Manhattan

This prewar duplex penthouse comes from the Greenwich Village co-op at 49 West 9th Street, quite a beautiful brick and limestone building equidistance from Washington Square Park and Union Square. The $2.75 million apartment is around 1,000 square feet over two floors, with one bedroom and two bathrooms. It's also brimming with wood detailing and decked out with lots of private outdoor space -- home to both an outdoor shower and yes, a bathtub. If you're a fan of elegant, classic New York co-ops (that happen not to be in the Upper West or Upper East Sides) this one will make your day.
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Distinctive Homes

Port Authority Will Hold Opening Ceremony for WTC Transportation Hub After All

Santiago Calatrava: WTC Transportation Hub , New York (Photo: Mega Projects and Skyscrapers, via YouTube)

February 26, 2016

Port Authority Will Hold Opening Ceremony for WTC Transportation Hub After All

On Tuesday, news broke that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would not be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony when the World Trade Center Transportation Hub opens next week. They called Santiago Calatrava's project "a symbol of excess." Perhaps feeling the backlash from their decision, the agency sent out a press release yesterday saying that though there will still be no event to mark the opening on March 3rd at 3pm, they will hold a ceremony once the Hub is fully up and running this spring, according to the Wall Street Journal. They credit their change of heart to a desire to thank the thousands of workers who built the station. Additionally, Port Authority Chairman John Degnan said, "It will stand, along with the memorial, museum and the buildings themselves, as a tribute the resiliency of the region."
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February 26, 2016

This $18M Prewar Co-op Is the Kind of Apartment That Invented Central Park Views

In addition to celebrity residents like Robert DeNiro, Paul Simon and, more recently, Annie Liebovitz, the 1928 co-op building at 88 Central Park West has bragging rights to the kind of views that were being enjoyed by the fortunate before trophy towers like 432 Park Avenue were even a glimmer in any developer’s eye. The classic Central Park West residence known as the Brentmore has only 12 floors, but it possesses a Gilded-Age cachet that’s lost very little of its appeal even in the 21st century. Residents add upper-floors and next-doors rather than move, and floor plans are generous and always include foyers and maids’ rooms (almost all units were built with seven rooms). And the location, of course, needs no introduction.
See more of this gracious West Side home

Distinctive Homes

February 25, 2016

Pricing Revealed for Market-Rate Rentals at Bjarke Ingels’ Via Tetrahedron

Bjarke Ingels' ever-captivating tetrahedron, officially known as Via 57 West and located at 625 West 57th Street, is set to hit the rental market on March 1st, and ahead of the launch, the Durst Organization has released pricing information, reports Curbed. In total, the flashy building will have 709 apartments, 142 of which are affordable and start at just $565/month. The market-rate units, however, will be considerably pricier, with an average asking price of $2,770/month for studios, $3,880 for one-bedrooms, $6,500 for two-bedrooms, $11,000 for three-bedrooms, and a whopping $16,500 for four-bedrooms. Eight listings have already gone live, and they're offering two months free on a 14-month lease or three months free on a 27-month lease.
More details ahead

February 25, 2016

Cottage-Like Duplex is up for Sale at the Muffin House in Chelsea

337 West 20th Street is not your average cooperative -- this Chelsea building was formerly the bakery of Samuel Bath Thomas, the Englishman who introduced New Yorkers to the English Muffin in the early 1900s. Today it's nicknamed the Muffin House and still has ovens (no longer working) built into the basement. You can now live in a cute little duplex at the co-op, which went residential sometime in the 1950s, for $875,000. While there's nothing inside the apartment to suggest this was a former muffin factory, there are still some old details intact.
Take a look

February 24, 2016

For $5.5M, Combine Two Top-Floor Apartments Into One Soho Mega Loft

Here's a proposal only for true loft lovers: two fifth-floor apartments are on the market at 81 Grand Street, a former warehouse in Soho, and they come in a package in which you can combine them for a massive, single loft. If combined, it'll leave you with 45 feet of frontage facing Grand Street, a total of 14 windows and four skylights, 3,300 interior square feet and 600 exterior square feet. And you'd be working with great bones; while most downtown lofts have some cool historic details left from when the building was a warehouse, this one boasts detailed brickwork, as well as remnants of the building's old wheels and shoots system, typically used for transporting things. We're jealous of the architect who will get the job of creating a full-floor penthouse here.
Check out both spaces

