Manhattan

When we last checked in on Glenwood Management's latest rental development at 175 West 60th Street, the 48-story, 533-foot tall building had just topped-out and launched its affordable housing lottery offering apartments priced as low as $566/month. Now, the team has jump-started leasing on the building's 205 market-rate residences. Dubbed The Encore—likely due to its proximity to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the tower being Glenwood's second foray on Fordham University's Lincoln Square campus superblock (Hawthorn Park was the first)—the building is centrally positioned at the meeting of Midtown West and Upper West Side. According to Glenwood, occupancy for the upscale rentals will begin on July 1, and early lease-signors, for a limited time, can capture net-effective rents of $3,483/month for alcove studios, $4,790/month for one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms starting at $7,297/month.
more details this way

May 17, 2016

The History of the Roosevelt Island Tramway

By Rebecca Paul

In honor of the Roosevelt Island Tramway's 40th anniversary today, we've pulled this wonderful piece on the history of the high-flying gondola system from our archives. Commuting in New York City, whether for work or pleasure, is rarely an enjoyable experience. However, for some tourists and lucky city dwellers, the Roosevelt Island Tramway provides a delightful, high-flying travel alternative to the standard, and sometimes miserable, modes of NYC public transport. Running across the East River, this aerial tramway brings commuters to and from Roosevelt Island and Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and has carried over 26 million passengers since opening in 1976. It is one of the few forms of mass transit in New York City not operated by the MTA, but it still costs the same as the bus or subway and can be paid for with your NYC metro card. Like most things in our historic port town, both the tramway and the commute between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island has a history, and this one includes bridge elevators, high-rise rescue missions and French ski lifts.
More on how the Roosevelt Island tramway came to be

Controversial Lower East Side Waterfront May Get Even More Tall Towers

One Manhattan Square on the left, the JDS/SHoP Project in the center. The above image, created by CityRealty, depicts the possible massing of the new towers if built to 50 stories; No official design has been released

May 16, 2016

Controversial Lower East Side Waterfront May Get Even More Tall Towers

Just a few weeks ago 6sqft learned that the supertall super-team of JDS Development and SHoP Architects are planning a 900-foot, 77-story rental building at 247 Cherry Street, directly next to Extell's 850-foot One Manhattan Square. These waterfront developments in the Two Bridges area caused quite a stir since the neighborhood has historically been mostly low-income and low-rise, but now two more supertalls may rise at the site. Bowery Boogie reports that L+M Partners are looking to erect two 50-story towers on the nearby lots at 265-275 Cherry Street. Together, the buildings would hold about 1,000 units.
Find out more

May 16, 2016

Parts of the Original Harlem Hospital Live On in this Funky Tribeca Duplex Loft

By Michelle Cohen

This 1,500 square-foot co-op loft at 156 Franklin Street in Tribeca is a first floor duplex with a layout that goes beyond the usual one-two beat. Rooms are layered above, below and between, which elevates everyday living—literally. The loft, asking $1.895 million, is also located in an historic district in a landmarked building and is filled with parts that were salvaged from the original Harlem Hospital. As such, the historic layers within are quite unique; reclaimed items harkening to the late 19th century include the stairs that run between levels and floors and the large stainless steel sink in the kitchen, and then there are the building's prewar architectural details like exposed red brick, arches, and barrel-vaulted terra cotta ceilings.
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Distinctive Homes

Rafael Viñoly Apologizes for Dissing 432 Park

Image of Rafael Viñoly via Rafael Viñoly Architects Facebook page for Fall 2011/Winter 2012 issue of Pin-Up: Magazine for Architectural Entertainment

May 13, 2016

Rafael Viñoly Apologizes for Dissing 432 Park

Image of Rafael Viñoly via Rafael Viñoly Architects Facebook page for Fall 2011/Winter 2012 issue of Pin-Up: Magazine for Architectural Entertainment On Monday, the architecture world was gobbling up the comments starchitect Rafael Viñoly made about 432 Park Avenue at a Douglas Elliman talk last week. He admitted that the 1,400-foot supertall "has a couple of screw-ups," referring to the interior design and layout, as well as the window framing, which he blamed on developer Harry Macklowe. But it looks like the architect is a bit red in the face, because he penned a lengthy public letter to design blog Dezeen apologizing for his loose lips. "In the context of what we understood to be a private and off-the-record conversation, I expressed frustration, inartfully, about the consequences of my profession's diminished position in the real estate development eco-system. Sometimes I get a little excited and say things that can easily be taken out of context and stripped of their humor. I have to improve," he said.
Read more of his apology letter

