Manhattan

The final checkout for hotel guests at the iconic Waldorf Astoria is March 1st, after which its new owner, Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group, will begin converting the 1,413 hotel rooms into 840 renovated hotel rooms and 321 luxury condos to the tune of $1 billion. Earlier this month, the developer filed these plans with the Department of Buildings, which also call for adding retail space, a restaurant, and a fitness center on the ground floors. They'll retain the historic ballrooms, exhibition space, dining rooms, and banquet rooms, but will still need approvals from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for any work on these public spaces; the building has long been an exterior landmark, but the LPC recently calendared a request to landmark the Art Deco interiors. Though no designs have been approved or confirmed, CityRealty dug up renderings from architectural visualization firm ArX Solutions that show their vision of space*.
More renderings and details

November 30, 2016

$16.8M Village townhouse has details, a celebrity history–and a secret artists’ cottage in back

This 185-year-old West Village townhouse at 121 Washington Place would enchant any lover of historic homes. Well-preserved details are everywhere, from a brick facade to a distinguished wood-paneled library and full-length arched drawing-room windows. Then there are the features that would thrill any homeowner; at 22 feet wide, the four-story house has an elevator and, best of all, the unexpected surprise of a pint-sized skylit English cottage/artists' studio with a full bath at the back of an idyllic walled garden. Even beyond its current charms, this home and its unique little studio have seen many a colorful, creative life and hosted artists, poets and other notables from Mark Twain to Hillary Clinton.
Read on to find out more

November 29, 2016

$9M for a live/work Soho loft designed by a world-renowned photographer

The days of artists sneakily living in lofts not zoned for residential living are mostly over, but there's still this live/work loft in Soho at 145 Sixth Avenue. The apartment, says the listing, is a "commercially-zoned corner condominium... in a discreet, converted 1900s column-and-beam loft building." (Previously, it looks like the loft was home to the New York jewelry boutique Talavera.) For nearly $8 million you can have your own commercial space tacked onto this well-designed apartment, which the listing promises was envisioned by an unnamed, famous photographer.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

St. Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center tops out with cross

Images st_nicholasshrine Instagram / WTC Progress Facebook

November 29, 2016

St. Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center tops out with cross

By Diane Pham

It's been a long and arduous process rebuilding the St. Nicholas National Shrine, a Greek Orthodox Church that was destroyed on 9/11 when the second trade tower toppled on it. Only last year was the foundation poured, and only two weeks ago were the steel ribs of the structure's defining dome installed. But despite construction moving forward at a glacial pace, officials yesterday celebrated a major milestone with a “topping out ceremony” at the church's new site at Greenwich and Liberty streets. The touchstone event was notably marked by the addition of a temporary 6-foot-3-inch Justinian cross, reports the Times.
see more photos here

Architecture And Design

November 29, 2016

JDS reveals interior and courtyard views of SHoP-designed American Copper Buildings

The team behind the American Copper Buildings--JDS Development Group and SHoP Architects--teased a few interior renderings of the rental back in August, but now the project's full site is live and there's a slew of images of the SHoP-designed model apartments, as well as never-before-seen renderings of SCAPE Landscape Architecture's courtyard plaza. Along with these new views comes news from Curbed that though listings for the 600 market-rate units aren't available yet, (160 others became available through an affordable housing lottery) rents will start at $2,800/month for studios, $4,100/month for one-bedrooms, and $6,800/month for two-bedrooms.
See all the new looks

November 28, 2016

New renderings for COOKFOX’s 700-foot Financial District condo tower 25 Park Row

Over the summer, L+M Development Partners demolished the former Financial District flagship of J&R Music and Computer World to make way for a 54-story, mixed-use condo tower at 25 Park Row, just across from City Hall Park in an area quickly becoming a more vibrant, 24-hour neighborhood. Site excavation is now well underway for the 700-foot building, reports CityRealty, […]

November 28, 2016

Locals push for Sutton Place rezoning ahead of auction for site of planned 950-foot tower