Distinctive Homes

February 23, 2016

Groundwork Begins on Bjarke Ingels’ Curvaceous East Harlem Development

With approved permits in place, Blumenfield Development Group is ready to move forward on their Bjarke Ingels Group-designed mixed-use project at 146 East 125th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. Initial ground testing has taken place, and a construction fence has been erected along the lot's northern 126th Street frontage. According to permits filed in December 2014, the upcoming 230,000-square-foot building will contain 40,000 square feet of commercial space and 233 apartments, 20 percent of which will be designated as affordable.
More details ahead

There Will Be No Ribbon Cutting for the WTC Transportation Hub Opening

Santiago Calatrava: WTC Transportation Hub , New York (Photo: Mega Projects and Skyscrapers, via YouTube)

February 23, 2016

There Will Be No Ribbon Cutting for the WTC Transportation Hub Opening

When the subject of Santiago Calatrava's World Trade Center Transportation Hub comes up, what's most likely to come to mind is not the flying-bird-looking architecture, but the fact that it was so incredibly delayed (it’s six years off schedule) and over-budget (final construction costs ring in around $4 billion in taxpayer dollars, twice what was projected, making it the world’s most expensive train station). The latter is not sitting well with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who oversee the hub, as they've announced that they will not host an event to mark the opening during the first week of March, calling it "a symbol of excess," according to Politico. Similarly, Governors Christie and Cuomo, who control the agency, have declined to commemorate the opening.
Get the scoop

February 23, 2016

Rosario Candela-Designed Building at 915 West End Avenue Going Condo

West End Avenue is one of Manhattan's longest stretches of harmonious architecture. The nearly 50-block-long, better-looking half of Eleventh Avenue is the Upper West Side's answer to Park Avenue, without the median and with the community. The Avenue's rows of stately prewar buildings are raised to a mostly uniform height of 12 to 15 stories and appear as if some Haussmann-like visionary conceived their elegance and scale. Behind dignified masonry facades are wood-paneled lobbies and sprawling apartments that are stacked in classic sixes and sevens with staff quarters. Near the Avenue's starting point at Straus Park, at the northwest corner of 105th Street, 915 West End Avenue rises humbly without much fuss. The red-brick building, built in 1922, was designed by beloved architect Rosario Candela and is undergoing a conversion that would transform 43 of its 91 rental apartments into condominium residences, according to an offering plan submitted to the attorney general.
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February 23, 2016

Renderings Revealed for Upper East Side’s First Supertall at Former Subway Inn Site

In October, 6sqft reported that a 1,000+ foot condo tower could rise on the former site of beloved dive bar the Subway Inn (which, after 77 years, had to relocate to a site around the corner in August 2014). The news came nearly two years after the World Wide Group bought a six-parcel assemblage on 60th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues. Then, this past summer, World Wide enlisted Cushman & Wakefield to sell the property, "using renderings of a glassy supertall tower and talk of nearby Billionaires Row to sweeten the deal." Kuafu Properties bought the 19,685-square-foot plot for $300 million in the fall, and now Yimby has uncovered renderings of a glassy, slender tower proposed for the site.
Who designed the supertall tower?

February 23, 2016

Restaurateur Keith McNally’s Greenwich Village Townhouse Is on the Menu for $13.95M

After spending some time on the rental market, first at $25,000/month then $19,000/month, restaurateur Keith McNally's 4,600 square-foot Greek Revival townhouse at 105 West 11th Street is for sale for $13.95 million (h/t Curbed). The New York Times once called McNally, whose success stories include buzzy establishments like Balthazar, Cherche Midi, Odeon, Café Luxembourg, Schiller’s and Minetta Tavern, "the man who invented Downtown." McNally purchased the house in 2002 for $2.496 million. Built in 1910, this 21-foot-wide, five-bedroom, four-story home should appeal to historic townhouse lovers as well as anyone with kitchen ambitions. From the walk-in wine cellar to the rustic French-country interiors, the house has been restored with a floor plan that considers both entertaining and daily life. Impressive details include five wood burning fireplaces, imported timber beams, reclaimed wide plank oak floor boards, casement windows, Venetian plaster walls and landscaped outdoor spaces, all on a historic townhouse-lined Greenwich Village street.
Take a look inside