Architecture And Design

May 13, 2016

Alan Cumming Lists Charming, Quirky East Village Home for $2.2M

By Michelle Cohen

"The Good Wife" star Alan Cumming is selling the East Village apartment that stole his heart when the Scottish-born actor first saw it back in 2005. Listed for $2.2 million, the four-bedroom co-op at 297 East 10th Street overlooking Tompkins Square Park definitely looks like the kind of place you could call home for at least a few years, a rare thing in the otherwise great neighborhood. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cumming and husband Grant Shaffer have been renovating a nearby 19th-century townhouse that they bought in 2013 for $4.65 million, and the time seemed right to part with this cozy co-op.
Have a look

May 13, 2016

Morris Adjmi’s Tribeca Condo Building at 83 Walker Street Gets Its Inverted Facade

After a unanimously approval by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in June 2011, the Morris Adjmi-designed condo building at 83 Walker Street has fully risen and is nearly completely adorned with its creamy, concrete facade. The nine-story, 19,000-square-foot building is being developed by Brooklyn-based Abra Construction Corp. and will house a duplex unit at the ground and cellar levels and eight full-floor residences above. Its narrow 24-foot-wide lot is within the fast-changing eastern extents of Tribeca (formerly Chinatown) and sits within the Tribeca East Historic District. The realized project is slightly higher than zoning allows and had to seek approval from the City Planning Commission in addition to the LPC.
The story behind that inverted facade

May 13, 2016

Get Views of the Apollo From the Private Terrace of This $795K Harlem Condo

There are lots of perks that come with a top-floor apartment, including this duplex at the Dover Condominium. The building is located right in the heart of Harlem at 252 West 123rd Street. The second level of the space has both a skylight and private terrace, where you've got views of all the neighborhood landmarks including the Apollo Theater. As for interior design, lots of exposed brick and a wood-burning fireplace keep things feeling cozy.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

May 12, 2016

Interview: RAMSA’s Paul Whalen Reflects on the Unique Design of 15 Central Park West

By Diane Pham

For good reason, hundreds if not thousands of articles and books have been published on 15 Central Park West, the “Limestone Jesus” designed by famed architect Robert A.M. Stern. This modern icon is credited with not only elevating the New York City luxury market to a level no one before dreamed it could reach, but […]

May 12, 2016

7,500-Name Waitlist Opens for 975 Affordable Units at Harlem’s Riverton Complex

Like Stuyvesant Town, the Riverton Square residential development in Harlem opened in 1947 as an affordable complex for World War II veterans and was built by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. But unlike Stuy Town (and Met Life's Parkchester in the Bronx), black and Hispanic tenants weren't barred from renting in Riverton. According to the Times, over the years the seven-building site was a sought-after address for the middle-class and was home to such notables as jazz pianist Billy Taylor, former Mayor David Dinkins, and former vice president of Motwon Records Suzanne de Passe. But in 2005, again similar to its downtown counterpart, Riverton was sold to Stellar Management, who tried to swiftly remove long-term tenants and replace them with higher-paying residents. Unable to convert the rent-stabilized units to market-rate and saddled with debt, Stellar lost Riverton to its lenders in 2008. This past December, after nearly a decade in limbo, the 12-acre site was sold to A&E Real Estate Holdings for $201 million in a deal with the city which, like the recent terms at Stuy Town, dictated that 975 of the complex's 1,229 units be reserved for working- and middle-class families for 30 years. In return, the buyer will receive about $100 million worth of tax breaks and incentives. The waitlist is now open for these affordable units, and 7,500 randomly selected applicants will earn themselves a spot.
Find out if you qualify here

Affordable Housing

May 11, 2016

The ‘One57 of Assisted Living’ Will Charge Seniors $20,000 a Month

Luxury isn't exactly the word that comes to mind when one thinks of a T.G.I. Friday's, or an assisted living development for that matter, but the chain restaurant's midtown location will soon yield the "One57 of Assisted Living." Bloomberg reports that Welltower Inc., the country's largest senior-housing owner by market value, teamed up with developer Hines (who is also behind the nearby MoMA Tower) to purchase the site at 56th Street and Lexington Avenue, just a few short blocks from Billionaires' Row and the prestige of Park Avenue, where they'll build a 15-story tower "to accommodate wealthy Manhattanites in need of assisted-living and memory-care services." And wealthy is not an understatement -- monthly rents will start at $20,000, and keep in mind that this isn't covered by insurance.
More details ahead

New Developments

May 10, 2016

Forgotten Four Acres of Central Park Reopens to Visitors After Almost 90 Years

By Diane Pham

After being closed off to the public since the 1930s, The Hallet Nature Sanctuary on the lower east side of Central Park is once again open to all, writes The Times. The lush four-acre peninsula has for the last decades been used as a bird sanctuary, reclaimed and then tended to by the Central Park Conservancy in 2001 as part of their Woodlands Initiative. Under the project, $45 million was directed towards revitalizing and restoring the wooded areas of Central Park to their original glory.
More on how to visit here

