Manhattan

October 3, 2017

Olsen twins’ former West Village penthouse hits the market for $25M

A massive penthouse with star power has just hit the market for a cool $25 million. The apartment, located atop luxury West Village condo 1 Morton Square, was previously owned by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. According to Curbed, the famous twins bought the pad for $7.3 million in 2009 while the building was still under construction, put it on the market soon after buying, and finally sold in 2010. Well-known New York developer Bruce Eichner of the Continuum Company was the buyer--for $7.7 million--and now he's looking to make quite the profit. The apartment is impressive, though, with interior details imported from France, a sculptural glass wine refrigerator, and a gallery to display art and sculptures.
You've got to see inside
October 3, 2017

One57’s 85th-floor unit comes back on the market for $70M after a full reno

In the building known for the city's most expensive residential sale ever (a dizzying duplex on the 89th and 90th floors of the iconic skyscraper at 157 West 57th Street whose $100 million sale closed in 2014), big-ticket buys hardly turn heads. But that same year, the headline-grabbing supertall saw its third most expensive unit change hands when Canadian investor and Ferrari collector Lawrence Stroll dropped $55.6 million on a 6,240-square-foot 85th-floor home in the building's tower. Now he's put the full-floor pad back on the market for an even more noteworthy $70 million. According to the listing, the apartment had a complete renovation even in its short lifetime–and clearly, Stroll, worth an estimated $2.4 billion spared no expense, including woven suede walls, a sculptural wall by artist Peter Lane, and a double-sided marble fireplace.
Get a look at this big bank account in the sky this way
October 2, 2017

Lottery opens for 45 affordable units across from the Empire State Building, from $867/month

Living amongst the hustle and bustle of the Empire State Building may not sound appealing at first, but when you can do it in a brand new, high-end tower for less than $900 a month, the option doesn't look half bad. Starting tomorrow, New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for 45 apartments at Midtown West's sleek new rental 42 West 33rd Street. Not only do prices range from $867/month studios to $1,123/month two-bedrooms, but the 41-story glass building offers a host of amenities including a fitness center, golf simulator, swimming pool and sauna, dog wash, and outdoor terraces and gardens (some of these may require an additional fee).
Find out if you qualify
October 2, 2017

Obamas scope out apartments in posh Upper East Side building

Yorkville's 10 Gracie Square is considered "one of New York City's most prestigious addresses" and "the most desirable residential building overlooking Carl Schurz Park," over the years attracting the likes of Alexander Woollcott, conductor Andre Kostelanetz, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. And now Barack and Michelle Obama may be added to that list, as "multiple sources" told the Post that the former President and First Lady were seen arriving at the Upper East Side building to view apartments. The co-op, located just down the block from the Mayor's residence Gracie Mansion, has plenty of perks that would likely attract the Obamas, including an indoor basketball court for the hoops-loving Prez, pet-friendly policy (we can't imagine they'd leave Bo behind), and a super-secure underground drive-in garage that would allow them to enter privately.
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October 2, 2017

$5.5M UWS condo is spacious and stylish with help from architect Elizabeth Roberts

With 2,512 square feet of space to work with, it's not too much of a challenge to find space for everyday life, but not everyone could make it look this good–or this effortless. According to the listing, townhouse interiors architect du jour Elizabeth Roberts has had a hand in giving this five-bedroom pre-war condominium at 100 West 80th Street a perfect layout for family life, plus lots of options and plenty of laid-back modern style. Asking $5.5 million, the home looks just right in the elegant Orleans, surrounded by greenery and Upper West Side culture.
Tour this sprawling family-friendly home
September 30, 2017

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

The Latest Rental News & Offers (Images L to R): 507 WEST CHELSEA, KESTREL, 505W37 and 60 WATER Live Inside a 35-Story Glass Tower Above the High Line & Hudson Yards [link] Historic Park Slope Building is Reborn; Rentals from $3,500/Month [link] New No-Fee Listings at The Kestrel, Award-Winning Brooklyn Rental [link] Tranquility Abounds at […]