February 22, 2016

Harper Lee Had a Crazy-Cheap Hideout on the Upper East Side for 50 Years

Famed author Harper Lee, who passed away at age 89 on Friday in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, was known for being extremely private and somewhat reclusive. So it's not entirely surprising that for the past 49 years, the "To Kill a Mockingbird" novelist has maintained a secret Upper East Side apartment. What is surprising is that after all that time, her rent was less than $1,000 a month. Lee moved to New York City in 1949 when working as an airline reservation agent and writing in her spare time. When the building that housed her cold-water flat was demolished in 1967, she moved to apartment 1E across the street at 433 East 82nd Street (between 1st and York Avenues), reports the Post, using it as a kind of hideout when not in Alabama (even the tenant directly below her had no idea she was a resident). Though she hadn't spent time there since having a stroke in 2007, she renewed her lease for two more years just a couple months ago. Property manager Steven Austern said she was up to date on her rent, and even though he could've terminated the lease since she was living elsewhere, he chose not to, stating "She was a personal friend of mine."
What was the average day like for Harper Lee?

Celebrities

February 22, 2016

A Three-Year Renovation and a Glass Rooftop Studio Perfect This $26M West Village Townhouse

The listing calls this $26 million historic West Village townhouse a "singular and exceptional offering," and it’s hard to disagree (h/t Curbed). Brit expat and tech entrepreneur Jos White and his wife Annabel, former director of The Rug Company, bought the house from interior designer James Huniford in 2009 for $7.25 million and embarked on a three-year renovation helmed by notable architect Basil Walter of BWArchitects with interiors by Poonam Khanna. The end result, according to the architects, "fuses past and present into a new, sophisticated 4,000-square-foot home," which includes a wild rooftop glass atelier (inspired by the Maison de Verre in Paris), 17th-century wood paneling, and a never-ending roster of impressive decor.
Check out the interiors

February 22, 2016

Supermodel Irina Shayk Buys $6M West Village Condo at 150 Charles Street

By Annie Doge

If you don't know supermodel Irina Shayk from the pages of Sports Illustrated, you may recognize her as the often-photographed girlfriend of Bradley Cooper. Rumors have been circulating for nearly a year that the couple was looking to shack up together. First, Cooper was spotted checking out a sprawling $8.5 million spread at the Hubert in Tribeca in May, then Shayk listed her apartment at 166 Perry Street in the West Village for $4 million back in December. LLNYC now reports that the swimsuit model has picked up an off-market $6 million pad at 150 Charles Street, nearby in the West Village.
More on Shayk's (and likely Cooper's) new digs

February 19, 2016

Be a Soho Insider in This Landmarked Prince Street Loft

New York City is filled with lofts we love; their iconic style is synonymous with the city's historic architecture and industrial and creative recent past. Even as glass towers and luxury limestone hog the spotlight, the flexibility and bohemian spirit unique to these spaces continues to charm—and their value continues to rise. So it's still exciting to get a look inside whenever the chance presents itself. This loft co-op in the Cast Iron Historic District is a prime example. Built in 1900, the now-landmarked building at 131-135 Prince Street was the second co-op in Soho. This 1,800 square-foot home, on the market for $3.295 million, boasts its own presentation website with a level of design that rivals some of the city's more luxurious new developments, complete with full-color isometric views of each room. Though it looks like a lovely loft in a prime location in any light, the fabulous visuals certainly don't hurt.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

February 19, 2016

Skyline Wars: What’s Rising in Hudson Yards, the Nation’s Largest Construction Site

