Manhattan

The digital production studio Visualhouse has posted on their website our first motion video look at SL Green's 63-story office tower known as One Vanderbilt. Hailed to forever change the face of Midtown East and reinvigorate the business district, the $1 billion-plus, 1.6-million-square-foot tower was unanimously approved by the City Council this past summer, thus granting SL Green the green light to begin construction of the supertower immediately. Visualhouse's newly released renderings provide us with a clearer picture of how the building's full-block base will meet the street, and also remind us just how gargantuan the tower will be. According to the tower's architects Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), the tower will rise 1,401 feet to its spire, making it the second tallest building in the city upon completion. However, unlike the pencil-thin supertalls underway around Central Park, the project will throw up a substantial amount of bulk into the air.
See all the renderings

December 3, 2015

15 Hip Holiday Markets and Indie Pop-Up Shops in NYC

December's first days bring dozens of holiday gift markets whose aim is to find new homes for a wealth of shiny goodies and crafty gifts. We're all familiar with the big NYC markets, but some of the best scores–and the most fun–can be found at smaller, cooler pop-ups and local markets throughout the city. Some are only around for a weekend, others for the whole month or longer. In addition to locally-made jewelry and crafts, vintage finds, artfully curated fashions, home items and other things we didn't know we needed, these hip retail outposts offer up DJs, drinks, food, tarot readings, nail art, music, and family fun to keep shoppers' spirits bright.
Find out where to get the goods, this way

December 3, 2015

Flatiron’s 21W20 Finally Unshrouded – Take a Virtual Walk Through the Penthouses

Two penthouse units (yes, two) remain at Gale International's boutique condominium development 21W20. The 15-story mid-rise is Gale's first foray into the Manhattan market and has already placed 11 of the building's 13 full-floor homes into contract at an average price of $2,528 per square foot. Slated for occupancy by year's end, the project's construction netting has finally come down and the finishing touches are now being applied to the lobby. The 35,000-square-foot building is seamlessly nestled into the heart of downtown's Flatiron neighborhood within its timeless Ladies' Mile Historic District and presents a contextual exterior of blackened stainless steel, brick, and glass crafted by New York-based architects Beyer Blinder Belle. From street level, the building climbs unassumingly from a 25-foot-wide footprint. However, its upper four stories cleverly spill over onto the adjacent garage building, ultimately creating four breathtaking, 100-foot-wide penthouses.
READ MORE

December 3, 2015

Victoria’s Secret Model Isabeli Fontana Tries to Sell Her Central Park South Pad for $2.65M

A pretty apartment for a pretty person: The Italian-Brazilian Victoria's Secret model Isabeli Fontana (who first appeared in the lingerie catalogue at age 16) is selling her two-bedroom co-op at 120 Central Park South (aka the Berkeley House), according to the Observer. She bought the apartment in 2013 for $1.66 million. Previously, the model has lived at Trump Place on Riverside Boulevard and a condo at 88 Greenwich Street. This apartment, which was totally remodeled by Fontana (is that a self portrait we see?), has some good things going for it. It's got lots of windows and views of the park, tons of closet space and some old-world details.
Check it out

December 3, 2015

City’s Once-Priciest One-Bedroom Rental Gets a $225K Price Chop, Now Only $75K a Month

When 6sqft became aware last February of the most expensive one-bedroom rental listing in the city, a $300,000 a month 1,200-square-foot (nope, we didn't forget a zero) penthouse atop the Surrey Hotel at 20 East 76th Street on the Upper East Side, we asked cheekily, "Why buy a $3.6 million dollar home when you can pay the same amount of money to live in a modest one-bedroom for a year?" Now that the unit–still on the market though with a fresh new broker–has gotten a hefty haircut of $225,000, it looks in comparison like a straight-up bargain at less than a million a year. So what are we getting for the still-significant monthly outlay?
Let's see what the fuss is about

Distinctive Homes

December 2, 2015

Revealed: See the Insanely Luxurious Amenities Inside Extell’s Controversial 80-Story LES Tower

