Manhattan

Actress Amy Irving was nominated for an Academy Award for "Yentl" and a Golden Globe for "Crossing Delancey," but aside from her work on stage and screen, the actress made headlines when divorcing from Steven Speilberg in 1989. At the time, a judge vacated their prenup that had been written on a cocktail napkin, entitling to Irving to half of Speilberg's net worth, or a whopping $100 million. In 2006, she used some of this cash to buy a stunning co-op at 50 Central Park West for $6.9 million. Nine years later, she bought another classic co-op nearby at 75 Central Park West for $8.9 million; the following year, renovations to her apartment sparked a fire in the building that damaged Hank Azaria's unit a few floors above. But now that the reno is presumably done, Irving is trying hard to unload her first Upper West Side property. She first listed it in September 2015 for $11.5 million, but after several price chops, it's now returned for $8,995,000.
Take a look around

Karim Rashid’s East Harlem HAP Five gets its bright pink trim

Final rendering of HAP FIVE (l), Construction progress as of January 27; CityRealty

January 30, 2017

Karim Rashid’s East Harlem HAP Five gets its bright pink trim

Construction is progressing at the very Karim Rashid-esque HAP Five residential project at 329 Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem, CityRealty reports. The building's frame has been enclosed in glass and its balconies are getting the hot-pink trim chosen by neighborhood residents after a bolder color scheme was nixed. HAP Investment Developers has specified that the project will be rental apartments instead of condos; the 21,500-square-foot, eight-story new project will offer 20 apartments including studios and one- and two-bedroom units created by the award-winning designer, all of which will have open kitchens and offer access to either a balcony, terrace or backyard.
New construction photos, this way

January 30, 2017

Elegant Central Park West penthouse hits the market for the first time in 30 years, asks $20M

The listing for this prewar triplex penthouse on the Upper West Side says it's "like a house hovering twenty-two floors above Central Park," but one look at the sprawling floor plan suggests that "mansion" might be a better word. Five bedrooms may sound ordinary, if luxurious, but countless other rooms and suites, three enormous terraces on the middle floor, a wraparound terrace on the bedroom floor and helicopter views in every direction put this iconic home atop a classic Emery Roth-designed co-op at 320 Central Park West in a class by itself—and its $20 million ask certainly reflects its status.
Check out those views, this way

Distinctive Homes

January 28, 2017

$14K/month multifunctional Flatiron loft is ready for all your creative endeavors

This Gramercy/Flatiron pad at 333 Park Avenue South, available for rent furnished or unfurnished for $14,000 per month, has all your classic loft details such as rustic beamed ceilings, wooden columns, and massive industrial windows. But it's also been reconfigured into a multifunctional, multi-level home that has plenty of separate zones for photo studio work, office space, entertaining, living, and any other use you could think of. Add in the slew of custom built-ins, chic decor, and artsy wall treatments, and that five-digit price tag seems a lot more reasonable.
Investigate the possibilities

Distinctive Homes

January 27, 2017

Lottery opens for 40 affordable units across Central Harlem, starting at $822/month

Second to the Bronx, Central Harlem has seen perhaps the most new affordable housing opportunities in the city. The latest is a 40-unit lottery spread across four buildings near Jackie Robinson Park--304 West 152nd Street, 232 West 149th Street, 2797 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, and 2472 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard. The units are available to those earning 50 or 60 percent of the area media income and range from $822/month studios to $1,371/month four-bedrooms.
Find out more

Affordable Housing

January 27, 2017

Inside the Village East Cinema, one of NY’s last surviving ‘Yiddish Rialto’ theaters

By James and Karla Murray

Moviegoers at the Village East Cinema may be surprised to learn that they are visiting a recently restored New York City designated landmark. The Village East Cinema has a fascinating history as one of the last surviving “Yiddish Rialto” theaters along Second Avenue in the East Village. Today, the cinema is known for premiering many independent films and an eclectic mix of art and commercial releases. The theater’s most significant visual aspect, however, is its main auditorium’s ornate and colorful ceiling, which is regarded as having one of the most remarkable works of plaster craftsmanship in New York City.
explore the spectacular space here