By Carter B. Horsley

Carter Uncut brings New York City’s breaking development news under the critical eye of resident architecture critic Carter B. Horsley. This week Carter brings us the third installment of “Skyline Wars,” a series that examines the explosive and unprecedented supertall phenomenon that is transforming the city’s silhouette. In this post Carter zooms in on Hudson Yards. The Hudson Yards neighborhood in Far Midtown West is one of the country’s most active construction areas. Construction cranes dot its emerging skyline and dozens more are promised now with the district's improved connection to the rest of the city. Last fall, the 7-line subway station at Eleventh Avenue and 34th Street opened with one-stop access to Times Square. The newly-minted station features a lengthy diagonal escalator bringing commuters to the front-door of the huge mixed-use project being created over the rail yards west of Tenth Avenue between 30th and 33rd streets. Originally, a second station was contemplated on 41st Street and Tenth Avenue but transit officials claimed it could not afford the $500 million expenditure, despite the enormous amount of new residential construction occurring along the far West 42nd Street corridor. Nevertheless, the finished Hudson Yards station deposits straphangers into a new diagonal boulevard and park between 10th and 11th Avenues that will ultimately stretch from the Related Companies / Oxford Property Group's Hudson Yards master plan northward to 42nd Street.
read more from carter here

February 19, 2016

Reasonably Priced Condos at NINE52 in Hell’s Kitchen Hit the Market, Starting at $679K

After years of decay, the second building of the old Saint Clare's Hospital in Hell's Kitchen has been reborn. Named NINE52, due to its address near Ninth Avenue at 416 West 52nd Street, the seven-story red-brick structure has been rehabilitated into 155 affordably-priced condominium homes. Seven units at NINE52 hit the market earlier this week with asking prices starting at $679,000 for 450-square-foot studios, $859,000 for 725-square-foot one-bedrooms, and $1.319 million for an 875-square-foot two-bedroom. According to CityRealty's February Market Report, the median price-per-square-foot for closed condominium sales in Midtown West over the past 30 days stood at $1,833, a bit above the $1,603-per-square-foot asking prices at NINE52.
Get a look at the apartments

February 19, 2016

Morris Adjmi-Designed Commercial Building Coming to Controversial Noho Site

Yesterday, Ironstate Development filed permits to construct a nine-story, 46,000-gross-square-foot office and community facility building at 363 Lafayette Street in Noho. The long-vacant parcel spans the entire block front of Lafayette Street between Bond and Great Jones Streets and sits adjacent to the to the live/work studio of renowned artist Chuck Close at 20 Bond. The Real Deal reported in 2008 that Close filed a lawsuit against the previous property owner, Olmstead Properties, to prevent the construction of an office building that would block the loft building's natural light, which he argued many of the artists inside depend on. But the project seems to be moving ahead.
More details ahead

February 18, 2016

$3M Warm and Spacious Flatiron Loft Needs No Excess or Eccentricity

Located on a bustling but attractive street in the indisputably popular and convenient Flatiron District, this fourth-floor loft co-op at 14 West 17th Street looks like a home we might not want to leave. Asking $2,975,000, the two-bedroom-plus-office loft maintains a balance of well-preserved history, modern style, and the kind of warmth found in a custom renovation. The co-op's current owner is Henri Bendel department store president Chris Fiore, who purchased it for $1,275,000 in 2006–a significant leap in value, but there has clearly been some investment in the space, and the neighborhood's ascent goes without saying. What works so well here are elegant finishes and loft charm, done well enough that the home doesn't need to distract with quirky artists' effects or super-luxury finishes by an ambitious developer or expensive designer.
Have a look around

Distinctive Homes

February 18, 2016

Full-Floor Loft With an Actual Artist’s Studio Asks $3M in Soho

Back in the '60s and '70s, pretty much every Soho loft doubled as an art studio. Artists fought successfully to legally convert the former manufacturing buildings into live/work lofts, and today there's still a special zoning resolution that permits the use of former industrial spaces as homes only if the resident is an artist certified by the city. That zoning rule is often ignored, and with Soho lofts priced into the millions, you don't see many left that include studios. But this one, which occupies the entire second floor of 123 Prince Street, is the exception--at least when it comes to the art studio. (The price, of course, is high, at $3.125 million.) The open apartment has been built out with a lofted bedroom, office, studio space and mini bar.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

February 17, 2016

Looks Like Sarah Jessica Parker Is Combining Two West Village Townhouses

By Annie Doge

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

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

By Annie Doge

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.
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Architecture And Design

February 12, 2016

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