Midtown West

The past decade has seen an increasing effort to transform New York City's under-utilized–and sometimes dismal–public spaces into pedestrian plazas and other vibrant and attractive public oases. From Columbus Circle and Times Square to Downtown Brooklyn's Willoughby Street, new car-free spaces encourage passersby to linger and enjoy their surroundings. Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), one of the city's biggest landlords, has been working on a similar transformation of the urban sprawl that surrounds Penn Station and Madison Square Garden by implementing kiosks, seating and attractive architecture. Now, CityRealty.com has revealed new renderings from Kenneth Park Architects (KPA) showing their ideas and recommendations for repositioning retail space and optimizing pedestrian and vehicular circulation.
Take a look at the reimagined Penn Plaza

August 3, 2016

Live in a Flashy New Tower Near Hudson Yards for $913/Month, Lottery Opens Tomorrow

Just this week, BKSK Architects' dapper new mixed-use tower in the Hudson Yards district topped off at 345 feet. Located at 509 West 38th Street and dubbed the Hi-Side, the 30-story building is just four blocks from the new 7 train stop and adjacent to the forthcoming Hudson Park Boulevard. When it opens its doors next year, it will offer 225 rentals, 46 of which will be reserved for New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area media income. As of tomorrow, the latter batch of residences will be up for grabs through the city's affordable housing lottery, with units ranging from $913/month studios to $1,183/month two-bedrooms.
Find out more right here

Affordable Housing

August 3, 2016

Find Prewar Manhattan Glamor in Modern Midtown for $10K a Month

For old-world Manhattan living it would be hard to argue with the Parc Vendome, from its award-winning formal English tea gardens to graciously-configured apartments—like this 2,000 square-foot, two-bed-plus-office beauty—with wood-burning fireplaces, entry galleries and capacious closets. Built in 1931, the elegant two-building complex at 333 West 56th Street was converted to condominium apartments in 1983. In addition to space and charm and a fortunate location blocks from both Lincoln Center and Central Park, you'll have an impossibly lovely south-facing private terrace and open city views, all for $10K a month (gas and electric are included).
Get a closer look

July 28, 2016

Knicks Star Kristaps Porzingis Rents $8K/Month Penthouse in Fitness-Centric Midtown Building

By Annie Doge

Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis recently rented out an $8,000 a month penthouse at Midtown West's amenity-rich Sky. Located at 605 West 42nd Street, the glassy slab tower affords the 7-foot-3-inch Latvian player with a Carmelo Anthony-designed NBA regulation-sized basketball court, which is part of a 70,000-square-foot recreation facility that also boasts gyms, three pools, a café, yoga and cycling studios, billiards lounge, and a spa. As the Post tells us, "Godzingis" also rented out another two high-floor units for his brothers Martins and Janis.
See it all here

Celebrities

July 22, 2016

Local Pols Say Port Authority’s $10B Bus Terminal Plan Is a Hot Mess

A request to put the brakes on a $10 billion plan for a new West Side bus terminal and rethink the process with more input from local officials and the public was rebuffed by the Port Authority chairman, reports Crain’s. Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer were joined by Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris, state Sen. Brad Hoylman, Assembly members Richard Gottfried and Linda Rosenthal and Councilman Corey Johnson in backing the effort to slow the Port Authority's call to move ahead with a design competition to get ideas for the West Side plan. The controversy emerged after a board meeting on Thursday. "We’re not going to defer the design and deliverability study,” was the reply from John Degnan, the New Jersey-appointed chairman, amid concerns that the new terminal will necessitate the seizure of private property using eminent domain, threaten area homes, small businesses and other organizations and belch more carbon from a larger fleet of buses into the air in an area that already "runs afoul of federal air-quality standards."
Find out what the fuss is all about

Real Estate Trends

July 21, 2016

Live in a Charming Midtown Co-op Just Off Billionaires’ Row For $449K

For a rare low-six-figure price, this one-bedroom co-op shares a neighborhood with the big-ticket buyers at One57 and 15 Central Park West, as well as easy access to the same great perks, like Lincoln Center, Central Park, the Time Warner Center and lots of theater options. While it might have a lot less interior space, the fourth-floor walk up at 431 West 54th Street looks bright, quiet and comfortable, and might just cost less per month than most rentals in the area. Just north of vibrant Hell's Kitchen, the neighborhood is a growing residential favorite on its own with buyers and renters who love Manhattan living.
Get a look at this find