January 27, 2017

FREE RENT: A roundup of NYC’s latest rental concessions

By Ondel Hylton

No Security Deposit + One Month Free for Full-Floor Apartments on Lower East Side [link] Glenwood Offering Free Rent at Lincoln Square High-Rise, Hawthorn Park [link] One Month Free on All Units at Luxury High Rise LINC LIC; Studios from $2,395 [link] Now 95% Leased, 180 Franklin Avenue in Clinton Hill Offers Two Months Free […]

Real Estate Trends

January 27, 2017

SL Green says One Vanderbilt will bring in $200M a year

SL Green Realty CEO Marc Holliday said Thursday that the midtown office tower One Vanderbilt is expected to pull in as much as $198 million a year in net operating income when complete in 2020 and fully leased, The Real Deal reports. That figure, in 2028 dollars, likely includes $42 million in admission fees for the building's planned observation deck and is based on the assumption that the tower will be leased out at an average of $155 per square foot. If realized, that figure would put the 1.7-million-square-foot, 1,401-foot-tall tower in a league with some of the the city's significantly larger trophy properties.
Find out more

January 27, 2017

Daughter of rock legend Peter Gabriel lists sunny East Village co-op for $1.65M

Rocker Peter Gabriel's daughter, Anna Gabriel, is unloading her East Village pad for $1.65 million. Gabriel, who has shot music videos that include notably Beyonce’s “Countdown” and “Sweet Dreams,” purchased the apartment at 303 East 8th Street in 2006 for $1.05 million, according to public records. (You can see some photos of her living space here.) Now the two-bedroom unit--which boasts 17 windows across four exposures--is looking to find a new owner.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

January 27, 2017

Built for an aviation pioneer, this 1940 International Style mansion asks $40M

Known as the Sherman Fairchild Mansion, the extraordinary modern-fronted townhouse at 17 East 65th Street is one of those New York City sights that might stop you in your tracks in the middle of an otherwise sedate Upper East Side sidewalk. The current façade of this five-story home was designed by William Hamby and George Nelson in 1940 for brilliant and prolific aviation pioneer/inventor Sherman Fairchild (well-known architect Michael Graves was commissioned to design yet another facade for the home in 1979, but that version was never built). The 25-foot-wide, 9,440 square-foot modern townhouse has been on and off the market since 2014; it's currently asking $40,000. While the home's exterior is provocative and unique–especially given the Upper East Side location a block from Central Park–the interiors, which have undergone a thorough renovation by the current owner, noted Renaissance art dealer Martin Zimet of French & Company, are yet another surprise.
Take a look inside

January 26, 2017

Iconic portrait artist Aaron Shikler’s stunning UWS apartment returns for $7M

By Diane Pham

The spectacular home of late artist Aaron Shikler is for sale once again, reports LLNYC. The painter, who is best known for his brooding and soulful portraits of America's statesmen and celebrities, including John F. Kennedy, Jackie O. and Ronald Reagan, transferred the ownership of the cooperative in the famed Studio Building to his two children in 2013 before his passing in 2015. The family tried last year to sell the co-op for $7.8 million but sadly were unable to find a buyer. Now it appears they're hoping an $800,000 price cut and a bevy of new photos showcasing the ornate interiors will help close a deal.
more photos inside

Distinctive Homes

January 26, 2017

Rem Koolhaas’ Gramercy condo reveals interior renderings, launches sales

Right before the new year, the highly anticipated condo from Toll Brothers City Living at 121 East 22nd Street in Gramercy reached its full height, providing the first real views of its glassy facade and chiseled corner that resembles a giant crystal. And what makes the structure even more special is the fact that it's the first NYC project from Pritzker Prize-winning Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas's firm the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA).CityRealty now tells us that sales have officially begun, currently ranging from $1.5 million, 761-square-foot one-bedrooms to $4.7 million,2,402-square-foot three-bedrooms, and along with the launch comes the first set of interior renderings and some fresh looks at the exterior and amenity spaces.
More details and all the renderings