By Diane Pham

Extell hasn't been making many friends with its new tower currently on the rise at 250 South Street, right next to the Manhattan Bridge. But even with hordes of locals cursing the mega-sized 80-story tower, Extell seems unfazed by the hate. Not only have they been unwavering about the development's 850-foot out-of-context height (the Manhattan Bridge is only 330 feet tall, mind you), the developer also has little interest in selling any units to anyone stateside, instead marketing their condos first to Asian buyers. Now, The Lo-Down has gotten their hands on the brochure that's being sent to Asia's wealthiest, an 88-pager revealing fancy apartment interiors and all of the "over-the-top" amenities that will fill the building, including things like a 70-seat movie theater, a tree house, a tea pavilion, a putting green, a sunken tranquility garden, a bowling alley, 75-foot indoor pool, a dog spa, a cellar bar...As written in the packet: "One Manhattan Square will redefine downtown luxury living."
Images inside the the tower here

December 2, 2015

Supermodel Irina Shayk Lists Mod West Village Condo With Massive Shoe Closet for $4M

By Annie Doge

It looks like Sports Illustrated supermodel Irina Shayk and boyfriend Bradley Cooper may be shacking up. The Observer reports that the Russian-born beauty has listed her modern apartment at 166 Perry Street in the West Village for $3,995,000. She bought the 2,462-square-foot duplex for $1.96 million back in 2010 when she was dating soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, but now she'll likely be joining Cooper on his house hunt. He most recently scoped out a sprawling $8.5 million spread at the Hubert in Tribeca, which, although quite attractive, lacks the massive shoe closet (and hidden stripper pole!) that Shayk currently has.
Check it out

Sony Tower Conversion to Get 113 Robert A.M. Stern-Designed Condos

550 Madison rendering via Dbox

December 2, 2015

Sony Tower Conversion to Get 113 Robert A.M. Stern-Designed Condos

Curbed spotted the freshly launched teaser site for the Chetrit Group's Sony Tower conversion, now going by the name 550 Madison, which revealed several new details about the project. The most notable is that Robert A.M. Stern will be designing the "opulent" condos, and we assume this includes the $150 million triplex penthouse. Interestingly, Stern was once a student of Philip Johnson, who is responsible for the ground-breaking Sony Building. In all, there will be 113 condo units on floors 21-43, up from the previously reported 96, as well as a 170-key luxury Parisian hotel and high-end ground-floor retail.
More details this way

December 2, 2015

This Sun-Filled Upper East Side Townhouse Triplex Is $35K a Month–Classy Furniture Included

This three-story 1890 townhouse at 53 East 75th Street fits in perfectly with its neighbors on a classically elegant Upper East Side street just two blocks from Central Park. On the rental market for $35,000 a month, this tony triplex gives you over 4,000 square feet of living space, including an elevator and plenty of windows and sunlight, particularly from the kitchen's wall of solarium windows–great for soaking up rays on winter days.
Explore all three floors

Distinctive Homes

December 2, 2015

‘Today’ Show Meteorologist Dylan Dreyer Lists Her Upper West Side Co-op for $862,000

Dylan Dreyer, who you can see giving the weather report on the "Today" show, is selling her cute Upper West Side co-op at 107 West 82nd Street. The weather woman moved in with her husband, "Nightly News" cameraman Brian Fichera, after they got hitched in 2012. And it seems like she really enjoyed this pad–she has told the "Today" show that "I love that the kitchen is open to the rest of the living space” when offering a tour of her apartment. But she's looking for a nice profit, listing it for $862,000 after buying for $580,000. This is a pretty standard one-bedroom, one-bathroom, with an open kitchen that looks out onto the open living and dining area. It's located in the Broadway Corridor of the Upper West Side, as part of a 58-unit co-op over three different brownstone buildings.
See more

December 1, 2015

Tribeca ‘Inverted Warehouse Townhouse’ of Concrete, Glass and Corten Steel Asks $20M

