Manhattan

With little surprise, Manhattan comes in first for the highest apartment rents in the country, with Battery Park City leading the way for the most outrageous prices. According to data collected by RentCafe and assembled into an interactive map, the average rent in this downtown 'hood is about $6,000 per month, followed by the Upper East Side averaging $4,898 per month and the Upper West Side $4,892. Other pricey Manhattan zip codes that made the top ten include the Lower East Side, Soho and Clinton.
Find out the average rent of your zip code

Real Estate Trends

Redeveloping NYC’s armories: When adaptive reuse and community building bring controversy

Park Avenue Armory, image © PBDW Architects

May 30, 2017

Redeveloping NYC’s armories: When adaptive reuse and community building bring controversy

Constructed between the 18th and 20th centuries to resemble massive European fortresses and serve as headquarters, housing, and arms storage for state volunteer militia, most of America’s armories that stand today had shed their military affiliations by the later part of the 20th century. Though a number of them did not survive, many of New York City’s historic armories still stand. While some remain in a state of limbo–a recent setback in the redevelopment plans of Brooklyn's controversial Bedford-Union Armory in Crown Heights raises a familiar battle cry–the ways in which they've adapted to the city’s rollercoaster of change are as diverse as the neighborhoods that surround them.
Find out how the city's armories have fared

May 26, 2017

Former writing studio of NY Review of Books founder Elizabeth Hardwick asks $1.4M

By Emily Nonko

This quaint Upper West Side one bedroom comes from the Central Park Studios, an apartment cooperative built in 1905 by artists and writers for the purpose of creating living and studio space for their creative endeavors. Unsurprisingly, this apartment has its own creative history: it served as the writing studio to Elizabeth Hardwick, acclaimed author and co-founder of the New York Review of Books. She lived here with her husband, the poet Robert Lowell, until her death in 2007. The present owner, according to the listing, then wrote his first published book here. So who will be the next writer to continue the apartment's creative energy, for the asking amount of $1.42 million?
See the full space

Distinctive Homes

Trader Joe’s opening second 14th Street location

Rendering of 432-438 East 14th Street via Benenson Capital Partners, LLC

May 26, 2017

Trader Joe’s opening second 14th Street location

It's been 11 years since Trader Joe's opened its first NYC location on Union Square, and now the discount grocer has three others in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, and one in Queens. This past year, they announced that new outposts will open in Brooklyn Heights, the Upper West Side (their second in the neighborhood), Soho, and on the Lower East Side at Essex Crossing, and today The Real Deal reports they've inked a deal for a 23,000-square-foot space across from Stuyvesant Town, just three avenues east on 14th Street from their original store. The site at 432 East 14th Street is replacing the former Stuyvesant Post Office, a controversial closure that even launched a local "save the post office" campaign.
Get the whole scoop

Uncategorized

May 25, 2017

Hudson Yards’ art center The Shed wraps up steel construction on its movable shell

After an announcement yesterday morning that Michael R. Bloomberg made a $75 million gift towards Hudson Yards' arts center The Shed--bringing the total raised towards the $500 million capital campaign to $421 million--the "new center for artistic innovation" held a tour to mark the completion of steel construction. The eight-story structure, designed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro in partnership with the Rockwell Group, is a "fixed" base building made up of two gallery levels, a versatile theater, rehearsal space, creative studios for artists, and a sky-lit event space. But what makes the project truly unique is its telescoping outer shell that deploys over the building's courtyard, doubling its footprint and creating a myriad of options for flexible, multi-disciplinary work. Ahead, 6sqft shares an up-close view of this amazing structure.
See all the views and get more info

Trump SoHo sees sharp drop in event bookings, increase in layoffs

Photo of Trump SoHo via Trump Hotels

May 25, 2017

Trump SoHo sees sharp drop in event bookings, increase in layoffs

Trump SoHo, a $450 million, 46-story hotel condominium at 246 Spring Street, has suffered from a sharp decline in corporate event bookings and an increase in staff layoffs. Documents reviewed by WYNC show the once $700-per-night hotel now offers rooms for under $400 a night, less than most of the city’s five- and even four-star rated accommodations. Plus, managers plan on laying off 12 room attendants out of the hotel’s 80 total housekeeping staff and removing turn-down service. While last year the hotel booked 29 large corporate events between January and mid-May, this year just 11 events were booked, with fewer well-known names.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

