Manhattan

The listing calls this a "trophy" penthouse, and with all the bells and whistles that come with the apartment, they're not lying (h/t Curbed). The co-op spans the 17th and 18th floors of 400 East 59th Street, a prewar building in Sutton Place built in 1928 and converted in 1981. It's got four bedrooms, five bathrooms, and more outdoor space than you likely thought possible: a wrap-around terrace, a double-height solarium, a terrace off the master bedroom, and a private roof deck. In case you're wondering, that's 1,450 square feet of terrace space total. Oh yeah, there's also a dressing room in the master that's the size of a studio apartment. All this can be yours for a cool $16 million, a huge leap from its last sale in 2011 for a mere $4.35 million.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

November 19, 2015

Alexander Hamilton Jr.’s Former Home on St. Mark’s Place Lists for $12M

By Dana Schulz

The Hamilton name certainly comes with big price tags. Resale tickets to the Broadway show are climbing up to $2,500 each, and the Founding Father's son's home is now asking $11.9 million, 6sqft has learned. Col. Alexander Hamilton Jr. was the first owner of the townhouse at 4 St. Mark's Place in the East Village. British-born real estate developer Thomas E. Davis was erecting Federal-style homes along the street at the time as homes for wealthy New Yorkers seeking refuge from the cholera epidemic further downtown. In 1833, three decades after his father died in a duel with Aaron Burr, Hamilton Jr. bought the home and moved in with his mother Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (who was riddled with debt after her husband's death), wife Eliza, and his sister Eliza Holly and her husband Sidney. Known as the Hamilton-Holly House, it features Flemish Bond, a signature of the Federal style, as well as a marble English basement level, high stoop with Gibbs surround entryway, and two dormer windows.
More on the house

November 19, 2015

South American Financier Transforms Small Chelsea Apartment Into Tailor-Made Luxury Hotel Room

By Rebecca Paul

New York apartments take all different shapes and sizes, but we're particularly interested in seeing inside the homes of city dwellers who use design to maximize space and livability. This elegant pied-a-terre from Michael Rubin Architects is located in Chelsea and owned by a South American financier who visits New York as often as his schedule allows. More often than not, his visits are last-minute, and his limited use of the apartment has allowed for some wiggle room in the design of the kitchen as well as other areas inside the home. The outcome, an open airy space that features funky design concepts and an out-of-the box approach.
More views inside here

Distinctive Homes

November 19, 2015

Permits Filed to Demolish a String of Buildings Near Gramercy Park for New Condo

Alfa Development has filed plans with the Department of Buildings to demolish a string of low-rise buildings huddled near the northeast corner of East 21st Street and Third Avenue. The development team led by Michael Namer is known for its environmentally conscious downtown condo towers, which include Chelsea Green, Village Green, and Village Green West. Now, Alfa appears set on sprinkling some of their sustainable magic on a corner-site in Gramercy that could hold a tower of more than 90,000 square feet and rise up to 210 feet tall. Last month, Alfa purchased the the four-building development site from Kevin Maloney’s Property Markets Group and Apex Investments for $69.6 million. The previous owners had planned to build a 25-unit affordable housing building to generate 40,000 square feet of bonus square footage for an undisclosed luxury development, but instead chose to sell the site to focus on other projects.
More details ahead

November 18, 2015

POLL: Can the Last Seven Downtown Meatpackers Survive in the Meatpacking District?

By Dana Schulz

Earlier this week, Crain’s put out an in-depth article about the last seven meatpackers in the Meatpacking District, all of whom reside in an 80,000-square-foot warehouse with 120 employees. While this may seem like a lot since we often talk about the industry’s mass exodus to Hunt’s Point in the ’90s, at its peak in the 1950s […]

Real Estate Trends

November 18, 2015

$575K Inviting Co-op on Riverside Drive Comes With Cast Iron Juliet Balconies

This one-bedroom apartment, now on the market for $575,000, comes from the historic co-op building the Riviera, located at 790 Riverside Drive in Washington Heights. CityRealty's architecture critic Carter Horsley offers a good review of the architecture: "This very distinguished, five-sided, building has a most unusual floor plan with five deep light wells. It was designed by Rouse and Goldstone and erected in 1910 by the Riveria Realty Company in an Italian Renaissance-palazzo style. The 13-story building has a three-story, rusticated limestone base, limestone quoins, and arched windows at its top floor beneath a quite distinctive cornice of multiple arches. There are several very handsome decorative balconies and the building has spacious lobbies." The luxury apartments, which originally came with as many as 10 rooms, were designed with libraries, butlers’ pantries and parquet flooring. Many of the units–like this one–have been chopped up and made smaller, but this apartment retains the historic cast-iron balconies.
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Distinctive Homes

November 17, 2015

325-Square-Foot Greenwich Village Apartment Is Smartly Designed to Pack All the Comforts of Home

