Manhattan

Carrie Bradshaw may not have been able to make her mind up about men, but Sarah Jessica Parker is more indecisive when it comes to real estate. The actress and hubby Matthew Broderick sold their Greenwich Village townhouse for $20 million back in March, which came after quite a few price cuts and almost three years on the market. And just a couple of weeks ago, they were seen checking out the Shephard, a new condo conversion in the 'hood. But it looks like SJP misses her townhouse, because broker-to-the-celebs Dolly Lenz shared an Instagram picture today, announcing that the couple is the buyer of two adjacent brick homes at 273 and 275 West 11th Street. Her caption implies that the power duo will combine the residences, which would result in a 50-foot-wide, 13,900-square-foot mega mansion, according to Curbed. The properties were last listed for $35 million total.
Find out more

February 17, 2016

Get a Head Start on the Creative Possibilities in This $2.5M Funky Tribeca Live/Work Loft

By Michelle Cohen

If you're looking for quintessential loft living in downtown Manhattan (and you're not looking for a bargain), Tribeca is the perfect spot to start. The once-industrial-reborn-as-fancy neighborhood is filled with historic former factory and warehouse buildings (many converted to co-ops and condominiums) and new buildings made to look like them. The co-ops that occupy the former sail factory at 474 Greenwich Street are the real deal (we toured a similarly one-of-a-kind higher-floor unit in the same building a while back). For $2.5 million, this ground-floor live/work residence has the space, the artistic pedigree, the decidedly colorful present, and the totally flexible future for the loft-seeking buyer.
See the entire funky space

February 17, 2016

Pro Golfer Cristie Kerr Gets a Hole in One With $6M West Village Condo Sale

It's reported that pro LPGA golfer Cristie Kerr has over $15 million in career earnings, and it looks like her bank account is about to get even fatter, as city records show that she and her husband/agent Erik Stevens have sold their West Village condo for $5.9 million. The couple bought the impressive three-bedroom home at 1 Morton Square back in 2009 for $2.3 million, but then enlisted famed interior designer Thom Filicia to give the high-floor residence a luxurious, modern renovation that, according to the listing, cost more than $1 million.
Check it out

February 16, 2016

My 1,640sqft: Inside Chef Devin Gaffney’s Rent-Stabilized Classic Six on Billionaires’ Row

By Diane Pham

Our ongoing series “My sqft” checks out the homes of 6sqft’s friends, family and fellow New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to chef Devin Gaffney's Central Park South home. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch! Whenever 57th Street and the few blocks that cluster Central Park South make the news, headlines usually swirl around how there's a brand new multi-billion dollar tower on the rise or how a condo in One57 just broke some city record. But lest we forget, many mere mortals like ourselves still fill out the more elfin edifices surrounding these supertalls. One such resident is Devin Gaffney, a chef (he's whipped up dishes at Brooklyn's beloved Speedy Romeo and No. 7) who not only grew up in the area, but moved away, spent 10 years in Brooklyn, and then moved back to the island into the same apartment he called home during his formative years. Ahead, Devin takes us through his eclectic, art-filled (many works centuries-old) classic six in a 1913 construction built for musicians just a block from Carnegie Hall, a block from Central Park, and right smack in the middle of one of New York City's most coveted and most expensive areas.
Go inside Devin's home here

February 12, 2016

Rafael Viñoly Files Plans to Construct a 60-Foot Addition for Pershing Square Capital

In December, the Post reported that Bill Ackman had tapped starchitect Rafael Vinoly (the designer of 432 Park Avenue) to re-imagine 787 Eleventh Avenue along Manhattan's "Automobile Row" in Hell's Kitchen. Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management intends to relocate to the top floors of the building, and permits filed yesterday indicate that plans are moving forward. The 100-foot-tall structure will receive a two-story, 60-foot-tall addition, which will add nearly 20,000 square feet of construction floor area to the 460,000-square-foot building.
Find out more

Architecture And Design

February 12, 2016

Apply Today for an $827/Month Apartment at the Controversial Towers Next to St. John the Divine

The Enclave at the Cathedral is a set of two brand-new rental buildings in Morningside Heights from the Brodsky Organization. Offering a total of 428 residential units, the 13- and 15-story undulating towers were involved in quite a bit of controversy for their position obstructing the 123-year-old Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which just happens to be the world's largest cathedral. But if this little issue doesn't bother you, and you earn between $29,726 and and $51,780 annually, you can apply starting today for one of 87 affordable units, according to the NYC HDC. They include 27 studios priced at $827/month; 40 one-bedrooms at $931/month; and 20 two-bedrooms at $1,123/month.
Find out if you qualify

