Manhattan

The former penthouse of singer-songwriter superstar, Lady Gaga, has hit the rental market for $33,000 per month. Located in prestigious 40 Central Park South, the two-bedroom, two-bathroom features a sunken living room, two wood-burning fireplaces and a whopping four terraces. As the New York Post first reported, the sprawling duplex has been home to other celebrities like Liza Minnelli and Lance Armstrong. The apartment was featured in Lady Gaga's recent documentary, "Gaga: Five Foot Two," which is currently streaming on Netflix.
Find out more

Architect Rem Koolhaas turns to the countryside for answers in upcoming Guggenheim exhibition

Koppert Cress, a farm in the Netherlands that uses low-energy magenta LED lamps in its greenhouses. Photo credit: Pieternel van Velden, courtesy of Guggenheim Museum.

December 4, 2017

Architect Rem Koolhaas turns to the countryside for answers in upcoming Guggenheim exhibition

World renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, known for being both innovative and committed to urban living, has turned his eye toward a new frontier–literally. The focus of the peripatetic starchitect’s upcoming 2019 exhibition, titled “Countryside: Future of the World,” to be installed in the spiral rotunda at the Guggenheim Museum, will be the world’s rural landscapes and how they have been altered by technology, migration and climate change. According to the New York Times, Koolhaas asks us to consider the countryside–that is, "anything but the city," for reasons of architecture, culture–and politics, in light of events like Brexit and President Trump's election.
Find out more

Lottery opens for middle-income condos at Essex Crossing’s 242 Broome, from $224,861

242 Broome Street rendering via SHoP Architects

December 1, 2017

Lottery opens for middle-income condos at Essex Crossing’s 242 Broome, from $224,861

By Dana Schulz

A high-end condo in a SHoP Architects-designed building on the hip Lower East Side for just $224,000? Yep, you read that right, and this middle-income lottery is now live for mega-development Essex Crossing's 242 Broome. The only one of the development's 10 towers to offer condos, 242 Broome will have a total of 55 residential units, 11 of which are available to households earning no more than 125 percent of the area median income and range from $224,861 one-bedrooms to $331,703 three-bedrooms (quite the deal considering market-rate units are going from $1.3 to $7 million). In addition to amenities like a roof deck, gym, and entertainment lounge, the 14-story building will also include a five-story base with retail and commercial tenants including The International Center of Photography Museum and Splitsville Luxury Lanes Bowling Alley.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Snag a middle-income apartment in COOKFOX’s EŌS from $1,448/month

Image courtesy of EŌS

December 1, 2017

Snag a middle-income apartment in COOKFOX’s EŌS from $1,448/month

EŌS, a COOKFOX Architects-designed 47-rental mixed-use tower in Midtown West, is accepting applications for 19 newly constructed, middle-income studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Located at 855 Sixth Avenue (aka 100 West 31st Street), EŌS sits just a quick walk away from nearby shops, restaurants and transit options found in Midtown, Chelsea and the Flatiron District. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 90, 100, 110 and 120 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from a $1,448-per-month studio to a $2,519-per-month two-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Construction halted at 800-foot Sutton Place tower after City Council approves rezoning

The original rendering of 3 Sutton Place by Foster + Partners

December 1, 2017

Construction halted at 800-foot Sutton Place tower after City Council approves rezoning

Gamma Real Estate will stop work on Sutton 58, a proposed 800-foot-tall residential tower at 3 Sutton Place, after the New York City Council voted on Thursday to rezone 10 blocks on the Upper East Side. According to The Real Deal, the rezoning requires properties between 51st and 59th Streets east of First Avenue to follow ‘tower-on-a-base” rules, meaning 45 to 50 percent of the building must be built below 150 feet. This drastically changes the developer's plan for a soaring skyscraper and also caps the height of future buildings.
Find out more

Policy

December 1, 2017

Two Dakota neighbors seek a $20.5M buyer to restore their apartment pair to its original splendor