September 29, 2017

Live among pro athletes at Midtown West’s Sky for just $613/month

Thanks to the building’s Carmelo Anthony-designed NBA regulation-sized basketball court and 70,000-square-foot recreation facility, Midtown West's swanky Sky rental has been attracting pro athletes since it opened under the Moinian Group in 2015. Current residents include the Knicks' Kristaps Porzingis and Sasha Vujacic and Met pitcher A.J. Ramos. And now the 60-story glass slab tower at 605 West 42nd Street is offering 166 low- and middle-income units through the city's affordable housing lottery. Available to New Yorkers earning 40 or 120 of the area median income, the apartments range from $613/month studios to $2,520/month two-bedrooms. Comparatively, market-rate listings in the building range from $2,982/month studios to $4,260/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
September 29, 2017

INTERVIEW: Architect Lee H. Skolnick on designing New York City’s 9/11 Tribute Museum

This summer, the 9/11 Tribute Museum opened in a brand-new space at 92 Greenwich Street in the Financial District. The 36,000-square-foot gallery became the second iteration of the museum which originally occupied the former Liberty Deli from 2006 until earlier this year. While many are more likely to be familiar with the 9/11 Memorial Museum just a few blocks up the street, the Tribute Museum differs in that rather than focusing on the implications of the tragedy, documenting the events as they unfolded and examining its lasting impact, it assumes a more inspired take, dedicating its exhibits and installations to the stories of the survivors, first responders, relatives of victims, and others with close connections to the tragedy who found hope in the terror and stepped up to help their fellow New Yorkers. Ahead, Lee Skolnick, principal of LHSA+DP and lead architect of the 9/11 Tribute Museum, speaks to 6sqft about the design and programming of this important institution, and how he hopes its message will inspire visitors to do good in their communities during these uncertain times.
read 6sqft's interview with Skolnick here
September 29, 2017

HFZ Capital Group taps Bjarke Ingels to design 33-floor office tower in NoMad

Adding to the sudden skyscraper boom in NoMad, HFZ Capital Group is moving forward with plans for a project at 3 West 29th Street. HFZ’s original idea for the redevelopment of the site, which once held the now-demolished 1898 Bancroft Building, included iconic architect Moshe Safdie designing a 64-floor, 830-foot tall condo. However, instead, a pre-filed building application from earlier this month calls for a 33-foot office tower designed by Bjarke Ingels of BIG Architects, as CityRealty learned.
Find out more
September 29, 2017

$4.8M Yorkville duplex is like a renovated townhouse in a grand pre-war building

This impossibly spacious three-bedroom duplex maisonette in a gracious Upper East Side pre-war co-op at 520 East 86th Street is really a "best of both worlds" situation. For the price of $4,755 million, you get the privacy and space of townhouse living on two floors, three bedrooms and your own private entrance with its own address. You also get the convenience of a full-time doorman and a chance to live in a covetable Manhattan co-op.
Tour this gorgeous vintage home
September 28, 2017

Iconic album covers of Greenwich Village and the East Village: Then and now

There’s no shortage of sites in the Village and East Village where great makers of popular music lived or performed. Less well known, however, are the multitude of sites that were the backdrop for iconic album covers, sometimes sources of inspiration for the artists or just familiar stomping grounds. Today, many are hiding in plain sight, waiting to perform an encore for any passersby discerning enough to notice. Ahead, we round up some of the most notable examples, from "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" to the Ramones' self-titled debut album.
Learn about the covers and see what the locations look like today
September 28, 2017

First renderings of Essex Crossing’s phase two reveal new buildings and huge public park

Construction continues to progress at Essex Crossing, the roughly 1.9 million-square-foot mixed-use development planned to stretch several blocks on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The site, also known as the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, sat abandoned since 1967 until the city sold the nine sites to developers in 2013. While construction of the first phase of the massive project, which includes sites one, two, five and six, is underway, Curbed has acquired renderings for the development’s second phase, sites three and four. The third and fourth sites will be designed by CetraRuddy and Handel Architects, respectively, and feature residential, retail, office and outdoor space.
More this way
September 28, 2017

$13.5M UES townhouse boasts one of Manhattan’s finest private gardens

The listing tells us this six-story townhouse at 140 East 65th Street on the Upper East Side, with 18 rooms accessible by a wood-paneled elevator, is "the antithesis of the familiar, plain-vanilla, cookie-cutter developer spec house," and we'd have to agree. Asking $13.5 million, its 7,000 interior square feet and 900 square feet of private outdoor space are brimming with magnificent design details that include one of the finest private gardens in Manhattan, designed by the Curator of Japanese Gardens at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
Check out the endless details and rooms to spare
September 28, 2017