May 25, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 5/25-5/31

By Lori Zimmer

Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top art, design and architecture event picks for 6sqft readers! Take advantage of this long weekend to get outside and enjoy the city. Sign up for a free walking tour of Central Park or Bryant Park, or head to Washington Square Park for the 82nd year of the Outdoor Art Exhibit. If adventure is your thing, ferry over to Governors Island for their new zip line adventure, or take the boat to Ellis Island for Untapped Cities’ insiders' tour. Check out a sculpture by the Strokes’ Fabrizio Moretti at the beautiful Elizabeth Street Garden, or role play with Ryohei Kawanishi at the Museum of Arts and Design. Finally, treat yourself to a free concert by the New York Philharmonic, inside the history St. John the Divine Cathedral on Memorial Day.
Details on these events and more this way

May 25, 2017

Robert Moses’ former Yorkville home lists for $2M

"Master builder" Robert Moses–he of the 13 expressways that crisscross New York City–spent the 1970s living with his wife, Mary Grady Moses, in a three-bedroom co-op at 1 Gracie Terrace in Yorkville on Manhattan's Upper East Side (h/t NYPost). We can see how the home's sweeping river views would inspire the subject of Robert Caro’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York,” when pondering the conflicting issues of a complicated and changing city. The apartment is now for sale asking $1.95 million.
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May 25, 2017

Beautifully preserved 1827 West Village Federal row house asks $13.9M

One of a pair of Federal-style row houses on the longest unbroken stretch of Federal/Greek Revival homes in New York City, 39 Charlton Street was built in 1827 to exacting standards by a builder-carpenter at a time when the area, now a tony enclave where the West Village meets Soho, was known as Richmond Hill. This 25-foot-wide home has been called one of the city's finest examples of Greek Revival/Federal houses. The house and its neighbor are regarded by the Landmarks Preservation Commission as “the two best (and best preserved) examples...whose exquisitely detailed entrances with original doors and leaded glass sidelights convey many of the style’s most distinctive qualities.” Both the interior and exterior of this unique home, now on the market for $13.85 million, have retained an extraordinary level of original detail.
Tour this historic home

May 24, 2017

First look at CetraRuddy’s proposed hotel-apartment tower for Hudson Yards

Back in September, the developer Joseph Chetrit filed plans to build a 48-floor mixed-use tower with 421 hotel rooms and 135 residential units in the Hudson Yards neighborhood. Now, the wait is over as renderings of Chetrit Group’s proposed tower at 541-545 West 37th Street have officially been revealed. As CityRealty learned, CetraRuddy Architecture is designing the high-tech skyscraper, which is expected to rise 622 feet and overlook the future Hudson Boulevard Park. The building will span 621,000 square feet and include exhibition, retail, hotel and residential spaces.
More details and renderings

The Shed via Wikipedia

May 24, 2017

Michael Bloomberg gives $75 million to Hudson Yards arts center The Shed

Michael R. Bloomberg has added a $75 million contribution to what the New York Times calls "New York's first new cultural institution in recent memory," the arts center known as The Shed, part of the new Hudson Yards development on Manhattan's far west side. The former mayor's gift brings the total raised for the project to $421 million of its $500 million capital campaign. The new arts center has gotten much of its funding from a small group of billionaires that includes Related Companies' Stephen M. Ross and media mogul Barry Diller. Set for completion in 2019, the eight-level structure, designed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro in partnership with the Rockwell Group, will host performances, concerts, visual art, music and other events.
A 'tool kit for artists'

Image via Alan Bloom/Flickr

May 24, 2017

Governor Cuomo and the MTA announce a competition to fix the NYC subway system

Image via Alan Bloom/Flickr Seeking innovative solutions to fix the mess that is the New York City transit system, Governor Cuomo on Tuesday launched a competition called the “MTA Genius Transit Challenge.” Just one of the governor’s recently proposed ideas to fix the subway, the international competition challenges participants to develop ideas for better signaling, new car designs, and WiFi throughout the system, including in tunnels. The winner of each category will receive $1 million and a possible contract deal with the state. In addition to the challenge, Cuomo announced he has created a Penn Station Task Force to devise alternative transportation solutions during Amtrak’s track work at the station this summer.
Find out more

May 24, 2017

Greet the sun from your solarium or tech-friendly garden in this $1.7M East Village duplex