The History of Herald Square: From Newspaper Headquarters to Retail Corridor

Image via Library of Congress

May 10, 2016

The History of Herald Square: From Newspaper Headquarters to Retail Corridor

By Michelle Young

Herald Square is today known for many things. There's the flagship Macy's department store and the pedestrianized part of Broadway that extends to Times Square. And it serves as an epicenter of the retail corridor that now runs from 5th Avenue to 7th Avenue. Some may remember the song, "Give My Regards to Broadway," from the George M. Cohan musical "Little Johnny Jones"with the iconic line, "Remember me to Herald Square." But written in 1904, "Give My Regards to Broadway" references a very different Herald Square than the one we're familiar with today.
Learn about the evolution of Herald Square here

May 10, 2016

$2.5M Chelsea Co-op Has Custom Everything and Plenty of Space For Art

Right in the heart of Chelsea, a neighborhood known for its art galleries, is this $2.499 million apartment at 143 West 20th Street, being marketing for art lovers. The two-bedroom co-op was gut renovated by its developer-owner, who created a flexible, open floorplan with plenty of opportunities to hang artwork. It's been smartly designed with custom everything -- from the china cabinets in the dining room to the Murphy bed in the second bedroom.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

May 9, 2016

Rafael Viñoly Admits 432 Park ‘Has a Couple of Screw-Ups’

432 Park Avenue is the supertall that New Yorkers love to hate. From calling it the "oligarch's erection" to spilling the beans about cracks in its facade, critics of the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere are quick to try to bring the tower down from its 1,400-foot pedestal. And strangely, its very own architect is the latest jump on the bandwagon. The Post reports that Rafael Viñoly admitted at a Douglas Elliman talk last week that his creation "has a couple of screw-ups," namely the window framing, which he blames on developer Harry Macklowe, and the tiny issue of "the interior design and layout." (And The Real Deal has an entire roundup of zingers he delivered during the talk.)
Find out more this way

Architecture And Design

May 9, 2016

Off the Beaten Path, This $1.8M Seaport Loft Keeps It Real

By Michelle Cohen

Though the appliances and fixtures are state-of-the-art, and lots of consideration has been given to comfort and daily life, this 1,000-square-foot lower Manhattan loft at 330 Pearl Street is no "loft." It's just the sort of authentic downtown space your cool friends lived in when they moved to the city back in the late '80s, with its flexible open spaces (or lack of actual rooms, depending on how you look at it), industrial finishes, big windows, beams, brick, white, and custom-built almost-everything. And though it's less common to find a loft like this on the market in the places you might have back then (Soho, Noho, Tribeca), the Seaport comprises a rare corner of the city that's geared up for growth but still a bit undefined–perhaps the perfect spot for an authentic loft.
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Distinctive Homes

May 9, 2016

The Hare Krishna Tree in Tompkins Square Park Is Where the Religion Was Born in the West

By Rebecca Paul

New York City is often referred to as a concrete jungle, but that doesn't mean it's 100-percent void of vegetation. Throughout the city you'll find beautiful pockets of lush city parks that often have a special history of their own. Tompkins Square Park for example is home to the Hare Krishna tree and the birthplace of this modern religion.
The full story here

History

May 7, 2016

Leasing Begins at Neo-Brutalist Rental Tower in Midtown East

Leasing has begun at Midtown East's newest rental building at 235 East 44th Street. Developed by CMSJ Development, the 70,000-square-foot, ground-up building contains 67 units across its 19 floors. For current availabilities, monthly prices start at $3,300 for studios, $4,500 for one-bedrooms, $6,105 for two-bedrooms, and $8,100 for three-bedrooms. Designed by Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects, it's is situated mid-block along a dense urban canyon just two blocks east of Grand Central Terminal and one block west of the United Nations. Its street-facing exterior is finished in GKV's trademark aesthetic of exposed cast-in-place concrete, reminiscent of the Brutalist movement of the 1950s and '60s. The tower's glass walls and concrete floor slabs undulate in opposite directions, softening the raw materials and adding fluidity to the building's form.
Interior apartment details this way

May 6, 2016

Spotlight: Alex Gregg Is the Upper East Side’s Go-To Comic Book and Sports Card Guy

By Susan Cohen

At a time when Batman and Captain America are all over the big screens and sports culture is becoming increasingly digital, one might think superheroes' and athletes' presence on paper is waning. But collecting cards and comics is alive and well in Yorkville, where Alex's MVP Cards and Comics has everything an X-Men-, Archie-, or sport-loving aficionado could want. Alex Gregg first opened a store on the Upper East Side 27 years ago. The business grew out of his own personal collection and interest and is now the place to locate that latest rookie card, newest comic, or buy a piece of memorabilia. Alex certainly knows a great deal about history - particularly New York history - having worked for 22 years as a bartender at the famed (and now closed) establishment Elaine’s. 6sqft recently spoke with Alex about how cards and comics have both changed and remained the same and about his days at Elaine’s.
Read the interview with Alex