By Rebecca Paul

NYC is an exciting city that often sets the stage for non-stop, action-packed living. But this fast-paced lifestyle often comes at the cost of some serious square footage. This didn't stop seasoned New Yorker and producer Andrea Mitchell from successfully putting together a stylish and efficient home with just 325 square feet to work with. Located in Greenwich Village, her tiny apartment includes all the comforts of home and mixes simple Ikea buys with eclectic flea market finds. In a recent interview with Inhabitat, she reveals some savvy design tips for living large in a small space.
Get the scoop

November 17, 2015

The World’s Largest Display of Miniatures Is Coming to Times Square in 2017

Micro is all the rage in NYC right now, and currently in the works is another teensy project with designs on taking up a less-than-diminutive space in the heart of Times Square. Called Gulliver's Gate, this miniature spectacular will showcase more than 300 buildings, 1,000-plus model trains, cars and planes, and a vast collection of 3D-printed global replicas that include Times Square, Grand Central, and lower Manhattan, to become the biggest Lilliputian installation in the world at 49,000 square feet. According to Crain's, Gulliver's Gate has just signed a 15-year lease for the first and second floors of the former New York Times Building at 216 West 44th Street. The attraction, "the largest, most intricate, most technologically advanced display anywhere" according co-creator Eiran Gazit, will cost $30 million to build.
Find out more here

November 17, 2015

This Greenwich Village Co-op, With Exposed Brick and Fireplaces, Is Like a Mini Chateau

This co-op apartment at 7 Gay Street in Greenwich Village packs in a lot of rustic charm for a one-bedroom. Flanked with exposed brick, with four wood-burning fireplaces, you could pretend like you're in a miniature mountain chateau rather than a NYC pad. Although there's only one bedroom, this co-op has been renovated to include a second apartment so it spans a total of 1,000 square feet. It's also a corner unit with both southern and western exposures. In case you're rushing to buy it–hold tight. The owner has only put it up on the rental market for either short- or long-term tenants. It's asking $6,250 a month unfurnished, or $7,000 a month for all the furniture to stay.
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Distinctive Homes

November 17, 2015

Actress, Writer, Singer and Real Estate Scion Isabel Rose Lists $14 million Tribeca ‘Paradise’

By Michelle Cohen

You can add Tribeca pioneer and Mariah Carey neighbor to the long list of things that describe the ebullient seller of this 5,027-square-foot downtown mansion-in-the-sky at 90 Franklin Street. In an interview, Rose, a member of one of the city's most prominent real estate families (developing company Rose Associates manages more than 30,000 apartments and owns the Chelsea Landmark building among others) tells of how she moved to the pricey downtown neighborhood in 2000, when it was "filled with factories and a few brave artists," purchasing the apartment for (sitting down?) $3.4 million. The novelist, actress and singer who just released an album of classics and performs at venues like Joe's Pub, is the creative force behind the apartment's many art and music-related accents. The condominium residence, in one of Tribeca's many grand Deco-era buildings, needs no song and dance to give it legs. Its vast size (listed at five bedrooms, and there's room for at least two more), prime location on one of the neighborhood's most iconic streets, and luxurious no-detail-overlooked interiors do a fine job on their own of justifying the $14 million ask. In addition to Carey, notable building residents have include Ben Stiller and Bob Vila.
Check out the impressive space here

Distinctive Homes

November 16, 2015

New Renderings of SuperPier: Google’s New NYC Digs + Bourdain Food Market To Arrive in 2018

Last month at the Municipal Arts Society's (MAS) 2015 Summit for NYC, Seth Pinsky, executive vice president at RXR Realty, shared a presentation regarding the development of the long-planned rehabilitation and conversion of Pier 57 aka "SuperPier." In addition to some new looks at the project, he revealed that the developers have largely secured financing and are finalizing talks with the Hudson River Park Trust. RXR are co-developing the project with Young Woo & Associates, and Handel Architects and !Melk Landscape Architecture and Urban Design are the commissioned designers. According to Pinsky, the 450,000-square-foot development will invest $350 million of private capital to redevelop the structure, and in return create hundreds of jobs, generate millions of dollars of revenue for the Hudson River Park Trust, and create a new destination for New Yorkers and visitors alike. The former NYCEDC head confirmed that the project will include 250,000 square feet of office space for a major technology company [Google], a 170,000-square-foot food and retail market [Anthony Bourdain], and an elevated park with an outdoor movie and performance amphitheater on the roof to be used for screenings for the Tribeca Film Festival. He also noted construction will begin during the first half of next year, with completion aimed for early 2018.
Lots more renderings and details ahead

