Midtown West

April 13, 2017

Emergency ferry route between N.J. and Midtown will become permanent this fall

Following the recent Penn Station train derailment and subsequent delays during the busy weekday commute, NY Waterway launched an extra ferry route running from Hoboken to Midtown Manhattan. Now, NJ.com reports, that ferry service will become permanent starting in September of this year. The new ferry will run between between West 39th Street and Hoboken terminal according to NY Waterway president and founder Arthur Imperatore Sr.
Find out more about the new commuting option
April 8, 2017

For $1M this Hell’s Kitchen duplex has lots of wood and brick and plenty of flexibility

This two-bedroom duplex co-op at 357 West 55th Street in West Midtown has a lot going for it considering its $999,000 ask. With a double-height, exposed-brick wall and wood details such as the spiral stair that connects its two floors, there's a warmth that makes this apartment unique. Two full baths make the space guest-friendly, in addition to the fact that you can enter from either floor.
See more of both floors
April 3, 2017

Alexis Bittar, Clara Sunwoo ink leases at Industry City, bringing total fashion space to 350,000+ square feet

There's been much talk in the past couple months about the city's push to drive the fashion industry from its long-time home in the Garment District to new, lower-cost space in Sunset Park. The new, $136 million, 200,000-square-foot "Made in NYC Campus" has become synonymous with the shift, but the adjacent Industry City mega-development has been at the forefront since even beforeBelvedere Capital and Jamestown Properties took over in 2013. With tenants such as the Gap, Bauble Bar, and Rag & Bone, they've now announced that internationally known jewelry company Alexis Bittar will lease an additional 10,000 square feet (they already have 17,000), and a source tells us that women's apparel label Clara Sunwoo is leasing 14,000 square feet of space, moving completely from the Garment District. This brings Industry City's total space leased to fashion companies to 350,000 square feet, more than 200,000 of which is manufacturing space.
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March 29, 2017

A fanciful miniature New York City is coming to a 49,000-foot space in Times Square

Minimodel maven Eiran Gazit's latest project is anything but small: The former Israeli soldier and his team are putting the finishing touches on Gulliver's Gate, a sprawling exhibit of the world made of minimodels set to open on April 4 in a 49,000-square-foot space at 216 West 44th Street in Times Square, reports Crain's. The $40 million extravaganza represents a decade of dreams and hard work for Gazit, in this case the chief dreamer, plus years of seeking investors, coordinating with dozens of artists around the world and months of installation.
Find out more
March 27, 2017

Construction update: Extell’s Central Park Tower gets its fluted glass curtain wall

When it reaches its projected 1,550-foot height, Extell Development’s Central Park Tower will have the highest roof-line of any residential building in the Western Hemisphere, besting the current record holder 432 Park. Though the $2.98 billion project won't be complete until 2019, construction is moving ahead along Billionaires' Row, reports CityRealty. The 58th Street side, which will hold a 285,000-square-foot, seven-story Nordstrom store, is currently receiving its fluted-glass skin, a "Waveforms Facade."
See more views here
March 24, 2017

City reveals garment district rezoning plans, citing incentives to move makers to Sunset Park

At a Manhattan community board meeting Wednesday evening, city officials told garment industry representatives of plans to remove Midtown's manufacturing preservation requirement, Crain's reports. The change to a 1987 zoning rule means that landlords will have the option to rent the formerly set-aside space to commercial office tenants. City officials cited the failure of the preservation effort to meet its goal, highlighted by a reported 83 percent decline the number of garment workers–from 30,000 to 5,100– since it was first implemented. As 6sqft recently reported, the rezoning is seen as "a clear push to drive these businesses toward lower cost space in Sunset Park."
Find out more
March 20, 2017

43,000-square-foot Target store headed for Herald Square

Big-box retailer Target is opening its newest store across from Macy’s in Herald Square. The store will be the anchor tenant of a 92,000-square-foot retail complex owned by Empire State Realty Trust that will offer more of the usual suspects, in this case Sephora, Swatch and Foot Locker, all behind a new Studios Architecture-designed curtain wall, according to the New York Post.
find out who else is getting a Target
March 16, 2017