Despite the fact that the site is headed to the auction block next month, local residents and elected officials are rallying to prevent the possible construction of a 950-foot condo tower on East 58th Street in tony Sutton Place. Curbed reports that the group, which includes Councilmen Ben Kallos and Dan Garodnick and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, have submitted a plan to the City Planning Commission that proposes a height cap of 260 feet for the area bounded by East 52nd and East 59th streets east of First Avenue where there is currently no limit on how tall apartment towers can be.
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Fidel Castro Threatens to Sleep in Central Park in Outrage Over Hotel Prices During 1960 Visit

Castro at the U.N. General Assembly

November 28, 2016

Fidel Castro Threatens to Sleep in Central Park in Outrage Over Hotel Prices During 1960 Visit

Just four months after Cuban President Fidel Castro led a successful revolution to overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, he visited New York City for 11 days on an invitation from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. With his signature green army uniform and boots, bushy beard, and exuberant nature, Castro reportedly hired a PR firm (though it seems he hardly needed to), enjoyed the city’s famous hot dogs, and "kissed ladies like a rock star, and held babies like a politician," according to Mashable. During a tour of the Bronx Zoo, which he called “the best thing New York City has,” Mr. Castro is said to have jumped a railing and stuck his hand into a cage to pet a Bengal tiger.
More shenanigans to come

November 28, 2016

With massive skylights and a private rooftop garden, this $5.75M Soho loft is like a greenhouse with benefits

It doesn't get much more Soho than this rare (in this century) live/work-legal penthouse at 35 Wooster Street, in one of the neighborhood's most iconic buildings–not least of all due to the fact that the popular art institution and gallery The Drawing Center anchors the building as the street-level tenant on landmarked Wooster Street. This beautifully-preserved pre-war cast-iron three-bedroom loft has the typical open layout, tons of detail and character (including high ceilings, a fireplace and amazing skylights), and plenty of light.
See more

Distinctive Homes

November 28, 2016

Taxpayers could be footing $3M annual bill to move Secret Service into Trump Tower

Plans are underway to turn what the New York Times calls “White House North” into an armed bunker as the president-elect’s family defers D.C.. As 6sqft reported last week, Donald Trump has said he'd like his family to remain in Trump Tower, though the gilded Fifth Avenue fortress that Trump, wife Melania and son Barron call home is particularly difficult to secure. The round-the-clock protection the family has been receiving from the NYPD has come at a cost to the city of over $1 million a day. Now, the New York Post reports that the Secret Service is in talks with the Trump Organization over plans to occupy two floors of the 68-story tower. It's standard policy for the federal agency to provide full protection for every president at their various homes–it cost around $2 million a year for the U.S. Coast Guard to protect George H. W. Bush’s estate in Kennebunkport, Maine during his presidency, for example. But in this instance taxpayers would be paying the incoming president's own company for the space in a lease deal which could cost more than $3 million a year.
Wait, what??

Celebrities

November 26, 2016

$650K co-op with a grand fireplace and Moroccan tiles graces the Upper West Side

341 West 87th Street is a gorgeous and historic apartment house located just around the corner from Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side. And you can now snag a six-digit apartment there, this one-bedroom co-op on the market for $650,000. Like the building itself, the apartment has a historic feel with one very impressive wood-burning fireplace, moldings and a juliet balcony. Renovations have brought nice quirks, like a bonus loft space and Moroccan tile decorations.
Check it all out

Distinctive Homes

November 23, 2016

Live in an elegant townhouse near the new Second Avenue Subway for $8M

As 2016 winds down, New Yorkers are still hoping that the Second Avenue Subway will finally open this year without (more) delay. The new subway stops promise to transform the surrounding area and perhaps boost real estate prices. So that's something to consider with this Upper East Side townhouse, which has hit the market for a hair under $8 million. It's located at 310 East 84th Street, just twos block from the new subway stop planned for East 86th Street and Second Avenue. This historic townhouse isn't too shabby, either, with many of its prewar details intact.
Take a look inside