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

Just listed at the venerable Dakota at 1 West 72nd Street–with over 85 feet of Central Park views–is an opportunity to combine two apartments and re-create the gilded-age grandeur of a front-facing corner residence. 6sqft recently covered a beautifully-preserved eight-room co-op in the building, on the market for the first time in 50 years, asking $12.5 million. Now, the owners of that unit and the apartment next door are offering the rare pair for $20.5 million, in hopes that a deep-pocketed buyer will combine the two and enjoy the original 4,800 square-foot home as it was created in 1884 (h/t WSJ).
See what 4,800 square feet in the Dakota looks like

The long cultural and musical history of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village

Jimi Hendrix, via Wiki Commons

November 30, 2017

The long cultural and musical history of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village

Jimi Hendrix would have turned 75 this week. In his brief 27 years and even briefer musical career, Hendrix left an indelible mark upon guitar playing and rock music, permanently transforming both art forms. But perhaps in some ways his most lasting impact came from a project completed just three weeks before his death--the opening of Electric Lady Studios at 52 West 8th Street in Greenwich Village. On August 26th, 1970, the studio opened, the only recording artist-owned studio at the time. It provided Hendrix with affordable studio space that would also meet his personal technical and aesthetic specifications. Kicked off by an opening party near summer’s end, Electric Lady Studios was the location of Hendrix's last-ever studio recording--an instrumental known as "Slow Blues"--before his untimely passing on September 18, 1970. Fortunately, this was only the beginning of the studio’s incredible run recording some of the greatest rock, hip hop, and pop albums of the last nearly half-century and only the latest incarnation of one of the Village’s most unusual and storied structures.
The whole history here

History

November 30, 2017

Art-filled ‘Musée Maison,’ Hamilton Heights home of artist/acrobat, still a tough sell at $2.7M

In 2015, 6sqft took a look at this unusual Hamilton Heights three-family townhouse at 532 West 148th Street, then on the market for $2.5 million. The home was purchased by Portuguese-born architect/artist Luis Da Cruz in 2006 for $995,000 and thoroughly renovated, emerging as a canvas for the artist's personal creative vision. Cruz restored the 1920 home's carved wood stairways and railings, moldings, five fireplaces, beamed ceiling and exposed brick walls, and added his signature art pieces to an eclectic industrial/bohemian decor. Luis called the home Musée Maison (aptly, Museum House), and made it his studio and workshop; he also hosted art events during which all of the work was for sale and he would perform tricks on aerial silks suspended from the ceiling. The home has apparently yet to find the perfect match, and has seen its asking price rise with the market rather than fall to entice buyers; the four-bedroom house was just re-listed for $2.7 million.
Get lost in this amazing home

Gerard Butler lists his bohemian-baroque Chelsea loft for $6M

Photo of Gerard Butler via Wikimedia

November 30, 2017

Gerard Butler lists his bohemian-baroque Chelsea loft for $6M

Gerard Butler, the Scottish actor best known for his role in the movie "300," is selling his sprawling 3,150-square-foot home in Chelsea for $5.99 million. Located at 139 West 19th Street, it was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest magazine in 2010, and with good reason: the converted manufacturing warehouse boasts 11-foot tall mahogany doors, a ceiling fresco in the foyer, countless crystal chandeliers, and a wooden arch support from a Bronx cathedral. According to the New York Post, Gerard first purchased the duplex loft in 2004 for $2.575 million.
See inside

November 29, 2017

See inside the American Copper Buildings’ amenity-filled sky bridge

The highly anticipated three-story sky bridge that links the two American Copper Buildings officially opened on Wednesday, making it the first of its kind in New York City in more than 80 years. In a collaboration between SHoP Architects and JDS Development Group, the pair of copper-clad luxury rental buildings at 626 First Avenue, known for their slanted silhouettes, began leasing earlier this year. And now, the buildings' swath of amenities have been unveiled, including the 100-foot-long sky bridge that is suspended 300 feet in the air and boasts a 75-foot indoor lap pool, hot tub and a bar and lounge for residents.
Find out more

Sky lounge floating high above the Lincoln Tunnel entrance at AC Hudson Yards Hotel (Credit: Danny Forster Design Studio).