This unusual East Village one-bedroom duplex condo in the Village Mews at 407 East 12th Street checks all the boxes without shouting–that is, it lets a rare and fabulous garden paradise do the talking, which in this case means asking for $1.695 million. The 750-square-foot home was recently renovated from tip to toe, and the design is tasteful without being generically "luxe." And while this not-huge condo wouldn't work for a growing family or a communal crew, it looks heavenly for anyone seeking, an "oasis away from city living" while situated on a lovely street in the heart of what could be called an oasis of city living, with its 24-hour energy and unending list of destinations of every kind.
Here comes the sun

Distinctive Homes

May 23, 2017

REVEALED: Early studies of David Adjaye’s Wall Street Tower, his first skyscraper in NYC

Three years after completing his first New York City building, an affordable housing complex in Harlem called the Sugar Hill Development, starchitect David Adjaye is back. This time, he'll be working with David Lichtenstein's Lightstone Group to design a 61-story, 750-foot-tall condominium in the Financial District at 130 William Street known as the Wall Street Tower. Early conceptual studies uncovered by CityRealty show a gold-trimmed prism set against rigid rows of arched windows, as well as a glimpse at what the 244 apartments and amenity spaces will look like.
See the impressive renderings

Midtown’s tiny Greenacre Park fights for light among sky-high skyscrapers

Terry Tynes via flickr (CC)

May 23, 2017

Midtown’s tiny Greenacre Park fights for light among sky-high skyscrapers

As a small oasis in the center of Manhattan, Greenacre Park is home to honey locust trees, azaleas, pansies and a 25-foot-high waterfall, all taking up just 6,360 square feet of space. However, the city’s plan to rezone Midtown East to allow for more commercial buildings worries some advocates who say it may deplete Greenacre Park from any sunlight, as the Times reported. But the Municipal Art Society, New Yorkers for Parks, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmember Daniel Garodnick, are backing a campaign called "Fight For Light" to protect the park's right to sunlight.
Get the full scoop

Policy

May 23, 2017

VIDEO: West 8’s proposal for NYC’s largest private garden at One Manhattan Square

Adding to its unique character, Extell's One Manhattan Square will soon be home to NYC's largest outdoor private garden, detailed in a new video released today by the developer. The proposal, designed by urban planning and landscape architecture firm West 8, includes more than an acre of garden space for residents to both work and socialize, boasting indoor and outdoor grilling spaces, ping-pong tables, a putting green, children's playground, adult tree house, tea pavilion, and an observatory made for stargazing.
Watch the video here

Pier 55 project files appeal to stop work order; Durst says he backed opposition

Photo via Pier 55 Inc.

May 23, 2017

Pier 55 project files appeal to stop work order; Durst says he backed opposition

6sqft reported in March on the latest developments in the on-again-off-again status of the $200 million Barry Diller-funded offshore park/performing arts center proposed for Pier 55 on the Hudson River; though construction began last November, opponents of the project, led by the City Club of New York, gained a victory in the form of a ruling by Judge Lorna G. Schofield that agreed with group’s claim that the Army Corps of Engineers had not conducted a sufficient environmental review on how the 2.4-acre park would affect fish and wildlife. The judge ordered that work stop at the site and called for a review of alternatives for building along Hudson River Park, a maritime sanctuary. Now, the New York Times reports that the Corps of Engineers, with the project's sponsor, the Hudson River Park Trust, has filed an appeal of the decision.
And what about that Diller-Durst feud

May 23, 2017

Second Avenue Subway ridership continues to grow; MTA to add more trains

Just a month after opening on the first of the year, the Second Avenue Subway had eased congestion on the Lexington line by 11 percent. Now, nearly five months in, that figure has more than doubled, with ridership on the 4/5/6 decreased by 26 percent and a whopping 40 percent during peak morning hours. Moreover, Second Avenue's average weekday ridership is up from 140,000 to 176,000 passengers, an increase which has prompted the MTA to add two additional train trips during rush hour come this November.
Find out more

Transit

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

Images (L to R): Journal Squared, 507 West Chelsea, 525 West 52nd Street and Yorkshire Towers

May 22, 2017

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

By Ondel Hylton

Two-Tower Hell’s Kitchen Rental Debuts with Impressive Leasing Special [link] More Than Views – A Closer Look at Jersey City’s 53-Story Rental, Journal Squared [link] No-Fee Apartments with 2 Months Free at 507 West Chelsea, Luxe Living on the High Line [link] New Harlem Rentals Debut on 125th Street; Apartments from $1,994/Month [link] $1,000 Deposits […]

Real Estate Trends

52 wave sculptures designed by celebrities like Slash and Cara Delevigne hit NYC

Jason deCaires Taylor’s “Silent Evolution” wave via Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation

May 22, 2017

52 wave sculptures designed by celebrities like Slash and Cara Delevigne hit NYC

Ocean conservation nonprofit Project 0 has partnered with luxury skin care brand La Mer, to bring 52 wave-shaped sculptures designed by artists and entertainers like Keith Richards, Slash, Sienna Miller, Rita Ora, Cara Delevigne to NYC. Between May 20 and June 21, the La Mer Wave Walk will feature public art pieces throughout the five boroughs to raise awareness about ocean conservancy, as DNA Info learned. The installations will be up for auction on June 21, with all proceeds going to the charity La Mer Blue Heart Oceans Fund for Project 0.
Find out more

Senators request interior landmark status for two NYPL reading rooms

Rose Main Reading room via NYPL

May 22, 2017

Senators request interior landmark status for two NYPL reading rooms

State Senators Brad Hoylman and Liz Krueger have asked the Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the Rose Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library's main branch and the Bill Blass Public Catalog Room at the 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue branch as interior landmarks, according to DNAInfo. The library's main branch, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, was given landmark designation in 1967 and Astor Hall and the grand staircases within the building were designated as interior landmarks in 1974. Interior landmark designation would give the two reading rooms–favorites of literary greats including Norman Mailer, E.L. Doctorow and Elizabeth Bishop–the same protection moving forward.
Find out more

May 22, 2017

Late billionaire’s ex lists spectacular Stanhope penthouse with five terrace gardens for $65M

By Annie Doge

The 7,067 square-foot penthouse at 995 Fifth Avenue owned by Claude Wasserstein, ex wife of the late Bruce Wasserstein, former chair of investment firm Lazard, was just listed for the first time since a brief stint on the market in 2010. Wasserstein, who died in 2009, was the brother of the late playwright Wendy Wasserstein. The 11-room, five-bedroom duplex atop the Rosario Candela-designed former Stanhope hotel was purchased by Ms. Wasserstein for $34.8 million in 2008, The Real Deal reports. In addition to five garden-like wraparound terraces crafted by landscape designer Madison Cox, "epic NYC views" and 72 linear feet of Central Park frontage, the full-service building offers top-drawer amenities like a gym and a spa. But does all of that add up to $65 million–$9,285 per square foot?
Get lost in the terraces and gardens overlooking Central Park

Distinctive Homes

Renderings revealed for controversial mixed-income tower on top of UES playground

Rendering via NYCHA

May 19, 2017

Renderings revealed for controversial mixed-income tower on top of UES playground

After over a year-long debate, the city has finally unveiled renderings of a mixed-income tower set to rise on an existing playground at the Holmes Towers public housing complex in Yorkville. The New York City Housing Authority’s plan, which falls under the city’s NextGen program, will construct a 47-story building among the complex on East 93rd Street, as well as a new 18,000-square-foot recreation and community center run by Asphalt Green (h/t DNA Info). The new building will feature 300 total units, with half of them at market-rate prices and half of them affordable. However, an alleged plan to separate the floors by income level, as well as the fact that high-end housing is coming to a low-income site where the community wasn't consulted, has sparked a good deal of controversy.
Get the whole story

Lower East Side’s Landmark Sunshine Cinema will close next year

Photo via East End Capital

May 19, 2017

Lower East Side’s Landmark Sunshine Cinema will close next year

The Lower East Side will be losing a neighborhood fixture next year. Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema at 139-143 East Houston Street will be closing its doors when its lease expires in January 2018, to make way for a new mixed-use development with retail and office space. As the Post reports, the theater, which was built in 1889 and first opened in 1909 as the Houston Hippodrome, was sold for $31.5 million to developers East End Capital and K Property Group.
Find out more

New Developments

May 18, 2017

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard renting at Midtown’s swanky MiMA tower

By Annie Doge

The Mets’ powerhouse pitcher Noah Syndergaard is renting a posh two-bedroom apartment at Manhattan View at MiMA while recovering from a partially torn lat muscle, according to the Post. The star player, admirably known as “Thor” because of his long locks, lives with his girlfriend Alexandra Cooper and fellow Mets pitcher Robert Gsellman in the rental at 460 West 42nd Street, which was designed by Arquitectonica and boasts views of the Hudson River, George Washington Bridge, Columbus Circle and Central Park. Though there aren't details on his specific unit, two-bedroom rentals start at around $6,000 a month.
See inside the units at MiMA

Celebrities

May 18, 2017

Glamorous Yorkville penthouse once home to Irving Berlin lists for $7.9M