which is part of the reason Mayor Bloomberg's 2013 attempt at the rezoning failed--opponents were concerned about "the difference between what could be built on a given parcel (such as a soaring office tower) and what actually sits on the site (a church or synagogue a few stories tall)."
More details ahead

Policy

City releases Midtown East Rezoning plan; could add 16 new towers

Conceptual image depicting all the proposed sites of the East Midtown rezoning fully built out. Courtesy CityRealty

August 25, 2016

City releases Midtown East Rezoning plan; could add 16 new towers

By Dana Schulz

After Mayor Bloomberg's failed 2013 attempt, the city has released its long-awaited Midtown East Rezoning plan, a controversial upzoning of the area bound by Madison and Third Avenues and 39th and 50th Streets, which would encourage taller, more modern office towers in an area that many feel is no longer attracting commercial tenants. According to Crain's, their proposal, the first step in the formal rezoning process, would allow the tallest buildings around Grand Central, increasing the maximum density by 30 percent. Along Park Avenue and near subway stations north of the Terminal, density would be increased, too. The proposal also will permit owners of landmarked buildings to sell their air rights across the district, rather than just to adjacent properties like the current law dictates.
More details ahead

August 22, 2016

Off the avenue: Is Park Avenue losing its edge in the office market?

By Michelle Cohen

Park Avenue has for decades been the office district of choice for many of the city's high-profile–and high-rent–corporations. But a recent Crain's article points to impending departures–such as the decision of investment firm Black Rock to decamp for new space in Hudson Yards or the World Trade Center, raising the question of whether the avenue's biggest office zone, from East 45th to East 59th streets, is falling out of favor with big-ticket business tenants. The city's office market is, without a doubt, changing. Industries like tech are growing and the financial industry is consolidating and in some cases downsizing its office space. The neighborhood, which charges the city's highest average rents, has been slow to catch up with the needs of new office tenants.
People moving out, people moving in

Real Estate Trends

August 17, 2016

Excavation Work Begins at One Vanderbilt, Follow Its Progress on Instagram

By Dana Schulz

Last week, a $1.1 billion lawsuit against One Vanderbilt was settled, giving the green light to the 1,401-foot project. Investors at Grand Central Terminal led the suit, claiming that the tower would divest them of the value of their air rights if developer SL Green was was allowed to proceed with construction as it was cleared to do under the controversial Midtown East Rezoning. Now that it's been dismissed, NY Yimby reports that excavation work is underway at the site of Midtown's future tallest tower, at the corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue. And Curbed points out that architecture buffs can stay apprised of construction progress through the building's new Instagram page.
Check out some construction shots

July 29, 2016

Lottery Opens For 75 Affordable Units in Fisher Brothers’ Glassy New Murray Hill Tower

By Dana Schulz

Starting today, New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for 75 brand new units at 225 East 39th Street, the 36-story, curving glass high-rise from the Fisher Brothers and designed by Handel Architects. Located at an interesting crossroads of residential Murray Hill and tower-laden Midtown East, the 373-unit rental offers an impressive pack of amenities, including a fitness center, swimming pool, hot tub and sauna, yoga studio, game room, outdoor terrace, courtyard garden, roof deck with cabanas and barbecue stations, and on-site parking. The affordable units, which may be required to pay additional fees for some of these amenities, range from $833/month studios to $1,247/month three-bedrooms.
More on the building and application process

Affordable Housing

July 21, 2016

See Day and Night Views From 1,400 Feet in the Air at 432 Park!