February 12, 2016

Buyout Legends: Developers Paid 15 CPW Hermit Holdout $17M to Move Into a Free Apartment

By Michelle Cohen

What do you do when you're a developer who has a 52,000-square-foot property with one tenant...who won't leave? While we've all heard legends about holdouts in rent-controlled apartments getting big buyouts from deep-pocketed developers, none to date could beat the good fortune of Herbert J. Sukenik. The reclusive septuagenarian lived in his 350-square-foot apartment (which happened to have four exposures and Central Park and two river views) at the Mayflower Hotel for three decades. But he ended up walking away with $17 million, the most money ever paid to a tenant to leave a New York apartment, and walked into an almost-free, 2,200-square-foot, 16th-floor home in the venerable Essex House on Central Park South.
So what happened?

History

February 12, 2016

Revealed: Central Park Tower Shows Off Its Retail Base

Now dubbed the Central Park Tower, Extell's 1,550-foot-tall supertall on Billionaires' Row was originally known as the Nordstrom Tower, so named because of its ground-floor tenant who will be opening their first Manhattan flagship store. But despite the fact that we architecture nerds were saying "Nordstrom" for years, we had no idea how the store would actually factor into the 95-story building's overall design (which was recently knocked down from a whopping 1,775 feet with the loss of its spire). But now, the Seattle Times (the department store is based out of the Washington city) has revealed renderings of the retail base, reports NY Yimby.
All the details and renderings

February 11, 2016

Penny Marshall Lists $5.5M UWS Penthouse With Terrace, Views and a Fireplace in the Bathroom

By Michelle Cohen

Director, actress, producer and “Laverne & Shirley” star Penny Marshall is parting ways with the Upper West Side penthouse at 470 West End Avenue that she purchased back in the early 1980s. Marshall just listed the 1,800-square-foot penthouse with a wrap-around terrace and Hudson River views for $5.5 million. The Bronx-born actress, who has been based on the left coast for some time, used the two-bedroom pad as a pied-a-terre, and it certainly makes an impressive one. Though the interiors don't appear to have been updated recently, dramatic pre-war details (11-foot-plus beamed ceilings, wood-burning fireplaces, paneled doors and original hardware) and 1,050 square feet of private outdoor space don’t ever go out of style; with some updating, this will definitely be a "Big" beautiful space.
Check out the rest of the penthouse

February 11, 2016

HOK Architects Files Permits for 21-Story UES Condo Tower, Will Yield New Subway Entrance

Yesterday, Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum (HOK) filed permit applications with the city's Department of Buildings to construct their first residential tower in the city–an 18-story, mixed-use condominium tower at 147 East 86th Street on the Upper East Side. The 210,000-square-foot project will anchor the northeast corner of Lexington Avenue and 86th Street and will sit directly atop the Lexington line's 86th Street subway station, for which the developers will build a new entrance. The $340 million project is being shepherded by a joint venture among Stillman Development, Ceruzzi Properties, and Kuafu Properties, who will build retail on the first few floors of the building and high-end condo units up top. Much of the site is owned by the the estate of real estate mogul Sol Goldman. Filed plans show that the development will contain 63 units and rise 210 feet, the maximum height allowed in the zoning district.
More details and renderings this way

February 11, 2016

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week – 2/11-2/17

By Lori Zimmer

In a city where hundreds of interesting happenings occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Art Nerd‘s philosophy is a combination of observation, participation, education and of course a party to create the ultimate well-rounded week. Jump ahead for Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer’s top picks for 6sqft readers! Even if you’re not into Valentine’s Day, it's no excuse not to celebrate a love-filled weekend of art and design. For the next month, you can take your lover or best friend to play in the glittering "Heart of Hearts" installation in Times Square or experience true beauty at the Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial. Check out private arts club the Norwood without becoming a member for the Sweetheart Ball or try the Out to See arts and film celebrations happening down at the South Street Seaport. On the actual day, check out a tech-savvy sculpture show at Lyles & King, and then have the main event at House of Yes for LUST, an immersive and sexy arty dinner soiree. Then, wash off all the saccharin sweetness of Valentine’s Day with a good old nerdy film fest about infrastructures at the Van Alen Institute.
All the best events to check out here

Events & Things To Do

February 11, 2016

Groundwork Begins at Downtown Supertall 45 Broad Street

Wasting no time getting started, Madison Equities and Italy-based Pizzarotti Group have begun soil testing at the site of their upcoming supertall tower 45 Broad Street. After 6sqft revealed a trio of preliminary renderings last month, Pizzarotti Group's CEO Rance MacFarland told Curbed that the tower will stretch 1,100 feet high and have 86 floors. He also shared that it will contain 245 condo residences catering to "entry- and mid-level buyers."
Get a look at the current site