Beyoncé sells swanky Midtown apartment for $10M

It’s been a busy summer for superstar couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The twosome recently purchased an LA estate for $88 million in August and shortly after they bought a home on East Hampton’s Georgica Pond for nearly $26 million. Adding to their real estate hustle, Beyoncé just sold her apartment at 151 East 58th in Midtown East for $9.95 million, as the New York Post reported. The 44th-floor pad is located at One Beacon Court, the exclusive Manhattan skyscraper with a Pantheon-inspired elliptical court. Beyoncé’s former pad features three bedrooms, floor-to-ceiling windows and sweeping views of Central Park.
See inside
September 28, 2017

Octagonal ‘periscope’ tower proposed for Rafael Vinoly’s 249 East 62nd Street

Real Estate Inverlad's in-the-works residential project at 249 East 62nd Street is now one less ZD1 diagram away from being a reality. CityRealty reports that the customary diagram is now on file, giving us a look at the tower's proposed bulk–and the Department of Buildings has found the project, even with a few clever tricks up its sleeve, compliant with the city's zoning laws. The diagram shows that the skyscraper will elevate a number of the units within by using  an octagonally-shaped core, periscope style, to peer out over their Upper East Side neighbors towards Central Park and the East River.
See how it works, this way
September 27, 2017

West Village townhouse of NYC fashion scene veteran hits the market for $13M

Asking $13 million, this single family Greek Revival home at 57 Bank Street embodies what West Village townhouse dreams are made of. As with most such examples of perfection, original historic details are combined with an eye for color and style, and there's a landscaped garden and three terraces. City records show that the townhouse is owned by Anne McNally, Vanity Fair contributor and ex-wife of restaurateur Brian McNally, so it's not surprising that the five-story home has been featured in the pages of House and Garden, British Vogue, and W.
Tour all five floors
September 27, 2017

No one wants to rent Ivanka Trump’s Park Avenue apartment

After months of being on the market, the Manhattan pad of President Donald Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump just won’t rent, despite three substantial price chops. The first daughter first purchased the two-bedroom, two bathroom condo at 502 Park Avenue in 2004 for $1.5 million. Upon her father’s election, Ivanka listed the apartment at Trump Park Avenue in November for $15,000 per month. In February, the price dropped to $13,000 per month. On Tuesday, the asking price was $10,450 per month, a 30 percent price cut since the presidential election, according to Bloomberg.
See inside
September 27, 2017

City approves the Upper West Side’s tallest building, a 668-foot tower in Lincoln Square

The Department of Buildings gave developers on Tuesday the go-ahead to construct a 668-foot residential tower on the Upper West Side. In a partnership between SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America, the project at 200 Amsterdam Avenue will be the neighborhood's tallest tower, surpassing the current title-holder, Trump International, by more than 80 feet. As Crain's reported, construction was stalled after opponents argued the project did not follow required open space regulations and the buildings department shut down the site in July until the issue was resolved.
Find out more
September 27, 2017

Alec Baldwin drops $1.3M on third apartment in Greenwich Village’s Devonshire House

It's like musical chairs for Alec Baldwin and his apartments at the Devonshire House. He bought the Greenwich Village building's penthouse for $11.7 million in October 2011; in June 2012, his wife Hilaria bought the unit next door in her name; and the following year, they scooped up an eighth-floor unit for $2.25 million. Two years ago, however, Baldwin sold this last apartment at a loss for $2.1 million, and this past May, he also unloaded the Eldorado apartment he shared in the '90s with ex-wife Kim Bassinger, both transactions leading many to believe the Emmy-winning Trump portrayer would be departing NYC. But Mansion Global now reports that he's bought another Devonshire unit for $1.3 million. It's on the same floor as his other two units, so it's likely that he'll combine the three into one massive spread.
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September 27, 2017

David Adjaye’s design for Harlem’s new Studio Museum building revealed

The Studio Museum in Harlem is scheduled to break ground on a new 82,000-square-foot home, designed by internationally renowned British architect David Adjaye, in late fall of 2018. Director and Chief Curator Thelma Golden and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Raymond J. Mc Guire unveiled designs for the new building Tuesday along with the announcement of a $175 million capital campaign to fund and maintain the new museum space. The groundbreaking coincides with the celebrated cultural institution's 50th anniversary year. In 2015, the museum announced that it would be working with Adjaye Associates in collaboration with Cooper Robertson on the new building, having outgrown its current home, a century-old building on West 125th Street that it has occupied since 1982.
See more renderings and find out more
September 26, 2017