January 26, 2017

1894 maps show a Manhattan densely populated with immigrants

New York has always been a city of immigrants, and these historic maps—dug up by Slate—attempted to illustrate the population density and nationality in 19th century Manhattan. With data from the 1890 census, the New York’s Tenement-House Committee and Frederick E. Pierce released the maps in 1894. They tracked immigrant communities by striping each of the island’s sanitary districts (which are small service areas designated by the sanitation department) with different patterns. The stripes show the national origin of the New Yorkers that live in each area, while the width of the striped signifies the proportion of the population represented by each group.
See the full map

History

January 26, 2017

Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh lists Tribeca loft below Taylor Swift for $5.75M

Now's your chance to get in at Tribeca's celebrity heavy condo, the Sugar Loaf Building at 155 Franklin Street. Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh has listed his $5.75 million three-bedroom apartment, which is situated right below Taylor Swift's palatial, lofty pad. And at 155 Franklin, all things revolve around Taylor Swift: Sir Ian McKellen was staying in Peter Jackson's apartment and got evicted when Jackson sold the unit to Swift; and Orlando Bloom sold his apartment soon after Swift moved in with rumors of paparazzi annoyance. But if you don't mind the crowd of fans, this unit boasts 2,450 square feet as well as the same exposed brick and timber-beamed ceilings that decorate Swift's nearby abode.
Time for a tour

January 26, 2017

Travel + Leisure dubs ‘NoLo’ NYC’s next trendy neighborhood

DoBro (Downtown Brooklyn), MiMa (Midtown Manhattan), Hellsea (Hell's Kitchen meets Chelsea), BoCoCa (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens)--typically we blame brokers and real estate marketers for inventing outlandish neighborhood acronyms as a way to make their listings and developments seem unique and in uncharted territory. But this time, the writers over at Travel + Leisure have decided to try their hand at the name game, dubbing "NoLo" the next trendy 'hood. "There's no cooler neighborhood mashup," they say, than "the parts of Soho where Nolita bumps against the Lower East Side." Here you'll find "a community of restaurants, shops, cafes and drinking spots that exude the city's cutting edge style."
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Uncategorized

January 26, 2017

Bjarke Ingels’ ‘bold yet graceful’ High Line towers get new website and flashy signage

When HFZ Capital Group chairman Ziel Feldman needed a bold design for what will be Chelsea's largest development in more than a decade, he knew the very-visible, block-long site wanted nothing short of an architectural icon to house the future 950,000-square-foot mix of parking, retail and office space, a 137-room Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spa and 240 condominium apartments. So it should come as no surprise that Bjarke Ingels' BIG was chosen to design what would be the firm's second Hudson River-front tower (after Via 57 West). Straddling the High Line and offering sunset river views, the two towers penned by the Danish wunderkind sit atop a four-floor base at 76 Eleventh Avenue, rising to 28 and 38 floors, respectively. CityRealty now brings us a collection of new views and a concept development slideshow of the $1.9 billion project recently published by BIG on their website.
See new images from the slideshow and some scintillating site prep

January 25, 2017

Extell’s One Manhattan Square reaches halfway point and gets its glassy skin

Despite the rapid influx of new development that's popping up in the controversial Two Bridges area, the Chinatown-meets-Lower East Side neighborhood's first project, One Manhattan Square, still reigns as the tallest. In fact, when it reaches its full 823-foot height, Extell's 80-story condo at 252 South Street will have the highest rooftop between downtown and Midtown Manhattan. Now that sales have commenced, CityRealty paid the construction site a visit, noticing that the double-slab tower is already more than 30 stories tall and has begun to receive its reflective glass skin.
More views ahead

January 25, 2017

Designer Zac Posen snags an elegant Upper East Side penthouse for $3.5M

By Diane Pham

Zac Posen may love taking fashion risks, but when it comes to real estate, it's all about the classics. The designer and "Project Runway" judge has just poured $3.5 million into an elegant Upper East Side penthouse, LL NYC shares. The duplex spread sits atop an Emory Roth-designed prewar at 210 East 73rd Street and comes steeped in ornate details like hand-painted ceilings, an iron staircase and a Chesney marble mantle. While the current decor is most certainly in need of a modern facelift, Posen will have plenty of space to flex his creative prowess. The penthouse is a classic six with two bedrooms, two and a half baths and a large 1,800-square-foot wrap terrace. And did we mention there are seven custom closets? Four of them are walk-in!
See more here