February 11, 2016

$685K Chelsea Micro Apartment Was Renovated to Maximize Space and Design

By Emily Nonko

If you're going to live in a really small apartment, you may as well get it custom designed to maximize as much space as possible. Such is the case with this very cozy one bedroom at 221 West 21st Street, a nondescript five-story co-op building in Chelsea. This unit has been gutted, renovated and redesigned by MySuites & Co., a boutique real estate and design firm based in Soho, and furniture and textile designer Nightwood New York. The result–the Chelseagold. MySuites says it feels more like a 700-square-foot apartment than a 500-square-foot pad, and we think the charming interior design almost makes up for the lack of space.
See the rest of the micro apartment

Distinctive Homes

February 11, 2016

Notorious Novogratz Townhouse Where Heidi Klum Summered Sells for $14.5M

It only took nine years and a $10 million price chop, but the notoriously-hard-to-sell townhouse at 400 West Street has finally found a buyer for $14.5 million, reports the Post. Husband-and-wife design team Bob and Cortney Novogratz bought the West Village townhouse for $4.3 million back in 2007, and then undertook a complete renovation, adding an indoor basketball court, eight-person elevator, and insane rooftop terrace complete with a pizza oven and hot tub. All these amenities, coupled with the colorful and funky decor, caught the eye of Heidi Klum, who rented the home several times over the years, most recently for $70,000/month this past summer.
See the full spread

February 11, 2016

Construction Begins on 40-Story Marriott Hotel Replacing Antiques Garage in Chelsea

After an 11-year run, the popular Antiques Garage flea market, where bargain hunters haggled over an eclectic assortment of used goods, shuttered its weekend fairs in the summer of 2014. Like many soft sites around the Flower District, the parking garage used by the market at 112 West 25th Street was purchased by development interests, namely Extell, who later sold to Lam Generation for $68 million. Since the purchase, the three-story garage has been razed and groundwork has finally begun for a 330-room, four-star Marriott Renaissance Hotel. With the help of some unused neighboring development rights, Lam's tower will grow to 140,000 square feet of floor area and stand roughly 450 feet high over its mid-rise Chelsea locale. The neighborhood's current tallest building, Chelsea Stratus, is just one lot away and rises 25 feet higher than Lam's upcoming tower.
More details ahead

February 10, 2016

For $1,900/Month, You Can Get an East Village Studio With a Claw-Foot Tub in the Kitchen

We've seen apartments with showers proudly displayed in the kitchen before (like this $1,795/month unit on the Lower East Side), but now city dwellers who can't afford a separate bathroom can get an upgrade–in the form of a fancy clawfoot tub in the kitchen. EV Grieve noticed two listings in the East Village at 328 East 6th Street for studios that seem to tout their "tenement roots" by overemphasizing the "beautiful claw foot tub in the living space" (and by living space they mean directly next to the sink where you'll wash your vegetables). They're available for $1,800 and $1,900/month, which, according to the listings, is "the best deal for the dollar in this hood."
Check 'em out

February 10, 2016

Floor-Through Noho Loft With Four Exposures Hits the Market for $3.25 Million

By Emily Nonko

At 55 Great Jones Street, a historic 1910 building in Noho, each of the seven stories has been converted into lofty co-op apartments. This one occupies the entire fifth floor for a total of 2,200 square feet. And because the building is surrounded by two squat, single-story structures, the unit comes with a rare four exposures. Never a bad thing to complement an apartment that's lofty to begin with.
Take an interior tour

Distinctive Homes

February 10, 2016

POLL: Are You a Fan of Bjarke Ingels’ Design for the Spiral?

On Monday, 6sqft brought you the latest reveal from starchitect Bjarke Ingels, a cascading supertall tower set for Hudson Yards and known as the Spiral. It caught people’s attention not only for the architect attached to it, but for its series of landscaped terraces and hanging gardens that twist around its glassy facade. The interior views are […]

Soho Cast-Iron Building Regains Its Lost Floors…and Then Some

A rendering of the new addition (L); A historic view of the building from a 1930s tax photo (R)

February 10, 2016

Soho Cast-Iron Building Regains Its Lost Floors…and Then Some

By Emrys Fitzgerald

A truncated two-story building in Soho's Cast-Iron Historic District is regaining its lost floors, and then some. In 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a four-story addition to 29 Greene Street that sought to recapture the structure's original design, and now steel framing is heading up. Built in 1878 as a four-floor building with a classic cast-iron front, a fire destroyed the top two floors sometime before the area's landmark designation in 1974. Enough historic detail remained for the Commission to include the building in the district, and now its remaining cast-iron elements will be used to replicate the facade on upper floors.
More details ahead