Distinctive Homes

July 11, 2016

Mark Cuban Opening Upscale Movie Theater at Bjarke Ingels’ Via 57 West

The lucky residents of Bjarke Ingels' Via 57 West tetrahedron will not only get starchitecture bragging rights and access to the 22,000-square-foot courtyard and amenities such as a swimming pool and gold simulator, but they'll also have a state-of-the-art, eight-screen movie theater right in the building. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Durst Organization has teamed up with Landmark Theatres, owned by billionaire entrepreneurs Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban of "Shark Tank" fame. The 30,000-square-foot theater will take up residency within the 45,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space in Via, which will also welcome the American Kennel Club’s dog-care center and a location from Livanos Restaurant Group.
Find out more

July 7, 2016

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week- 7/7-7/13

By Lori Zimmer

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! July is heating up in the art world (and on the thermometer!). Take the month to check out my curatorial debut with Times Square Arts every night on the ad screens, head to City Hall Park to enjoy a new sculpture series, and definitely be sure to frolic in the balloon room by Martin Creed at the Park Avenue Armory. Check out the 1920s Chinese screen siren Ruan Lingyu in a film set to a live score by Gary Lucas, or head outdoors for a screening of April and the Extraordinary World in Riverside Park. Head to the Bronx for an all-female show at Wall Works Gallery, or if you're in the Hamptons, spend a day at Market Art and Design at the Bridgehampton Museum.
More on all the best events this way

Events & Things To Do

July 7, 2016

Manhattan View Condo Launches Full Website, Touting Luxury Amenities and Far-Reaching Views

By Katy Cornell

Co-developers Kuafu Properties and SCG America have fully launched their website marketing 151 Jamie Drake-designed condos called Manhattan View. For those in search of an upscale home in Midtown West, it's unlikely that Manhattan View can escape your radar for long. The residences are perched on 13 floors atop the Arquitectonica-designed MiMA Tower at 460 West 42nd Street, and the exclusive collection of apartments will provide richly appointed amenities and far-reaching views of the city and waterways. The new website leads with a fun and quirky film of the building that tours its apartments and amenities and grants a view of the lifestyle it hopes to provide its residents.
More details and the full video ahead

July 1, 2016

Gene Kaufman’s Church-Incorporating Hotel Rises on West 36th Street

Over the past decade, developer Sam Chang and his McSam Hotel Group have built an astonishing number of hotels in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and in the process have built up quite the reputation for pockmarking the city with characterless tower blocks that diminish their surroundings. One of the developer's latest ventures is a 26-story, 566-room hotel beginning excavation work at 334 West 36th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. Once occupied by the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, the mid-block English Gothic structure was built as the Christ Church Memorial Building in 1905. The savvy developer purchased the 15,000-square-foot site in 2013 for $50.8 million in anticipation for yet another hotel. Local preservationists connected with Community Board 4 to convince Chang to save the church facade and incorporate it with the new building. Surprisingly, he obliged, but the Gene Kaufman-designed structure is not quite a miracle.
Find out more

June 16, 2016

POLL: Do You Prefer Bjarke Ingels’ Wave-Like Tower or the Free-Fall Ride for Penn Station?

While Governor Cuomo is busy trying to make his plans for $3 billion in renovations at Penn Station a reality, developers are hot to come up with a new design for 2 Penn Plaza, the tower directly above the station and Madison Square Garden. Vornado Realty Trust, who owns roughly nine million square feet around Penn Station including 2 Penn Plaza, released renderings in March for a glassy, wave-like tower by starchitect of the moment Bjarke Ingels. The concept is quite a departure from the current, stale state of the site, but yesterday an even more futuristic idea came to the table. Brooklyn Capital Partners tapped AE Superlab to create a plan for the world's tallest free-fall tower ride above the station. "Halo," as it would be called, would rise 1,200 feet from the roof, have 11 cars, and move as quickly as 100 miles per hour, giving it a top-to-base free fall of about six seconds. BIG's design wouldn't change much in the way of 2 Penn Plaza's current configuration, but it would create more retail space at the base. Halo, though it would cost $637 million to build, claims it would bring in up to $38 million a year for the state. Since Brooklyn Capital is contending with Vornado Realty Trust and Related Companies to upgrade the space, we want to know which of these ideas you think is a better fit.
Vote for your choice!