Huge Whole Foods coming to Brookfield’s Manhattan West

Along with its glassy towers on the rise and big-name corporations leasing office space, the Hudson Yards district is now displaying another show of how the mega-development is pushing the once-desolate Midtown West area forward--the announcement of a 60,000-square-foot Whole Foods. The green grocer will move into Brookfield Property's eight-acre Manhattan West complex, located at 5 Manhattan West on the corner of 10th Avenue and West 31st Street, directly across from Related's Hudson Yards. Echoing the sentiment of the "Whole Foods effect"--the pattern of real estate values increasing when high-end grocery stores open nearby, both due to convenience and prestige--a press release from the developer says the news "is a significant first step in creating a first-of-its-kind global retail hub at Manhattan West."
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March 10, 2017

First look at the undulating outdoor decks and pools at CetraRuddy’s Midtown West rental tower

Algin Management's 700-foot-tall Midtown West rental tower recently reached 35 stories of its total 62-story height and now its lower floors are receiving their "sexy facade of curved glass and aluminum panels," according to CityRealty. Located at 242 West 53rd Street (the former site of Roseland Ballroom), the building was designed by CetraRuddy, who said their curvaceous silhouette was imagined as "a contextual sculpture surrounded by space, creating apartments that captured the views on all sides." These curving forms are mimicked on the multi-level deck from Terrain Work, who have just shared renderings of these undulating outdoor spaces, including the open-air swimming pool, rock garden that doubles as a rainwater collection source, and multiple gardens and patio areas.
More details and all the renderings
March 6, 2017

Hidden underground tunnel will take you from Rockefeller Center to Times Square

New York City's avenue blocks are long, as are its winters; getting from Rockefeller Center to Times Square can be an unpleasant, cold and crowded experience–unless you take the underground passageway, the city's largest, that spans the entire two-block-plus distance. Below, take a virtual stroll from avenue to avenue (and from the B/D/F/M to the N/R/W subways): Enter on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Street and exit at Seventh Avenue and 49th Street–and buy yourself a few more minutes before you burrow into that parka.
Take a virtual trip through the tunnel
March 6, 2017

The best design museums in New York City

New York is an international center for design. World-famous architects and designers have learned here, lived here, and worked here. And New York shows off the immense talent in the city and elsewhere with some of the world's greatest design museums. Here is a small sample of some of the best places to see the latest and greatest works, as well as where to dig when you're looking for inspiration from the past.
See our top picks here
March 3, 2017

Wilbur Ross cuts price of Billionaires’ Row penthouse for the third time

The U.S. Senate voted 72 to 27 last week to confirm billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as Commerce Secretary. And now that he'll be busy renegotiating the terms of Nafta and defending allegations of his questionable ties to Russia, the "King of Bankruptcy" is ramping up efforts to sell his ostentatious Billionaires' Row penthouse. Curbed reports that the 14-room, "European-style" apartment first hit the market in 2015 for $21 million, then got a price chop to $18.5 million at the end of last year, and has now been reduced again to $16.5 million, less than the $18 million he paid for it in 2007.
Take a tour
February 28, 2017

City’s planned Garment District rezoning will reduce protections for fashion companies

Just two weeks after the city announced that they'd spend $136 million to create the "Made in NYC Campus," a hub in Sunset Park that will provide affordable space for film and fashion companies, it's come to light that the de Blasio administration has been planning a rezoning of Manhattan's Garment District. As Crain's explains, this could potentially roll back rules that require landlords to rent a portion of their buildings to fashion companies, a clear push to drive these businesses toward lower cost space in Sunset Park.
More info ahead
February 28, 2017

Mayor pulls Theater District air rights plan after disputes with City Council over floor price

Image via Wiki Commons The de Blasio administration pulled the plug Monday on proposed legislation that would give the city a 20 percent cut of any air rights sales in midtown Manhattan's Theater District, according to Crain's. The reversal followed disputes with City Council members over a key element–a floor price for the sales. The proposal had been part of a long effort to get theater owners to up the amount they contribute to a fund used for venue maintenance and support for smaller theaters. There is now speculation as to whether the move could cast a shadow on the administration's Midtown East rezoning plan, which is a similar policy initiative.
Find out more
February 22, 2017