February 9, 2016

Actress and Comedian Ellie Kemper Buys $2.8M Classic Upper West Side Co-op

In her critically acclaimed Netflix show "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," her character, a former abductee who ends up in NYC, lives in an eclectic Brooklyn apartment. In real life, actress and comedian Ellie Kemper goes for a more traditional look, as is evidenced by her recent purchase -- a classic six co-op at 325 West End Avenue on the Upper West Side. According to city records released today, Kemper and her husband Michael Koman, a writer and producer, paid $2.8 million for the three-bedroom spread.
See the whole apartment

February 9, 2016

$19M Extravagant Riverside Drive Mansion Once Belonged to the ‘Father of the West Side’

By Emily Nonko

There's something a little intimidating about an 8,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom single-family mansion that once belonged to "the father of the West Side" himself. The property in question is 327 West 76th Street, in the Riverside Drive area of the Upper West Side. The home was built in 1892 and quickly sold to Cyrus Clark, a businessman who retired from the silk business and went into real estate, making it his mission to campaign on behalf of developing Manhattan's West Side. The house wasn't distinct just for its owner, but because the exterior architecture stands out so distinctly in a row of more refined townhouses. For years the home was broken up into apartments, but developer Leonard Zelin converted it back to a single-family a few years back. Now he's hoping the investment will pay off: Zelin bought the townhouse for $8.8 million in 2010 and it's now asking an impressive $18.995 million.
Take a look around

February 9, 2016

Apply for a $641/Month Apartment in Central Harlem Starting Thursday

The latest in a rush of housing lottery kick offs is happening on Thursday at 260 West 153rd Street in Central Harlem, according to the NYC HDC. The brand new building is courtesy of affordable housing gurus L&M Development (who are also behind 149 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, where a lottery is launching tomorrow). Of its 51 apartments, 34 are set aside for low-income residents earning between $23,349 and $43,150 annually. Rents will range from $641/month studios to $836/month two bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

February 9, 2016

Crane Up! Third Hudson Yards Office Tower Rises to Street Level

One year since groundwork began, 55 Hudson Yards is starting its ascent into the the far west side skyline. The future 51-story, 1.3-million-square-foot tower is the third office building to rise from the 28-acre Hudson Yards master plan, behind the Coach building at 10 Hudson Yards and Time Warner's 30 Hudson Yards. Fifty-Five Hudson is being spearheaded by a partnership between Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc. (MFA), Related Companies, and Oxford Properties Group. Previously the parcel was owned by Extell Development who once planned a diagrid-ed skyscraper named One Hudson Yards (formerly the World Product Center). The site is positioned just north of the west side rail yards on a full-block parcel bound by Hudson Yards Boulevard, Eleventh Avenue, West 34th Street and West 33rd Street. The building will open onto the new Hudson Boulevard and the recently open subway station for the 7 train. A brick-faced ventilation building that serves the subway extension rises from the southwest corner of the parcel and will be absorbed into the building's massing.
More details, renderings, and construction views

February 8, 2016

The On Leong Tong Building: Chinese Architecture Brought to Life in NYC

By Penelope Bareau

If you're planning to head down to Chinatown for the celebration of the Lunar New Year, you'll likely amble past the corner of Mott and Canal Streets, where there is a remarkable building like no other in New York. It's called On Leong Tong, or, in English, the Merchants' Association building. Built in 1950, it combines modernism (though you wouldn't know it to look at it) with familiar Chinese architectural features—the pagoda roof, balconies, colorful columns and so on. Once you've seen it, you won't forget it.
Read the full history of this building

February 8, 2016

Bjarke Ingels Reveals Design for Supertall Cascading Hudson Yards Tower, the Spiral

It seems safe to say at this point that two of starchitect Bjarke Ingels' favorite architectural elements are stepped facades and integrated natural spaces. His latest creation, an office tower appropriately dubbed the Spiral, incorporates both of these features, with a "cascading series of landscaped terraces and hanging gardens as its signature element," according to a press release sent out today. The 1,005-foot-tall, 65-story tower will rise at 66 Hudson Boulevard, at the intersection of the High Line and Hudson Yards, occupying the full block bound by West 34th Street, West 35th Street, 10th Avenue, and the four-acre Hudson Boulevard Park (BIG is also designing a pair of towers at the southern end of the High Line). Ingels said his conceptual design "combines the classic ziggurat silhouette of the premodern skyscraper with the slender proportions and efficient layouts of the modern high-rise."
Check out more views of the Spiral

February 8, 2016

Housing Lottery Commences for EŌS, Live in NYC’s Shortest Skyscraper for $566/Month