Behind the unassuming facade of an 1890s Tribeca warehouse at 75 Warren Street (once home to the Rumsey Pump & Machine Co.), this five-story, 10,000-square-foot modern-industrial home is the kind of townhouse you don't see every day, at any price. Introduced as "the most architecturally significant townhome to come to market downtown in over 20 years," this unique residence saw a complete redesign by innovative architecture firm Dean/Wolf, known for their ability to use architectural constraints as powerful generators of form, that took five years and a budget of $4.5 million. The house departs from the more commonly seen eight-figure townhomes and penthouses in two main ways. First is the inverted layout and second, the designers used innovative forms like Corten (weathering) steel panels, hung and layered with frameless art glass that floats through three floors, illuminating unexpected places; a glass-wrapped courtyard/terrace at the home's core that becomes a prism; a 23-foot skylit ceiling; and double-story bookshelves that hang into the den from the fourth floor.
See all this and more

December 1, 2015

NYC Dominates the Country in $10 Million-Plus Sales, See Them All on 6sqft’s Interactive Map

In October, Coldwell Banker Previews International released their semi-annual report tracking the real estate trends and market activity in U.S. cities that attract the largest share of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). Unsurprisingly, New York City leads the lists of most closings recorded and listings on the market priced above $1 million, $5 million, and $10 million between the one-year period of July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015. More astounding, however, is that the number of closings recorded in the city above the $10 million price point is more than the sum of all deals in the next 19 cities on the list combined. According to the study, NYC raked in 217 residential closings of $10 million or more, followed by Beverly Hills and Los Angeles with 34 each. New York again leads the way with 367 listings priced at $10 million or more, followed by Miami Beach, Aspen, and Los Angeles. Regarding New York City, historical data from CityRealty tallies up a slightly higher number of $10 million+ closings over the same time period, totaling 241 such deals. The recently crowned most expensive building in the city, One57, garnered the greatest number of $10M-plus sales for a single building with a remarkable 30 deals -- which by itself is more than all cities in the country aside from the top three. The supertall tower was then followed by a three-way tie between 15 Central Park West, One Madison, and the Walker Tower.
Explore the $10M+ closings and listings on 6sqft's interactive map

Real Estate Trends

Affordable Housing Lottery Launched for Related’s Yorkville Rental Tower at 205 East 92nd Street

Photographs from mid-October of 205 East 92nd Street by the photoblogger Field Condition.

December 1, 2015

Affordable Housing Lottery Launched for Related’s Yorkville Rental Tower at 205 East 92nd Street

Related Companies' playground-pouncing rental tower at 205 East 92nd Street has launched its housing lottery that provides below-market rents for 47 of the building's 231 units. The 36-story tower is in its home stretch of construction, prepping for occupancy in early 2016. Vested in the city's and state's Inclusionary Housing /421-a programs, 20 percent of the units will be reserved for low-income tenants. Fifty percent of the subsidized units will be reserved for residents of Manhattan Community Board 8 (covering the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island) and an additional 5 percent for municipal employees. Selected applicants will be provided apartments at a tremendous discount when compared to the neighborhood's market-rate rents. According to CityRealty, the median rental price for a one-bedroom in Yorkville stands at $3,210; and $5,398 for two-bedroom apartments. Affordable one-bedrooms at 205 East 92nd will start at $607 and two-bedrooms at $736.
More details and pricing

December 1, 2015

Museum Architect-Renovated Tribeca Townhouse With Subterranean Vault Sells for $13.8M

By Annie Doge

A red-brick townhouse with some legit architect cred behind it has just sold for a very discounted $13.8 million, much lower than its original $18 million ask. The property at at 148 Reade Street was constructed in the 1990s by Guenther Petrarca, and later renovated by famed museum architect Richard Gluckman (his clients include the Whitney and the Gagosian Gallery). The glass and stone mansion boasts 6,800 square feet of space to stretch out in, which includes a media room, a playroom, an elevator, a private garage on the ground floor, and a 500-plus-square-foot duplex terrace with 360-degree views and a waterfall wall. There's also a pretty cool 23- by 24-foot vault that sits below the sidewalk, a feature that harkens back to site's 19th century roots when subterranean vaults were the norm.
have a closer look inside