Buy Karim Rashid’s sleek, candy-colored Hell’s Kitchen condo for $4.75M

Industrial designer/architect (and lover of all things pink and white) Karim Rashid once told 6sqft, "Color is life and for me, color is a way of dealing with and touching our emotions, our psyche, and our spiritual being," and this philosophy is clearly on display in his personal Hell's Kitchen home. If you're a fan of this quirky aesthetic, you're in luck; Curbed tells us that Rashid's super-sleek townhouse-condo at The Dillon recently hit the market for $4.75 million.
Take a tour of the whole place
February 15, 2017

The historic Astor Suite at the Plaza is for sale at $39.5M

The Astor Suite at the Plaza Hotel and Residences at 1 Central Park South just hit the market for an Astor-worthy $39.5 million. The listing calls the 4,284 square-foot, three-bedroom home "one of the most historic homes ever to become available in the United States." Currently owned by Esprit founder and former CEO Jürgen Friedrich, the suite boasts a roster of past residents that includes John Jacob Astor, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and John F. Kennedy.
Take the tour, find out more
February 14, 2017

One57 apartment underneath the supertall’s arched-glass walls asks $13.94M

Here's your chance to live in an iconic unit of the super-luxury Midtown tower One57 at a relative discount. According to CityRealty, the "usual" average price per square foot for an apartment at the building is $6,120—but this four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath pad is asking $13.9 million at a price of $3,742 per square foot. It's also located right under the skyscraper’s distinctive arched-glass walls at both the top and middle of the tower.
Take a look
February 9, 2017

Matthew Perry checks out a sleek $25K Midtown West rental

The Chick and The Duck would surely approve of those river views. LLNYC reports that actor Matthew Perry, a.k.a. Chandler Bing from the long-running sitcom "Friends," is on the hunt for some NYC digs. Perry's rep was recently spotted scoping out a $25,000/month apartment at the luxurious Atelier on 42nd Street. The sleek spread includes three bedrooms, three bathrooms, unobstructed river views and a location just a short subway ride from the MCC Theater where the actor will star in play he wrote called "The End of Longing" this summer.
more details here
February 8, 2017

The city’s struggling garment industry finds a new home in Sunset Park

At its peak in 1950, the city's garment industry employed 323,669 New Yorkers. By 2000, this number had dropped to 59,049, and in 2015, it was less than half that with just 22,626 residents "making apparel, accessories, and finished textile products," reports the Times. The struggling trade, long centered in the area bound by 5th/9th Avenues and 35th/41st Streets, has fallen victim not only to national trends of work being shipped overseas, but local issues like rising rents, outdated facilities, and competition from tech and media companies. But thanks to a collaboration between the city and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, a "new, modern garment district" is taking hold in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where several industrial conversions offer cheaper rents, better equipped real estate, and a creative, collaborative community
Much more on the shift
February 7, 2017

City continues push to raise fee for Theater District air rights transfers

In November, the City Planning Commission voted to raise the cost of air rights transfers in the Theater District, allowing the city to take a 20 percent cut of any sales and establishing a minimum floor price of $346, a roughly 400 percent increase over the current $17.60 flat fee that they feel will be more in line with current property values. Despite vocal opposition from the Real Estate Board of New York, who back Theater District landlords and believe the increase is "is onerous, excessive and unfair," this month the Commission is hoping to have the proposal approved by the City Council, reports Crain's.
Find out more
January 30, 2017

Hidden tunnel connecting New Yorker Hotel to Penn Station unearthed

Under the New Yorker Hotel, a former guest convenience has been rendered an Art Deco artifact by the times. While not built to be a secret, a tunnel connecting the Midtown hotel's lobby to Penn Station was sealed on the station's side sometime in the 1960s and subsequently forgotten, according to Atlas Obscura.
See what the tunnel looks like today, almost a century later
January 18, 2017

POLL: Will construction begin on a new Port Authority bus terminal by 2021?