On the Lower East Side in the 19th century, a kooky cat lady took in more than 50 feline friends

Before cat sanctuaries existed in New York City, one woman, in particular, may have been responsible for saving many kittens from the harshness of 19th-century city life. In the 1870s, a woman named Rosalie Goodman lived in a run-down home on Division Street on the Lower East Side. While she rented out most of the home’s bedrooms to tenants, she left two rooms for her family and her roughly 50 cats (h/t Ephemeral New York). In an article from 1878, the New York Tribune wrote, “Lying in the closets, on the tables, and under the stove, were cats of all descriptions. Some had broken limbs or missing eyes, the result probably of prowling around at night.”
More this way
September 26, 2017

For $875K, a boho-glam East Village co-op with its own roof deck

Scale to the top of the historic brick townhouse at 111 East 10th Street in the East Village and you'll find this charming one-bedroom co-op now on the market for $875,000. The walk-up may not be great, but there are lots of benefits of living on the top floor here. The ceiling has been heightened and expanded to include a row of skylights, and there's direct access to a private rooftop garden. The unit is part of a unique, coveted cooperative comprised of six 19th century townhouses that sit within the landmarked St. Mark's Historic District, holding 29 residences total.
Take a peek
September 26, 2017

New renderings of Lower Manhattan’s second tallest tower reveal golden Art Deco design

The Financial District’s second supertall located just one block south of the New York Stock Exchange is getting ready for construction. The tower, found at 45 Broad Street, will reach 1,115 feet, feature 66 floors and include about 200 condominiums. As CityRealty discovered, new on-site renderings show a slender structure with an Art Deco style and pointed Gothic architecture. Designed by CetraRuddy, the tower will be the second tallest tower in Downtown Manhattan after 1 WTC, and the architecture firm's tallest tower yet.
See the supertall
September 26, 2017

REVEALED: Pritzker Prize winner Álvaro Siza’s first U.S. building in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen

Back in 2015 architects and design buffs were excited to hear that Portuguese Pritzker Prize-winner Álvaro Siza would be designing his highly-anticipated first U.S. building on Manhattan's west side in a neighborhood being called Hudson West. Now, CityRealty reports that developers Sumaida + Khurana and LENY have released renderings of the building at 611 West 56th Street on the former site of the Gristedes corporate headquarters. The development team has secured an acquisition loan, and demolition and foundation work have begun on the 35-story, 80-unit condo.
Find out more
September 25, 2017

Andrew Franz transformed this Chelsea apartment by replacing walls with glass partitions

To bring light into this Chelsea apartment, architect Andrew Franz pulled out all the tricks. To open and brighten up every corner of the 800-square-foot pad, the firm removed walls, added full-height glass partitions and high-gloss lacquered ceilings. While some of the apartment's historic details were restored, the final product feels super modern and spacious—with each room, of course, awash in sunlight.
Take a tour
September 25, 2017

Jon Bon Jovi scores Greenwich Village condo for $19M

New Jersey rock star Jon Bon Jovi has purchased an apartment in the Greenwich Lane, a condominium project in the West Village, for $18.94 million (h/t WSJ). The complex stretches almost a full city block between 12th and 11th Streets off Seventh Avenue and features 198 one- to five-bedroom homes. The musician's new pad at 155 West 11th Street includes four-bedrooms, incredible views of Downtown Manhattan and the Hudson River and direct elevator access. As 6sqft reported in July, Bon Jovi listed his spacious three-bedroom at 150 Charles Street for $17.25 million, later combining the pad with the neighboring duplex for $29.95 million for both.
See inside
September 25, 2017

Radio Row: A tinkerer’s paradise and makerspace, lost to the World Trade Center

Before the internet and before television, there was radio broadcasting. The advent of radio at the turn of the 20th century had major repercussions on the reporting of wars along with its impact on popular culture, so it's not surprising that a business district emerged surrounding the sale and repair of radios in New York City. From 1921 to 1966, a roughly 13-block stretch going north-south from Barclay Street to Liberty Street, and east-west from Church Street to West Street, was a thriving small business stronghold known as Radio Row.
Read more about Radio Row here