By Dana Schulz

Earlier today, 6sqft brought you flashy new renderings of the amenity spaces at 432 Park Avenue. The reveal came with a link to the official building website, which has a section offering jaw-dropping photos that showcase the views from the 1,396-foot tower, the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere. As the site notes, they span from the Hudson River to the East River, from Westchester to Brooklyn, and from Central Park to the Atlantic Ocean.
See them all here

Architecture And Design

July 21, 2016

432 Park Reveals Renderings of Rafael Viñoly-Designed Amenity Spaces

By Dana Schulz

To date, 46 of the 106 residences at 432 Park Avenue, the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere, have sold. And perhaps in an attempt to sweaten the deal for those remaining, which now includes rentals, the sales team has released renderings of the swanky amenity spaces, also designed by the building's starchitect Rafael Viñoly. In addition to views of the indoor swimming pool, billiards room and library, fitness center, massage treatment room, and movie theater, the press release brings fresh details on the restaurant, which will be open only to residents and their guests.
See all the renderings here

July 18, 2016

Beyond the Four Seasons: Aby Rosen Talks Maintenance and Costs at the Seagram Building

By Dana Schulz

On Saturday night, after what seems like an eternity of speculation followed by lamentation, the iconic Four Seasons hosted its last dinner. Last summer, Seagram Building owner Aby Rosen of RFR Realty chose not to renew the iconic restuarant's lease, and even before this, he faced criticism when he removed Picasso's largest ever work, Le Tricorne, from the space. But despite the constant contention, the developer is speaking out, hoping to get a little credit for the work and money he has put into the office building. "I see myself as a custodian," he told the Times, referring to the fact that it costs RFR an estimated 20 percent more to maintain the landmarked structure than it would a typical tower of the same size and age. But experts say this is par for the course when one willingly purchases a designated building, which Rosen did in 2000 for $379 million.
Rosen breaks down the specifics

Architecture And Design

July 13, 2016

Get a Peek at the Modernist Treasures Headed for the Four Seasons Restaurant Auction

By Michelle Cohen

The Wright auction house is gearing up for the July 26 auction of kitchen and dining room items from the iconic Four Seasons restaurant. As 6sqft previously reported, news that the restaurant would decamp from the building surfaced last summer, when Seagram Building owner Aby Rosen did not renew the lease for what has been seen as the quintessential Midtown “power lunch” spot for the last decades of the 20th century since it opened in 1959. The restaurant’s interiors feature custom designs by Pritzker Prize-winner Philip Johnson and furniture, tableware and other modernist treasures by the likes of by Seagram Building designer Mies Van der Rohe, Hans J. Wegner and others and custom-made Knoll furniture. With an emotional forward by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, the auction catalog offers a preview of items up for auction with estimates. Included will be banquettes designed for the space by Philip Johnson Associates, Eero Saarinen Tulip stools, chairs and tables from the bar of the Grill Room, pans, flatware and dishes created for the restaurant by Ada Louise and L. Garth Huxtable and more.
Take a look at the items in the Four Seasons auction

Where to Find the Most Incredible Staircases in New York City

Images courtesy of Steven Holl Architects

July 5, 2016

Where to Find the Most Incredible Staircases in New York City

By Jason Carpenter

Stairs let interior designers show off their best combination of form and function. The flagship stores, public works, and designer condos of New York make for the perfect opportunities to test the boundaries of practicality and beauty in design. Here are seven of the most beautiful and interesting staircase designs to be found in New York City.
See our staircase gallery here

June 27, 2016

New Owners May Close Waldorf Astoria for Three Years for 1,100-Room Condo Conversion

By Dana Schulz

Hilton Worldwide Holdings, who had owned the landmarked Waldorf Astoria since 1972, agreed in October 2014 to sell the 1,413-room hotel to Beijing-based financial and insurance company Anbang Insurance Group for $1.95 billion. The deal closed the following February, along with plans from the new owners to convert part of the Art Deco building into luxury condos, and now the Wall Street Journal brings additional details on the conversion. The overhaul, which could close the property for up to three years and cost upwards of $1 billion, would convert as many as 1,100 hotel rooms to condos, with the hotel portion featuring between 300 and 500 luxury guest rooms. Currently, the hotel employs about 1,500 people, but this major decline in hotel rooms will eliminate hundreds of jobs. Sources say Anbang and Hilton have already reached severance agreements totaling at least $100 million.
More details ahead

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