November 16, 2015

REVEALED: Inside Bjarke Ingels’ Spectacular 57th Street Tetrahedron

Those moving into Bjarke Ingels epic pyramid VIA 57 West next year will have a lot to look forward to. New renderings of the hotly-anticipated construction sited along West 57th Street have just been released (h/t Curbed) alongside a new teaser website inviting visitors "to a special preview" of the building. The new images, which come courtesy of The Durst Organization, reveal bright modern interiors with expansive river views, floor-to-ceiling doors and windows, varying room shapes, individual balconies, and lots of luxe fixtures, finishes and amenities.
Take a tour here

November 16, 2015

Nolita Loft Interior Boasts Floor-to-Ceiling Book Shelves, Modern Art and Woodsy Charm

By Rebecca Paul

Nolita, named for its location just north of Little Italy, is packed with culture and entertainment one can only find downtown. Much like the neighborhood in which it resides, this hip loft packs some serious–and not-so-typical–design chops worthy of a little praise. From the design team at Desciencelab its interior features everything from frosted glass room dividers, to a wall of shelving adorned with perfectly sized art and floor-to-ceiling books.
see more inside this way

Distinctive Homes

November 16, 2015

Chloe Sevigny’s Former East Village Co-op Sells for $2.1M

By Annie Doge

Queen of indie films Chloë Sevigny unsurprisingly lived in the East Village in 2005, scooping up a garden-level co-op at 119 East 10th Street for $1,199,000 and becoming neighbors with fellow indie royal Parker Posey. By 2013, Sevigny made the inevitable move to Brooklyn (she stated that the East Village had become like a frat house) and sold her one-bedroom Manhattan pad for $1.76 million to tech power couple Halle Tecco and Jeffrey Hammerbacher. Despite the stylish renovation that the couple undertook, they listed the residence this summer for $2.2 million. The Post now reports that the home sold for just under its asking price to Shana Randhava, the executive director of the Estee Lauder Companies. Interestingly, they note that Sevigny "has been quoted about her love for Estee Lauder products, particularly their 'luxury compacts.'"
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November 15, 2015

Bright and Breezy Three Bedroom Asks $1.4M in Morningside Heights

This is the kind of apartment that you want to be friends with. It's a truly lovely co-op apartment at the prewar building 500 West 111th Street, just south of Columbia University and just west of Morningside Park in the Morningside Heights neighborhood. It's quite large, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It's also got awesomely high ceilings, lots of built-in bookshelves, and big windows that are streaming tons of light in. Another bonus is that the windows look out onto the great Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a local landmark. Of course, such good friends–er, apartments–are hard to come by, especially in such a prime uptown location. The price tag for the co-op is high, asking $1.375 million.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

November 13, 2015

Channing Tatum’s Former Tribeca Townhouse Has Hit the Market for $6.5 Million

This five-story, 3,231-square-foot Tribeca townhouse has quite a story behind it. Located at 155 Duane Street, the 1830s red brick home was allegedly used in the Civil War to make antiseptic soap. Today's owner is W. Robert Curtis, who gained some recognition years ago for suing the neighborhood's star chef David Bouley of ruining his block by dumping trash from his restaurant Bouley Studio. Curtis, who has put the house up for rent anywhere from $18,000 to $35,000 a month, rented this pad to Channing Tatum in the summer of 2012, and now it's on the market for a cool $6.5 million. The two-bedroom home boasts open-steel stairs, the original pine beams and the building's original mechanical hoist, which you can spot pictured above. It was originally used as a live/work space, with the office on the bottom two floors, but the ground floor is now being marketed as potential retail.
Tour the rest

November 13, 2015

10012 and 10013 Are NYC’s Most Prized Zip Codes

212 Fifth Avenue may be the considered the ultimate New York address, but zip codes 10012 and 10013 are the city's most coveted. Forbes has just released their annual list of the 500 Most Expensive ZIP Codes in the nation, and amongst the top zips were the two that make up parts of the West Village, Soho, Tribeca and the Lower East Side. However, 10012 and 10013 were the only New York City digits to break the top 10. California actually counted the most spots on the list this year, including #1. Is NYC passé?
check out the top 20 zip codes here

Real Estate Trends

November 13, 2015

Construction Update: 45 East 22nd Street, Flatiron’s Future Tallest Tower, Gets Glassed

The emerald glass skin of Ian Bruce Eichner’s 45 East 22nd Street has begun its rise. The 777-foot-tall tower's structure is more than halfway up and the development team recently announced that sales have already surpassed the 50 percent mark. The svelte spire designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), sports a granite base with a sculptural glass tower that gradually broadens as it ascends. The architects have said that the juxtaposition between the base and tower stems from a difference of opinion between the developer and architects. Originally, KPF proposed an all-glass tower, which Eichner felt would too strongly clash with the masonry aesthetic of the Flatiron District. Ultimately, KPF embraced a stone base and a team was sent to China to select and procure each granite piece that would be arranged in an irregular and non-linear fashion.
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November 12, 2015