May 6, 2016

Five-Star ‘Lazar Hotel’ Coming to Midtown, Will Meld Modern With Late-1700s Baroque

West 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues is home to some of the city's most elite hotels, such as the Royalton, Sofitel and Algonquin, and also to esteemed institutions like the Harvard Club, Penn Club and New York Yacht Club. Near the stretch's Fifth Avenue corner, a new 20-story, 96-key hotel tower is in the works at 7 West 44th Street, and it will be festooned in Baroque stylings, Juliet balconies, twisted columns, cast-iron railings, and a grand lobby staircase.
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May 6, 2016

Rare and Spectacular Light-Filled Penthouse Overlooking Gramercy Park Asks $2.5M

From the outside, the Gramercy Park townhouse at 132 East 19th Street is immediately impressive. According to this Streetscapes column, it was a brownstone completely redesigned in 1908 by the innovative architect Frederick Sterner. Now the facade boasts a light stucco and huge windows that lend to lovely, bright apartments. The building's penthouse unit has hit the market and is showing off massive floor-to-ceiling clerestory windows, under 14-foot ceilings, that offer a view over the other landmarked townhouses of Gramercy Park.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

May 5, 2016

$250M Penthouse at 220 Central Park South Will Officially Be NYC’s Most Expensive Apartment

For over a year, it's been a guessing game with just how expensive 220 Central Park South's penthouse will actually be. Initial murmurings put the price at $175 million, but later reports that claimed hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin was the buyer upped it to $200 million. The guessing is over, though, as The Real Deal has obtained an amended offering plan filed with the New York Attorney General, which shows that the 23,000-square-foot, four-floor "billionaire's bunker" will cost a mind-boggling $250 million (or $11,000 per square foot), making it by far the city's most expensive apartment.
Check out the insane floorplans

Uncategorized

May 5, 2016

Live in Extell’s Hudson Yards Skyscraper 555Ten for $910/Month

Last September, 6sqft reported the topping out of Extell Development's 610-foot-tall, mixed-use tower quietly rising at 555 Tenth Avenue and 41st Street. Now fully sheathed in glass, the development team kicked off its housing lottery for the building's 120 below-market rate units, priced from $910 per month for studios up to to $1,315 for three-bedrooms. Designed by SLCE Architects, the 53-story, 725,000-square-foot structure rises one block west of the Port Authority Bus Terminal and two avenues west of the 42nd Street A/C/E train station with its connection to Times Square. The building is within the emerging Hudson Yards area, which over the next decade will usher in thousands of residential units and millions of square feet of new office space. Across from the tower, an additional 7-train subway station may be constructed to meet the increasing number of residents in the area.
Find out if you qualify here

Norman Foster Still in the Running to Design 2 World Trade Center

Foster’s original design

May 5, 2016

Norman Foster Still in the Running to Design 2 World Trade Center

By Diane Pham

Nearly one year ago it was revealed that starchitect Bjarke Ingels would be taking over the design of 2 World Trade Center from Norman Foster as developer Silverstein Properties was in talks with Fox and News Corp. to make the tower their new headquarters. However, plans fell through in January when the media companies opted to remain at their Midtown headquarters at 1211 and 1185 Sixth Avenue. Now without a tenant and two different designs in hand, Chairman Larry Silverstein is said to be weighing both options. “[The top of] Two was a distinguishing feature of Norman Foster’s design,” Silverstein told The Post. “Opposed to what Bjarke Ingels proposed. We can go in either direction. Which way, we are not sure yet.” But he did add that they were leaning towards Ingels' design in discussions being had with prospective anchor tenants, which include BlackRock and JPMorganChase.
Find out more here

Architecture And Design

May 5, 2016

Jonah Hill Picks Up $9.16M Apartment at Noho’s Schumacher Condo Conversion

By Annie Doge

A tipster told 6sqft back in December that Jonah Hill was seen taking photos outside The Schumacher, the then-newly unveiled Noho condo conversion at 36 Bleecker Street. As it turns out, just two months prior he bought a unit in the building for $9.16 million, according to the Post. The unit, which was originally listed at $9.5 million, is a 3,280-square-foot, four-bedroom spread. It features the signature elements of the residence, including exposed brick vaulted ceilings, massive arched windows, restored original columns and beams, and views down to the building's vine-covered courtyard.
Take a look around

May 5, 2016

Hula-Hoop Master Lists Colorful and Quirky Financial District Condo for $2.2M