November 29, 2017

New renderings by ‘Build It Bigger’ host Danny Forster show 220-room AC Hudson Yards hotel

Last year, 6sqft reported that demolition permits were filed by developer Arisa Realty to make way for a hotel that will rise amidst the rapidly-growing Hudson Yards development in far west Midtown, with Epstein Global listed as the architect of record. Now, CityRealty reports that preliminary renderings have appeared on the website of Danny Forster, host of the Discovery Channel show "Build It Bigger," who is working with the architects on the project's design. Plans have beens submitted for a 220-key, 120,000-square-foot hotel at 432 West 31st Street, and the the unconfirmed renderings refer to the AC Hotel Hudson Yards (Marriott AC is a subsidiary of Marriott Hotels for which the Hudson Yards hotel would represent one of the first forays into the U.S. market).
Renderings this way

November 29, 2017

For $11M, a former Chelsea parking garage transformed into a concrete-clad apartment

This is a quirky New York apartment if we've ever seen one. It occupies a former Chelsea parking garage at 239 West 18th Street that was later used as a warehouse to store vinyl records. At some point down the line it was converted to a four-unit condo. And this particular unit encompasses much of the building: a third floor loft, a commercial space on the ground floor, storage in the basement and garage, exclusive use of building's roof, 7,500 square feet of air rights, and indoor parking. (All that space covers 6,143 square feet total.) The architect-designed interior retains the grittiness of the parking garage, awash in concrete finishes from the floor to the bathtub. The whole shebang is asking $11 million.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

Waitlist opens for middle-income units at East Harlem’s Riverton complex, from $1,968/month

Riverton Houses, via NYC Housing Partnership

November 29, 2017

Waitlist opens for middle-income units at East Harlem’s Riverton complex, from $1,968/month

East Harlem's Riverton Square complex is once again accepting applications for its 7,500-name waitlist for one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The affordable seven-building development, built by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, first opened in 1947 for World War II veterans, later becoming a coveted address for middle-class families. After it was sold to A&E Real Estate for $201 million in 2016, the city mandated that 975 of its 1,229 units be reserved for working- and middle-class families for 30 years. The waitlist opens tomorrow, with apartments set aside for New Yorkers earning 110 percent of the area median income. Units range from a $1,968/month one-bedrooms to $2,729/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

New details revealed about Hudson Yards observation deck and public spaces

Rendering of the observation deck at 30 Hudson Yards, via Related Companies

November 28, 2017

New details revealed about Hudson Yards observation deck and public spaces

Another deal has been inked for the massive Hudson Yards project, a 26-acre complex developed by Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group, and it will definitely reach new heights. On Tuesday, Related announced that London restaurant and catering company Rhubarb will run a 10,000-square-foot public space in the nearly 1,300-foot supertall 30 Hudson Yards. Rhubarb will operate a bar, restaurant, and event space on the 92nd floor, one floor above the tower's observation deck, which at 1,100 feet will be the highest outdoor deck in the city. According to Eater and the Post, the company will also open a 5,800-square-foot restaurant on the fifth floor and an indoor-outdoor bar at the observatory.
Find out more

November 28, 2017

Landmarks votes to consider Philip Johnson’s postmodern AT&T Building for historic designation

This morning the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the postmodern skyscraper at 550 Madison Avenue, designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1984. The world’s first skyscraper built in a postmodern style was originally known as the AT&T Building, as the tower served as the company headquarters. Sony moved in in the 1990s, giving it the nickname of the Sony Tower. Last year, the building sold to the Olayan Group and Chelsfield for a whopping $1.4 billion. Their resulting renovation plan, led by Snøhetta, has elicited protest from preservationists who do not want to see changes to the building's impressive arched entryway. Now that the tower's calendared, the developers' $300 million renovation will eventually come up for a landmarks vote by the LPC.
See renderings of Snøhetta's proposal