After stalling repeatedly over design disagreements, budget woes, and funding squabbles, NJ.com reports that The Port Authority said it hopes to have a new midtown Manhattan bus terminal built in New York by 2030, shovels in the ground by 2021 and be "well underway" by 2026. Though some lawmakers expressed doubt about the ambitious schedule, Steven P. Plate, Port Authority chief of major projects, said at a Legislative Oversight Committee joint hearing about the agency's $32 billion revised capital plan, "We will have full environmental approval, permits in place and construction well underway" according to that timeline.
Think it will happen?
January 13, 2017

Pieces of Thomas Heatherwick’s massive, climbable ‘Vessel’ arrive at Hudson Yards site

Back in September, Related Companies chairman Stephen Ross finally unveiled the large-scale artwork that would anchor the central public space within Hudson Yards. As Ross revealed, Thomas Heatherwick was chosen to design the piece, and it would cost an incredible $150 million to build. Dubbed "The Vessel,” the climbable sculpture would rise 16-stories—150 feet tall, 50 feet wide at its base and 150 feet wide at the top—and consist of a web of 154 concrete and steel staircases with 2,500 steps, 80 landings and an elevator; the piece, in fact, so massive that it could comfortably accommodate 1,000 visitors at a time. The sculpture was to be constructed in Monfalcone, Italy before being shipped to its home on the Hudson River. And now CityRealty reports that parts of what Ross once called "New York's Eiffel Tower" have officially arrived at the site and await assembly.
More photos this way
January 11, 2017

Norman Foster’s 50 Hudson Yards gets $195M in tax breaks from the city

When completed, Related Companies‘ and Oxford Properties Group’s 50 Hudson Yards will be the city's most expensive office building, coming in at $3.94 billion. To make starchitect Norman Foster's pricey vision a reality, the developers had filed an application with the New York City Industrial Development Agency to take advantage of financial incentives that were enacted in 2006 to encourage development in Hudson Yards. And according to a new report in Crain's, the agency has approved $195 million in such tax breaks, which include making fixed payments towards the 985-foot tower's development costs instead of paying property taxes that vary from year to year, as well as receiving a discount on the mortgage recording taxes.
Find out more right here
January 4, 2017

Norman Foster’s 50 Hudson Yards will be city’s most expensive office building at $4B

It's been less than a month since it was revealed that starchitect Norman Foster would be designing the Related Companies' and Oxford Properties Group's 50 Hudson Yards commercial tower, but the developers have already pegged the cost of the project at $3.94 billion, which will make it the city's most expensive office building, reports The Real Deal. The 985-foot tower, where BlackRock has already signed a 20-year lease for 15 floors, will surpass One Vanderbilt's projected $3.14 billion price tag and Bjarke Ingels' planned $3 billion+ High Line tower known as The Spiral, as well as One World Trade Center's current record of $3.8 billion.
Find out more
December 29, 2016

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for New Year’s Eve 2017

In a city where hundreds of interesting happenings occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Art Nerd‘s philosophy is a combination of observation, participation, education and of course a party to create the ultimate well-rounded week. Jump ahead for Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer’s top picks for 6sqft readers! With most of us ready to kick 2016 to the curb, there’s never been a better reason to get out and do something big for New Year’s Eve. This Saturday, put on something fancy/freaky/celebratory and get yourself to one of these amazing experiential parties. Take a cue from Dali at the Second Annual Surrealist Ball at the Roxy Hotel, or go Black Tie with Soho Grand’s Masquerade Ball. Expand your Sleep No More experience with their super fancy Bohemian Ball, or get a table at Mission Chinese for Luke Neocamp’s takeover. Hang all night at an art opening by Rae BK, or go the tourist way for the 112th New Year’s celebration in Times Square. Or if you’re in Brooklyn, head to The Well for a massive Tiki Disco, or to the immersive House of Yes for a party looking to the future. Whatever path you choose, happy New Year to all!
More on all the best events this way
December 21, 2016

Live/work loft with an eight-foot wall of windows asks $4,950/month in Midtown West

This Midtown West condo, at 448 West 37th Street, is known as the Glass Farmhouse—and this live/work loft is certainly glassy. The completely open, 1,550-square-foot pad has 13-foot, beamed ceilings, with eight feet of windows underneath. And all that space, the listing suggests, "allows endless possibilities for decoration and setup as you want." Although the building is a condo, this one is up on the rental market for nearly $5,000 a month.
Check it out