December 1, 2015

Ring In the New Year at One World Observatory for $7,000

Thought that $100 New Year’s Eve cover at your favorite bar was steep? It’s nothing compared to the rates to ring in 2016 atop One World Trade Center. DNAinfo reports that the Observatory is hosting a black-tie-optional soiree for which tickets will range from $500 to $6,750, a far cry from the normal $32 rate […]

Events & Things To Do

November 30, 2015

Infographic: The 12 Most Expensive Condo Buildings Rising in NYC

By Diane Pham

While it seems like every block in the city is host to a construction site throwing up some luxury condo building or pricey rentals, not all of these developments are created equal. Following up on their last infographic which rounded up the city's top five most expensive new developments, the data gurus over at CityRealty have culled an even more extensive list which pinpoints the 12 priciest structures going up right now. While the number of zeros that follow their combined $20,000,000,000 sellout will make your head hurt, what's even more mind-boggling is that these 12 buildings alone will count for nearly HALF of the money that'll be generated by the 200+ condo projects underway in Manhattan.
All the details here

November 30, 2015

This Cozy, Elegant UES Duplex Is the Perfect Manhattan Winter Retreat

With its toasty fireplaces–including one in the master bedroom–elegant pre-war details, dark chocolate floors and walls of casement windows for watching the snowflakes fall on gorgeous historic homes, this duplex at 170 East 78th Street looks like a prime spot to make the most of a Manhattan winter. The designed-to-the-nines 1927 co-op is asking $2.995 million, with a considerable monthly fee of almost $5,000; interestingly, the ask is less than the $3.5 million price that accompanied its turn on the market in 2010. On a gorgeous Upper East Side Block, this pre-war home is as classic as it gets; though it's listed as a two-bedroom, a look at the floor plan shows possibilities for one or two more with ease. Rooms are gracious and bright, and we can totally see boughs of holly, New Year's Eve merriment and snow days before a roaring fire in just about any of them.
Step inside where it's warm

Distinctive Homes

November 26, 2015

Architect-Owner of This Polished-yet-Casual Village Loft Asks $3M

Century-old bones and clean white walls frame the well-proportioned interior spaces of this warm, sophisticated two-bedroom loft in Greenwich Village, the result of a recent gut renovation by the architect-owner. John Berg of BergDesign Architecture, with his wife Jennifer Desmond, purchased the sunny downtown co-op at 250 Mercer Street for $1.5 million in May of 2013, two years and an impressive renovation ago. The bright high-floor unit is now on the market for $2.9 million. We’ve featured some of the architect’s projects, and this apartment's renovation is detailed on the BergDesign site, with the imperative of keeping "three priorities: durability, casual living and contrasting rich materials" for a family with small children in mind.
Have a look at how a gut renovation transformed the space

Distinctive Homes

November 25, 2015

$40M Penthouse Occupies the Clock Tower Dome of Nolita’s Famed Police Building

Who doesn't love to take a look inside the Police Building, the 1909 Beaux Arts NYPD headquarters converted to condos in 1988? Back then, residents were sure to maintain the building’s fantastic architecture and created varied floor plans with soaring ceilings and open layouts. Today, it's known for its uber-unique apartments. This is the building that brought us the wood-paneled, domed master bedroom and this funky loft with 18-foot ceilings. And now, take a peek inside the 6,000-square-foot penthouse apartment that occupies the building's clock tower dome. This was once the home of Calvin Klein and Steffi Graf, but the current owners pulled off quite an impressive renovation—one that uncovered a secret room. The grand renovation comes with an even grander asking price, a whopping $39.9 million (h/t Curbed). And as you would expect, it is as drool-worthy as can be.
See inside here

November 25, 2015

Historic Palace Theater to Get Raised 29 Feet to Accommodate New Retail Space

At a public hearing yesterday the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a plan drawn up by Platt Byard Dovell White Architects (PBDW) for Maefield Development to raise the historic 1913 Palace Theater 29 feet in order to accommodate expanded facilities and new retail space underneath. The decision isn't sitting well with preservationists, but the exterior of the theater was replaced in the early 1990s to make way for the 45-story adjacent DoubleTree hotel, and as the Wall Street Journal reports, the actual theater space is an interior landmark and the $2 billion redevelopment project will restore the decorated interior and add 10,000 square feet of theater facilities.
More on the history and future of the Palace Theater

The Most Important Towers Shaping Central Park’s South Corridor, AKA Billionaires’ Row

Carter Uncut brings New York City’s development news under the critical eye of resident architecture critic Carter B. Horsley. This week Carter kicks off a nine-part series, “Skyline Wars,” which will examine the explosive and unprecedented supertall phenomenon that is transforming the city’s silhouette. To start, Carter zooms in on the biggest developments shaping the southern corridor of Central Park.