Snøhetta reveals ‘excavated’ bronze tower that will be the Upper West Side’s tallest

Rendering of 50 West 66th Street courtesy of Binyan Studios/ Snøhetta

November 27, 2017

Snøhetta reveals ‘excavated’ bronze tower that will be the Upper West Side’s tallest

Of-the-moment firm Snøhetta has revealed their design for a 775-foot condominium tower at 50 West 66th Street, set to be the tallest on the Upper West Side (h/t Wallpaper) The Extell-developed building will feature 127 units and a series of "sculptural excavations" that the architects say are "evocative of the chiseled stone of Manhattan’s geologic legacy." On the lower levels, the tower will be clad in textured limestone with bronze window frames; its narrower upper portion will have a glassy facade and chamfered corners that create a series of open-air loggias.
More renderings and details

Trump dumps Soho hotel after glitzy launch and 11-year slump

Image: Trump Soho; Donald Trump via Wikimedia Commons.

November 27, 2017

Trump dumps Soho hotel after glitzy launch and 11-year slump

New York City has never, barring perhaps a short stretch of the go-go '80s, been Trump country. But the Trump Organization's high-profile Midtown properties blend with the area's flow of international money and glamour-seeking tourists. Much further downtown, the Trump Soho condominium/hotel at 246 Spring Street has been at best a minor embarrassment in the neighborhood since the ambitious announcement of its birth on Donald J. Trump's TV show "The Apprentice" 11 years ago. Now, what was launched as "an awe-inspiring masterpiece," is being severed from the Trump fold, the New York Times reports. In addition to poor economic performance, the 46-story luxury hotel has attracted opposition from locals since its arrival, protests during Trump's candidacy and scrutiny after the election due to its ties to a Russian dealmaker.
Find out more

Apply for a middle-income apartment in Alphabet City, from $2,116/month

Photo of 101 Avenue D courtesy of Arabella 101

November 27, 2017

Apply for a middle-income apartment in Alphabet City, from $2,116/month

Applications are currently being accepted for middle-income studio and one-bedroom apartments at 101 Avenue D in the Alphabet City section of the East Village. The 78-unit building, known as Arabella 101, is a post-war rental located between East 7th Street and East 8th Street. In addition to its prime downtown Manhattan location, residents can enjoy a roof deck, laundry room, bike room and fitness center. Qualifying New Yorkers earning between $74, 435 and $116,900 can apply for a $2,116 per month studio and those earning between $74-435 and $133, 700 can apply for $2,270 per month one-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Did Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban buy Michael Jackson’s former UES mansion?

Photo of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban courtesy of UN Women

November 27, 2017

Did Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban buy Michael Jackson’s former UES mansion?

Adding to the mansion’s celebrity lineage, country music star Keith Urban might be buying the 16-room Upper East Side townhouse at 4 East 74th Street for $39 million as a gift for his wife, Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman. According to Woman's Day, Kidman will take her acting career to Broadway, making the townhouse on Central Park the perfect nesting spot, although a deal has not been made official. "While there are several interested parties in the house, no deal has been made yet and a contract has not been signed," said the listing's agent, Adam Modlin. "The house is available." Constructed in 1898, past residents have included artist Marc Chagall and Michael Jackson. The sprawling six-story home features seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms and an original detailed oak staircase, 10 wood burning fireplaces and a private roof deck. As 6sqft previously covered, the building's current owner, billionaire hedge fund manager and Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, listed the property earlier this month.
See inside

Rent Bethenny Frankel’s chic Soho condo for $13K/month

Photo of Bethenny Frankel via Wikimedia

November 22, 2017

Rent Bethenny Frankel’s chic Soho condo for $13K/month

After an unsuccessful stint on the sales market, Bethenny Frankel’s condo in Soho is now a $13,000 per month rental. Frankel, star of Real Housewives of New York City and founder of the Skinnygirl empire, first tried to sell the two-bedroom apartment at 22 Mercer Street for $5.25 million in February but to no avail. While it's now listed as a rental, the apartment is still available for purchase at a slightly lower price of $4.95 million, Curbed reports. The loft spans 2,392 square feet and boasts a working wood-burning fireplace, a balcony and 14-foot ceilings.
Have a look around