January 25, 2017

$1.65M Tribeca loft is equal parts old-school downtown and rustic chic

Though it's within the boundaries of pricey Tribeca to be sure, this duplex loft at 356 Broadway overlooks what The Real Deal called "something of a final frontier in Manhattan," though even that 2015 reference was alluding to rapid changes afoot in what is known in real estate circles as East Tribeca. With classic interiors that play up the rustic side of loft decor–exposed brick and beams, open rooms and double-height ceilings–this 1,417-square-foot condominium has been fully renovated in an up-to-the minute style. The listing says it's "priced to sell quick," and the $1.649 million ask looks like a pretty good deal for anything in Tribeca that isn't a closet, though it's worth noting that the sellers purchased the unit for $828,000–about half the current price–in 2012.
Have a look around

Distinctive Homes

January 24, 2017

Cozy Greenwich Village studio with Murphy bed is renting for $3,495/month

Some smart design maximizes space at this Greenwich Village studio, located at 140 West 10th Street and asking $3,495 a month. The wall and Murphy bed system was designed in Italy by the space saving furniture company Clei, and the system provides a flexible space that can be transformed into either an entertaining area or bedroom.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

January 24, 2017

Ricky Martin’s Yorkville condo gets a $1.3M price chop

Ricky Martin might've gotten a bit too optimistic about Yorkville's Second Avenue Subway-influenced real estate boom, as Mansion Global reports that he's chopped the price of his condo at 170 East End Avenue from $8.4 million to $7.1 million after just five months. This isn't the first time the Latin pop star has had trouble unloading NYC real estate; in 2012 he put his condo in Noho's 40 Bond on the rental market for $28,000/month. In 2014, he listed it for $8.3 million, but it didn't find a buyer until a year and half later when it sold for the reduced price of $7.55 million.
Will he have better luck in Yorkville?

Construction update: Google’s Pier 57 expansion gets glassed

Pier 57 now showing some skin; Photo: CityRealty

January 24, 2017

Construction update: Google’s Pier 57 expansion gets glassed

Work is moving along at the waterfront development that is rehabilitating and revitalizing Pier 57, Manhattan's new "SuperPier;" newly-installed, canted glass panels can be seen along the pier’s rows of exterior columns, CityRealty reports. The $350 million transformation of the former freight terminal, a joint venture by Young Woo & Associates and RXR will include 250,000 square feet of offices for Google, a 170,000-square-foot food market curated by Anthony Bourdain and provide an elevated two-acre park with a rooftop movie and performance amphitheater. The project's design is being handled by Handel Architects and !Melk Landscape Architecture and Urban Design.
Check out new construction photos

January 24, 2017

Jon Bon Jovi’s former Soho penthouse returns for $38M

A year and a half after Austrian-American businessman and investor Gerhard Andlinger scooped up Jon Bon Jovi's Soho penthouse, he's put it back on the market. The rocker bought the sprawling duplex at 158 Mercer Street in 2007 for $24 million, then listed it in 2013 for $42 million. After several price cuts, and some interest from supermodel Heidi Klum, Andlinger paid $34 million for the home in June 2015, but it looks like he's ready to "Runaway," as LL NYC tells us that it's re-listed for $38 million.
Take a look around

January 23, 2017

Driving Barron Trump to school won’t leave NYC in total traffic chaos

It appears the Secret Service and NYPD are indeed taking measures to minimize the disruption caused by Melania and Barron staying put in NYC. TMZ writes that instead of implementing full street closures any time the young Trump moves to and from school, streets will be blocked off in a rolling pattern to accommodate the boy's armed motorcade.
more on the plan set out here

January 23, 2017

Central Park South co-op of the late Doris Roberts lists for $3.3M

Emmy-winning actress and animal-rights activist Doris Roberts (you probably know her best as Marie Barone from "Everybody Loves Raymond") passed away in April at the age of 90, and her estate has now put her classic duplex co-op on the market for $3,295,000 (h/t NY Post). The five-bedroom apartment at 200 Central Park South boasts a marble foyer, two terraces with partial park views, and oversized windows.
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January 23, 2017

Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh sells stylish Chelsea pad for $4.8M