November 25, 2015

The Most Important Towers Shaping Central Park’s South Corridor, AKA Billionaires’ Row

By Carter B. Horsley

They did not come from outer space when they landed on our front yard while the NIMBY folk and the city’s planners and preservationists weren’t looking. Some are scrawny. Some are dressed like respectable oldsters. They’re the supertalls and they’re coming to a site near you.
read more here

The City’s Prettiest Food Emporium, Famous for Its Guastavino Tiles, Is Closing

Photo by missvancamp on Flickr

November 24, 2015

The City’s Prettiest Food Emporium, Famous for Its Guastavino Tiles, Is Closing

Guastavino tiles–a design technique for thin-tile structural vaulting brought to New York at the end of the 19th century by Spanish architect and builder Rafael Guastavino and his son Rafael Jr.–can be seen at 250 locations throughout the city. Most of these spots have grand public purposes, such as Grand Central, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, or the Municipal Building. But one locale has gained famed for its very un-grand function as the home of a grocery store. The Food Emporium underneath the Queensboro Bridge has occupied one half of the Guastavino-tiled arcade known as Bridgemarket since 1999. This Saturday at 5:00 p.m., though, it will close its doors for good, according to Bloomberg, which leaves the fate of the historic interior up in the air.
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

November 24, 2015

Revealed: Zambrano Architectural Design’s Striking Yellow-Brick Rental in Central Harlem

Here's our first look at Dabar Development's eight-story, mixed-use project set to rise at 400 Lenox Avenue in central Harlem. The 40,000-square-foot development will anchor the southeast corner of West 130th Street and Lenox Avenue and will house 30 rental units, 2,000 square feet of retail at the ground level, and a second-floor community space for Pentacostal Faith Church, the owner of the project site. The design provided by Zambrano Architectural Design rises flush with the street wall and sports a distinctive yellow-brick cladding of "elongated artisanal bricks." According to Dawanna Williams, managing principal at Dabar, "the facade is inspired by the historical masonry context of the surrounding blocks of Harlem." The two uppermost levels are cutaway from the corner resulting in a large recreational terrace for residents. As per plans filed with the DOB this past summer, floors 2-6 will contain six apartments each, while floors 7 and 8 will provide four units apiece.
More on the project

November 23, 2015

REVEALED: Bjarke Ingels’ Brand New High Line Towers

By Diane Pham

Back in February it was revealed that HFZ Capital Group was in talks to bring a “monumental” new structure to a lot at 76 11th Avenue in the Meatpacking District right along the High Line. And between shortlisted architects Rem Koolhaas and Bjarke Ingels, in April the developer decided to move forward with starchitect-of-the-moment Ingels for the high-profile project. Now Yimby has our first look at the design that may rise atop the coveted site: two very angular, asymmetric towers measuring 402 and 302 feet, with 800,000 square feet for a hotel, retail, amenities and about 300 luxury condos.
see more renderings here

November 23, 2015

$1.7M West Village Co-op Feels Prim and Proper

Here's a co-op apartment that has everything in place, prim and proper as can be. It's a one-bedroom, two-bathroom unit that's located on the second floor of a West Village townhouse at 53 Horatio Street. The pre-war brick building, constructed in 1848, also looks pretty proper and stately, without any adornments or flourishes. That is carried to the interior, which has a nice but not extravagant design. The apartment was last listed in 2013 for $1,100,000, then sold soon after for $1,040,000. Two years later, the owners are looking to make a sizable profit with an ask of $1,699,000.
See the rest

Distinctive Homes

November 23, 2015

Listings Go Live Today for NYC’s First Micro Apartment Complex