November 22, 2017

$980K Village co-op maximizes space with smart storage and a bonus outdoor patio

This Greenwich Village apartment, at the cooperative 175 Bleecker Street, is within cozy quarters. But the ground-floor, one-bedroom unit is more than meets the eye post-renovation. It's packed with some ingenious storage, a lofted second bedroom space, and a dreamy private patio. After last selling in 2015 for $849,000, it's back on the market with a steeper ask of $980,000. Will someone be willing to spend close to $1 million on a well-designed but modest apartment, right in the heart of the Village?
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

November 21, 2017

$1.4M mod duplex is part of a rare Upper East Side enclave

In a city that seems to be growing more homogenous each day, this listing is one of the exceptions. Tucked away in plain sight on an Upper East Side street that ends in a cul-de-sac overlooking the East River, this floor-through duplex at 527 East 72nd Street is a rare oasis. Bookended by two petite public parks, the co-op complex consists of four wood-clad 1894 townhouses painted black and white. Within, the two-bedroom apartment is just as dreamy and beautifully renovated with clean, modern finishes that continue the feeling of having escaped the bustle of Manhattan. Asking $1.395 million, the home spans two levels and has a laundry room, a separate office, two baths and a powder room–and there's plenty of living space left over.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

Preservation unbound: Is a plan to re-build the original Penn Station a viable option?

Drawing of the original Penn Station, re-created. Credit: Jeff Stikeman for Rebuild Penn Station

November 20, 2017

Preservation unbound: Is a plan to re-build the original Penn Station a viable option?

In August 6sqft reported that major work was underway in the $1.6 billion transformation of Penn Station's James A. Farley Building into a state-of-the-art, 225,000-square-foot “world-class 21st century transportation hub” called Moynihan Train Hall. That hasn't stopped the flow of suggestions for how to best make use of New Yorkers' un-favorite transport hub, which have included Practice for Architecture and Urbanism founder Vishaan Chakrabarti's proposal to repurpose, then move the old building to create a neighborhood gathering spot and a plan by Columbia University’s DeathLab to turn the the station into a landscaped cemetery. Among those voices-with-a-vision is Rebuild Penn Station, a group of architects and preservationists whose intent is to recreate the original McKim, Mead and White-designed Penn Station, and a new ad campaign aims to get commuters on board (h/t Curbed).
Find out more

November 20, 2017

NYC’s best art installations and exhibits to get you in the holiday spirit

By Lori Zimmer

The holiday season in New York is one of the most magical times, packed with lots of events to perpetuate the experience. Aside from ice skating, holiday-themed bars, and the tree at Rockefeller Center, be sure to tuck into these art exhibitions and events to get you into the spirit! From old standbys like the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show to contemporary offerings like Yayoi Kusama's glittering installations in Chelsea and Erwin Redl's haunting field of glowing orbs at Madison Square Park, we've rounded up the 14 best must-see artsy exhibits this year.
Our top picks right this way

Events & Things To Do

November 20, 2017

Townhouse charm, modern design, and a prime location add up to this $825K West Village co-op

This one-bedroom co-op at 352 West 12th Street has exactly the kind of West Village charm–inside and out–that makes the neighborhood one of the city's most sought-after–and makes even its tiniest spaces among the most fought-over. Asking $825,000–in keeping with the neighborhood's complete lack of perspective in the area of real estate value–what's essentially an alcove studio with a privacy-enhancing wall has been blessed with interior design and finishes that make every square foot a joy to behold. It may not "astound with surprises," as the listing offers, but it's a surprisingly chic little flat, two flights up, with a lovely common garden shared the trio of 19th-century townhouses that comprise the co-op.
Take a look, this way

Distinctive Homes

November 17, 2017

The penthouse at Shigeru Ban’s Metal Shutter Houses tries its hand as a $25K/month rental