VIDEO: What It’s Like to Pull Into a $1 Million Parking Spot at Annabelle Selldorf’s 42 Crosby

Soho's 42 Crosby Street left us all astounded last year when it was revealed that each of its ten on-site parking spaces would be priced at one-million dollars a pop. On a per square foot basis, the 200-square-foot rectangles will fetch more than the three-bedroom condominiums upstairs. The cool modernists at Selldorf Architects designed the 111-foot tall building, which is now finally getting its layered facade of metal and glass. We admit, the exterior is not nearly as exciting as what's depicted in the renderings, but remember, it's not yet finished! So while we await Selldorf's magic to fully brew, watch this terrific film created by VUW Studio, which shows what it feels like to be that lucky automobile coming home to its seven-figure parking spot.
Watch the envy-inducing video in its entirety here

November 12, 2015

$22K/Month West Village Townhouse Was an Underground Railroad Stop

By Dana Schulz

Over the weekend, 6sqft brought you a listing for a charmingly historic upstate house that was once an Underground Railroad safe house. With its location on sprawling land in a small town, this makes sense, but even houses in bustling New York City played a role in the historic story. There was the 1830s historic mansion at 45 Grove Street, and there's this 1847 West Village townhouse at 95 Barrow Street. The Post reports that the home, now on the rental market for $21,900 a month, was a stop on the Underground Railroad. The three-bedroom residence retains its historic details in the form of exposed brick walls galore, wooden beamed ceilings, and original wide-plank pine floors. But it's also recently undergone a gut renovation that added modern amenities such as radiant heat flooring (and sidewalk!), a chic kitchen, and lots of custom built-ins.
Check it out

November 12, 2015

Pretty Pink Co-op Asking $435K Has Pre-War Potential

By Michelle Cohen

Though we so often hear that an eye for interiors–or a good decorator–can make even the smallest apartment feel like a gracious home, we love to see real-life examples that aren't in magazines shot by highly-paid photographers. This slender Upper East Side one-bedroom co-op at 330 East 94th Street with a relatively manageable $435,000 price tag is an inspiring example. In addition to the fact that with ownership comes the right (co-op board willing of course) to transform the space with any number of clever solutions, it would take far less to create a charming pied-a-terre, for example, without that level of effort or expense.
Look around

Distinctive Homes

November 11, 2015

For $3.45M This Unique UES Townhouse Condo Offers the Best of Both Worlds – and a Private Park

By Michelle Cohen

New York City in the 1980s saw an enormous building boom similar to the one we've recently been witnessing. And similarly, when it came to large residential developments, the emphasis was on the trendy and the luxurious to attract moneyed buyers. While the new-construction townhouse, integrated with apartment units as with The Greenwich Lane or left solo like Williamsburg's Wythe Lane, is today a growing trend in luxury residential development, at the time this handful of townhomes at 245 East 93rd Street wasn't, shall we say, as much of a thing. City folk wanted city apartments-and still felt doormen equalled safety. But as in a much earlier time, a house in the city represents a certain kind of luxury, a self-contained home without the limitations that come with apartments. And though we may hear mention of the Trump Towers (1983) and the One57s more often, it’s refreshing to see a variation in what’s available to the discerning buyer. Built in 1985, this 2,100 square-foot, three-story (plus lofts and terraces), three-bedroom townhouse, on the market for $3.45 million, is one of twelve that, along with a 33-story tower, comprise the 290-unit Astor Terrace condominium development. This unique home has a 20th-century-modern smartness–along with a spare, modernist look in dark red-grey brick and black-framed casement windows; a recent and thorough renovation has given it the benefit of contemporary luxury and convenience.
Explore this unusual Upper East Side home

Distinctive Homes

November 11, 2015

432 Park in Numbers: New Renderings and Superlatives Will Blow You Away

Now that Macklowe Properties'/CIM Group's 432 Park Avenue is nearing completion, with occupancy slated to begin in mid-2016 and 70 percent of units reportedly in contract, the development's marketing and branding agency DBOX has released a bevy of never-before-seen images of our skyline's newest icon. Being the tower of superlatives it is, it comes as no surprise that it boasts a marketing campaign to match. Employing sky-cams, drone photography, a million-dollar film, and breath-taking renderings and photography, 432 Park has perhaps the most elaborate promotional campaign ever conceived for a Manhattan condominium. With dozens of spectacular images to choose from, we hand picked a few to recap the development of this monumental supertower. We've also put together a timeline in numbers–from its record breaking height to its 1,200-pound marble sinks–to illustrate the extraordinary undertaking that has paved the way for the tower to become the most successful and desirable condominium ever erected in the city (sorry One57).
See it all right here

November 11, 2015

Iconic Halston House Where Andy Warhol Partied Hits the Market for $40M