Distinctive Homes

November 23, 2016

City may take a 20 percent cut from Midtown East landmarks that sell their air rights

At the end of August, the city released its long-awaited, very controversial Midtown East Rezoning plan. In addition to allowing 16 new towers to spring up in the area bound by Madison and Third Avenues and 39th and 50th Streets, the upzoning will "permit owners of landmarked buildings to sell their air rights across the district, rather than just to adjacent properties like the current law dictates," as 6sqft previously explained. The following month, the city embarked on a study of these unused development rights, which would amount to an additional 3.6 million square feet over the next 20 years. And part of their conclusion is that they're considering taking a 20 percent cut of these air rights sales, reports Politico.
Find out more

Policy

November 23, 2016

Bethenny Frankel slaps real estate attorney with a $2M lawsuit over former Tribeca loft

By Annie Doge

Earlier this fall, Skinny Girl Bethenny Frankel sold her sprawling Tribeca loft in just one day for its asking price of $6.95 million. This came after three+ years of the apartment being entangled in her very public divorce from Jason Hoppy. At the time of the sale, she expressed her relief: "I’m glad that the real-estate gods were looking out for me saying, ‘let’s give her a break.’" But that break was short lived, as the loft once again has the "Real Housewife" in the courtroom. Page Six reports that Frankel is suing a real estate attorney for $2 million over "breach of contract, fraud and notary misconduct" when he established a trust in 2011 for the couple to make the $5 million purchase at 195 Hudson Street, making both parties co-owners when it was only supposed to be her since she allegedly footed the bill.
Get the rest of the scoop

Celebrities

November 22, 2016

$12.8M massive, mod Flatiron pad is like having your own private design showroom

Even with a dizzying ask of $12.8 million, you know you're headed for off-the-charts territory when a 4,200-square-foot, three+ bedroom apartment starts with a sunken foyer that opens into an 800-square-foot sunken living room. And if you're thinking that's bigger than lots of people's entire apartment, consider the fact that there are many rooms like it in this full-floor home in the Photo Arts Building at 5 East 16th Street. And you haven't even seen the atrium wall yet.
More enthusiastic modern design, this way

Distinctive Homes

November 22, 2016

New Isay Weinfeld-designed Four Seasons won’t resemble the historic restaurant at all

The 21st century incarnation of the iconic Four Seasons restaurant set to open at 280 Park Avenue will bear no resemblance to the original, beyond the famous name and the sign that fronted the "Mad Men"-era power lunch spot in the Seagram Building, according to the restaurant's co-owner, Julian Niccolini. The New York Post reports that the team behind the "new" Four Seasons–Niccolini and partner Alex von Bidder, the Bronfman family, landlord Steve Roth of Vornado and representatives of landlord SL Green Realty–approved the new restaurant's design, by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, last Friday.
A new femininity for the three-martini lunch?

Architecture And Design

November 22, 2016

Betsey Johnson unloads her pretty pink Upper East Side condo for $1.8M

Iconoclastic designer Betsey Johnson has found a buyer for her Upper East Side condo at 30 East 85th Street. The zany fashionista with a passion for pink purchased the 850-square-foot pad at the top of the market in 2008 for $1.85 million and listed it for $2.25 million in May. With no takers, the price was chopped to $1.8M in October, and the home recently went into contract according to the New York Observer.
See more of the girly-glam pad

Celebrities

November 22, 2016

The Halston House, a former party spot of Andy Warhol, gets a price chop to $28M

A piece of New York City history has become (just slightly) more affordable to own yourself. The mid-century home at 101 East 63rd Street on the Upper East Side, known as the Halston House, is one of only three residences in Manhattan designed by famed architect Paul Rudolph. Not only is the architecture iconic, but after designer Halston moved in in 1974, he spent the next 15 years hosting parties attended by the likes of Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli and Bianca Jagger. The former carriage house turned party destination turned luxury residence first hit the market for $40 million last year when it was said that contemporary art dealer Jeffrey Deitch was “angling” to make a deal. It must not have worked out, because it's back on the market at a discount, asking $28 million.
Hear more about this iconic home