Real Estate Trends

June 15, 2016

Developer Wants to Erect the World’s Tallest Free-Fall Ride Atop Penn Station

By Diane Pham

Observation decks boasting panoramic city views have been to date the way to add a "thrill-seeking" element to new developments, but here's a new proposal that really wants visitors to throw their arms up in excitement. As the Daily News first reports, two Brooklyn developers want to turn the top of Penn Station into the world's tallest free-fall tower ride, an idea that would be developed alongside all the renovations planned for the outdated transit hub. "Halo," as it would be called, is the work of AE Superlab and would rise an incredible 1,200 feet from the roof of Madison Square, or be tacked onto the back of the adjacent Farley Post Office, which is slated to be converted into a waiting hall to support expanding station. And in addition to Halo's towering height (to put that 1,200 feet in perspective, the Empire State Building is 1,250 feet at its parapet), the ride's 11 cars would boast adjustable speeds. Cars could be modified to move as quickly as 100 miles per hour giving it a top-to-base free fall of about six seconds.
find out more here

June 14, 2016

Lottery Launches for 10 Brand New Theater District Apartments, Two-Bedrooms from $1,486

By Diane Pham

Ten affordable apartments, literally steps away from Times Square, will be up for grabs starting tomorrow for qualifying applicants. Located at 301 West 46th Street, the units are part of the newly-opened Riu Times Square, a $106 million luxury hotel development that includes eight condos and an HPD housing component that distributes the ten aforementioned below-market units across seven floors of the 29-story tower. Rents start at $1,486/month for two-bedrooms, and $1,709/month for three-bedrooms. Apartments have been priced for households of two to six people earning between $52,355 and $84,100.
More info here

Affordable Housing

June 14, 2016

EŌS, The City’s Shortest Skyscraper, Now Renting From $4,705/Month in Midtown West

EŌS, the mixed-use tower in Midtown West that 6sqft knighted as the shortest skyscraper in the city, is approaching its construction finish line and after a decade in the making, its 300 rental units are coming online. Countering our superlative, the fully launched website leads with an image of a bath-robed woman perched high above the city looking to the east - the building is named after the Greek winged goddess of the dawn afterall. The site also publishes new renderings of apartment interiors, some of the building's many amenities, and its far-reaching views across the city. The 500-foot-tall sleek glass slab was designed by COOKFOX Architects and developed by the Durst Organization. Though quite anonymous from the outside, across its 47 stories are an array of uses that include 122,000 square feet of commercial space that Nike is reportedly anchoring, 70,000 square feet of retail, and 375 residential units above (20 percent of which are designated as affordable).
Get more details

June 9, 2016

Work Begins on Times Square ‘Activity Areas’ to Confine Characters and Performers

Mayor de Blasio first started pushing to corral the costumed characters and topless performers in Times Square last August, and now almost a year later work has begun on a reconfiguration of the area, reports the Daily News. A preliminary map that divided the plazas into three zones was released in September, but a new, final version was issued on Wednesday. Called "TSq Plaza Rules Cheat Sheet," it splits the tourist mecca into Chill Zones (places to "sit, nosh, meditate, take in the sites"), De$ignated Activity Zones ("commercial activities, street entertainment, posing for photos, vendors of expressive matter... in exchange for compensation, donation, or tips"), and Express Lanes ("pedestrian through lanes, NYC style"). After the City Council passed legislation eight weeks ago that gave the Department of Transportation the power to relocate the performers and ticket sellers, workers began painting the colored lines to delineate the zones on Wednesday night.
See the full map

Policy

‘Muhammad Ali Way’ Street Sign Appears Outside Madison Square Garden

Via DOT

June 8, 2016

‘Muhammad Ali Way’ Street Sign Appears Outside Madison Square Garden

If you walk by Madison Square Garden today, you'll likely notice a group of people snapping photos of the street sign at the southwest corner of 33rd Street and 7th Avenue. That's because yesterday a temporary honorary street name was added in memoriam of Muhammad Ali (h/t Untapped). The sign that reads "Muhammad Ali Way" is positioned in front of a digital billboard that features another tribute.
See more photos here

Celebrities

May 31, 2016

First Hudson Yards Tower Opens, Welcomes Coach to Its New HQ

10 Hudson Yards, the first building in what is one of the country's largest construction sites, is officially open for business on Manhattan's far west side. Fashion brand Coach is in the process of moving its headquarters to the 900-foot, 52-story mixed-use structure–known as Coach Tower–from its former location a few blocks away, the Wall Street Journal reports. For the luxury brand, the move represents an important milestone in a quest to re-establish its upscale image. The deal to move into a 738,000-square-foot office in the Kohn Pederson Fox-designed building made headlines when it was announced in 2013. Coach invested $750 million to buy the retail condo space for its new headquarters. Coach's design team worked with STUDIOS Architecture on their new workspace and dedicated entry lobby, which will feature a replica of the company’s famed product library: On display will be 2,000 handbags from past times to present, viewable by High Line visitors.
Find out what else is in store for 10 Hudson Yards