November 22, 2016

Windows at Frank Gehry’s IAC Building are oozing sealant

Frank Gehry's IAC Building was completed in 2006 for Barry Diller's media company InterActiveCorp. It was Gehry's first project in NYC, boasting his signature curving facade and ushering in a wave of starchitect-designed projects along Eleventh Avenue in Chelsea. It also gained notability for its full-height, double-glazed window panes that fade from clear to white, giving the 10-story structure the look of an iceberg. But it's this feature that's now resulted in a lawsuit, according to the Post, who reports that "the window sealant has become a dripping, opaque blob."
Find out more

Architecture And Design

November 21, 2016

‘Monk’ actor Tony Shalhoub drops $4M on classic Upper West Side co-op

By Annie Doge

Emmy Award-winning actor Tony Shalhoub of "Monk" fame, along with wife Brooke Adams, has picked up a $3,995,000 Upper West Side co-op, according to LLNYC. The pre-war pad at 15 West 81st Street boats a 60-foot-wide terrace with "side views" of Central Park and two master suites, as well as historic details like herringbone oak floors, nine-foot beamed ceilings, crown and base moldings, and original Emery Roth-designed doorknobs and hardware.
See more of the apartment

November 21, 2016

New NYU program lets students live in local seniors’ spare bedrooms

As a way to offer lower-cost housing options, NYU is piloting a program this fall that will let students live in the spare bedrooms of local senior citizens. Dubbed the "home stay" program, it would cut in half the university's housing bill, reports the Post, as well as provide income to hosts. According to Gothamist, the program is part of a larger affordability initiative that NYU President Andrew Hamilton put forth when he assumed his role in January. The school's $65,000/year tuition makes it the third most expensive in the country, and undergraduate housing ranges from $10,500 for a shared bedroom to $21,000 for a private suite.
Find out more

Affordable Housing

November 21, 2016

Site of planned Norman Foster-designed Sutton Place condo tower to be auctioned off next month

The 262,000-square-foot project that includes plans for a 900-foot-tall luxury condominium tower drawn up by British architect Sir Norman Foster of Foster + Partners that embattled developer Joseph Beninati had hoped to build in the heart of Sutton Place is set to be auctioned next month, according to Crains. As 6sqft previously reported, the sale of the property at 3 Sutton Place was authorized in September to pay back creditors and partners who were owed money from the derailed project, and a source has told Crain's that an auction is scheduled for December 13 with bids due by December 8.
Find out more

The neighbors who arrived first: Cherry Street residents prepare for One Manhattan Square

Images via Extell and Google Maps

November 21, 2016

The neighbors who arrived first: Cherry Street residents prepare for One Manhattan Square

By Cait Etherington

Images via Extell and Google Maps The construction of Extell’s high-rise condo development at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge is now well underway. When complete, 250 South Street (formerly 227 Cherry Street) will rise more than 80 stories above the East River and be home to just under 800 units, but that’s not all. As the Extell […]

Real Estate Trends

Image timothygo_

November 21, 2016

Fifth Avenue shutdown won’t happen even though Trump’s family will stay put

Between swarms of protestors outside the building and Donald Trump's claims that he'll spend weekends at his penthouse, the NYPD has spent the last week mulling a shutdown of Fifth Avenue in and around Trump Tower. And even though Melania and ten-year-old Barron will remain in the 24-karat gold-covered triplex instead of moving to the White House, Mayor de Blasio announced that the stretch of the Avenue in front of the building will remain open to vehicular traffic, adding that, "We have never had a situation where the president of the United States would be here on such a regular basis. But the N.Y.P.D. is up to the challenge, and the City of New York is up to the challenge."
And it's quite the challenge

Celebrities

November 21, 2016

This $649K co-op has pre-war charm, East Midtown convenience and room to grow