Real Estate Trends

The History of Herald Square: From Newspaper Headquarters to Retail Corridor

Image via Library of Congress

May 10, 2016

The History of Herald Square: From Newspaper Headquarters to Retail Corridor

By Michelle Young

Herald Square is today known for many things. There's the flagship Macy's department store and the pedestrianized part of Broadway that extends to Times Square. And it serves as an epicenter of the retail corridor that now runs from 5th Avenue to 7th Avenue. Some may remember the song, "Give My Regards to Broadway," from the George M. Cohan musical "Little Johnny Jones"with the iconic line, "Remember me to Herald Square." But written in 1904, "Give My Regards to Broadway" references a very different Herald Square than the one we're familiar with today.
Learn about the evolution of Herald Square here

May 5, 2016

Live in Extell’s Hudson Yards Skyscraper 555Ten for $910/Month

Last September, 6sqft reported the topping out of Extell Development's 610-foot-tall, mixed-use tower quietly rising at 555 Tenth Avenue and 41st Street. Now fully sheathed in glass, the development team kicked off its housing lottery for the building's 120 below-market rate units, priced from $910 per month for studios up to to $1,315 for three-bedrooms. Designed by SLCE Architects, the 53-story, 725,000-square-foot structure rises one block west of the Port Authority Bus Terminal and two avenues west of the 42nd Street A/C/E train station with its connection to Times Square. The building is within the emerging Hudson Yards area, which over the next decade will usher in thousands of residential units and millions of square feet of new office space. Across from the tower, an additional 7-train subway station may be constructed to meet the increasing number of residents in the area.
Find out if you qualify here

May 4, 2016

Related Launches Hudson Yards Living Website With New Renderings

On the heels of the news that Hudson Yards will add $18.9 billion to the city's GDP and the reconfirmation that the developers will build an iconic $200 million sculpture at the center of the plan's plaza, Related quietly launched a new Hudson Yards Living website, providing general information for prospective residents and a few new images of the $20 billion master plan.
More details and renderings this way

May 4, 2016

432 Park Avenue Reveals Glowing White Cube for Retail Space

While most of the news surrounding Rafael Viñoly's iconic 432 Park Avenue has been about big ticket closings at the Billionaire's Row blockbuster with a $3.1 billion projected sellout, developer Macklowe has revealed more about what the news-making skyscraper's 130,000 square feet of retail and office space, divided over several floors, will look like. Adding an even more attention-getting element to the tower, a portion of the building's retail space will be located in a two-story white glass cube at the corner of East 57th Street and Park Avenue.
Find out more

May 3, 2016

Extell Files to Demolish Two More Fifth Avenue Buildings For Its Mega-Midtown Assemblage

Back in January, 6sqft reported that the busybodies at Extell Development filed permits to demolish a string of six tumble-turned walk-up buildings between 3 and 13 West 46th Street in Midtown. Now, as expected, the Gary Barnett-led firm has filed permits to demolish the Warren & Wetmore-designed corner building at 562 Fifth Avenue and a somewhat incongruous Tudor-style building at 564 Fifth Avenue. While none of the condemned buildings are extraordinary in design, 562 Fifth Avenue is perhaps a more tasteful affair than much of the schlock going up these days. Designed by the same architects as Grand Central Terminal, the slivery 13-story commercial building was once known as the I. Miller Building and features intricately ornamented spandrel areas, a pedimented roofline, and an unoriginal albeit charming Fifth Avenue storefront.
More on Extell's plans and the history of the soon-to-be-razed buildings

May 2, 2016

Study: Hudson Yards Will Add $18.9 Billion to the City’s GDP

According to a recent study, economic activity at the $20 billion Hudson Yards West Side development–the nation's largest construction site–will contribute $18.9 billion to the city–more than the gross domestic product of Iceland ($15.3 billion), Crains reports. The study, commissioned by the project's developer, Related Cos., predicts that the companies projected to occupy the massive project that will stretch between West 30th Street and West 34th Street along the Hudson River will generate economic activty in the form of, among other things, salaries for new jobs and money paid to the MTA by the developer both during the 14-year construction period and once the development is complete in 2025.
Read more

Real Estate Trends

Transit Think Tank Says MSG Move Could Be a $5B Example of ‘Architects Run Wild’

Rendering for a proposed new MSG by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

April 27, 2016

Transit Think Tank Says MSG Move Could Be a $5B Example of ‘Architects Run Wild’

Moving MSG to make room for a bigger, better Penn Station train hub would be really expensive and probably not a good idea, according to a new report by transit think tank Rudin Center for Transportation Policy. Commercial Observer reports that the just-released study outlines the concern that moving the arena would come with a price tag of over $5 billion, take, like, forever, and would generally "become an urban planner’s worst nightmare." The study refers to the proposed overhaul of Pennsylvania Station and the idea of extending it to the post office off Eighth Avenue as well as suggestions by urban planners for relocating MSG.
So what's going to cost so much?

April 21, 2016

100architects Propose a Vertical Park Made of Stacked Glass Pods for Times Square