Manhattan

"The builders are charging up to $100 million for apartments that offer helicopter views of lush foliage, jagged skylines, soothing rivers and angelic clouds. They lure the superrich, many with suspect foreign assets, to sky-high mansions. They enrich themselves by exploiting weak zoning rules to pour hideous implants into Manhattan cavities." All of this, says Max Frankel, who was the executive editor of The Times from 1986 to 1994 and lives half a block from Central Park, may need some consequences. And he wonders if this should come in the form of a "user fee," where residents of these Billionaires' Row towers would have to pay a monthly "window tax" based on how high in a given tower their unit is located. And according to his "back-of-the-envelope calculations," this could bring in roughly $1 million a year per building for the city to use on public projects like street work, parks, education, and affordable housing.
More details ahead

December 31, 2015

Lofty Duplex Carved Out of an UES Limestone Mansion Asks $3.975 Million

35 East 68th Street, located between Park and Madison Avenues on the Upper East Side, is one of those buildings that is not to be messed with. It's a 13,000-square-foot Beaux Arts mansion designed as a private residence for Harvard-trained physician Dr. Edward Kellogg and grain fortune heiress Mary Dows by Carrere & Hastings–the same architecture firm behind the New York Public Library. Since the now-landmarked building was completed in 1901, it has maintained its elegant, carved limestone facade. The interior, however, is a different story. Somewhere along the line the mansion was converted into a co-op apartment building, split into eight units. Seven of the eight co-ops were on the market this February for $34 million, but it looks like a sale never happened. Now this three-bedroom duplex is up for sale on its own.
See the interior

Distinctive Homes

December 30, 2015

Jonah Hill’s Brother Picks Up a Quirky Soho Co-op for $2.3M

Looks like Jordan Feldstein wanted to be much closer to big bro Jonah Hill. The talent manager (his clients include Maroon 5 and Robin Thicke) picked up a loft co-op at 37B Crosby Street in Soho, just a block away from Jonah's current pad at 27 Howard Street. City records show that Feldstein paid $2.3 million for the quirky duplex, which features exposed brick, fire engine-red railings, a custom wine cellar, and a private garden.
Take a look around

December 30, 2015

POLL: Have You Ever Gone to Times Square for New Year’s Eve?

Yesterday, 6sqft shared a video that explored the history of New Year’s Eve in Times Square. The first celebration was held in 1904 as a celebration of the New York Times’ new building at the crossroads, and in 1907 the first ball drop took place. Since then, the tradition has taken place every year except […]

Events & Things To Do

December 30, 2015

Victorian Home With Luxury Renovations Asks $7.5 Million in Yorkville

There's an interesting background behind this Victorian townhouse located at 142 East End Avenue within the Henderson Place Historic District in Yorkville. It was developed with other townhouses in the late 19th century by developer John C. Henderson for "persons of moderate means." These days, you'll need a lot more than moderate means to afford one–last year, a neighboring townhouse that had undergone a two-year gut renovation was on the market for $7.5 million or $25,900 a month. This one is also priced at $7.5 million, though it's been on and off the market since late 2012 asking anywhere from $6.5 to $8.5 million (h/t Curbed). The townhouse (once owned by a testifying forensic pathologist in the O.J. Simpson trial) was also gut renovated, with the interior all luxury while the exterior retains its original masonry detailing and modest brick façade, designed by architecture firm Lamb & Rich. Interior details include Italian tile flooring, Brazilian teak hardwood, four private outdoor spaces and a grand stainless steel staircase with walnut finishes.
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Distinctive Homes

December 29, 2015

‘Running With Scissors’ Author Augusten Burroughs Sells Battery Park City Condo

If you've read any of Augusten Burroughs' memoirs ("Running with Scissors," "Dry," or "Wolf at the Table," to name a few) you'll know that his life was quite tumultuous. His NYC home, however, is just the opposite. The Battery Park City studio condo at 225 Rector Place is completely plain and neutral and void of any bells and whistles. His past partner Dennis Pilsits purchased the residence in 2008 for $600,767, but then transferred it over to Burroughs in 2011, presumably as part of their split. Now, according to city records, the New York Times #1 bestselling author has unloaded the pad for a mere $637,000.
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December 28, 2015

Horror Author Peter Straub Sells His Historic UWS Townhouse for $7M

When he put his Upper West Side townhouse on the market for $8.2 million in April, 6sqft wrote: "With accolades like the Bram Stoker Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the International Horror Guild Award to his name, one might proceed with caution when entering the home of American author and poet Peter Straub." But as we discovered, the Queen Anne-style home is anything but scary. Rather, it's a historically preserved masterpiece with rich colors, tasteful furnishings, and plenty of character. And now, according to city records, it's sold for $7,050,000, after Peter and his wife Susan called the residence at 53 West 85th Street home for 30 years.
Take a look around

December 28, 2015

Big Price Drop at This Renovated Five-Story, Upper West Side Townhouse

The pricing over the years at 33 West 71st Street, located on the Upper West Side near Central Park West, is like reading the dramatic play, The Crazy Price Tags of New York. The historic townhouse sold in 1996 for $770,000, although back then it looks like the residence was chopped up into rental units. At some point, it was renovated back into a single family and the price tag started to skyrocket. It was listed in 2008 for $5.3 million, then in 2012 for $7.5 million. It sold in 2013 for $6.225 million and then was quickly listed again in 2014 for $18.5 million after the latest renovation. That price was lowered to $16.495 million this summer, and then quickly lowered again to $14.995 million. Got all that? Because now it's on the market with a price cut to $12.995 million, or you can rent it for $40,000 a month.
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Distinctive Homes

December 24, 2015

Bright Art Deco One-Bedroom in Gramercy Park Is for Sale by Owner, Asking $1.2 Million

It's true, this unseasonably warm weather isn't anything to complain about. But it's hard to look at a fireplace like the one pictured above and not start pining for a winter chill. The grand marble fireplace (which is also wood-burning...perfect for wintertime!) belongs to a one-bedroom apartment at 242 East 19th Street, an Art Deco co-op building in Gramercy Park. Constructed in 1926 and converted to a cooperative in 1984, the 15-story brick Italian Renaissance-style building holds 113 apartments. And since many of the surrounding buildings are low-rise, there's a great view from the building's roof deck. This apartment has the spacious rooms that you often find in prewar apartment buildings. It's a one-bedroom, although there's an office space without a window that could be used as a second bedroom. It's up for sale for $1.2 million by owner and photographer Julia Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri (known simply as Indrani).
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Distinctive Homes

December 23, 2015

Google Officially Signs Lease for 250,000 Square Feet at SuperPier

Just in time for construction to commence in the new year, things are swiftly moving ahead at Pier 57, aka the SuperPier. Last month, 6sqft uncovered a slew of new renderings of the the 450,000-square-foot, $350 million development, which is set to include 250,000 square feet of office space for a major technology company, a 170,000-square-foot food and retail market from 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. Google has long been assumed as the office tenant, and according to the Wall Street Journal, it's official, as the company has "signed a 15-year lease with development team Youngwoo & Associates LLC and RXR Realty." Bourdain's food hall is also expected to close soon.
More details this way

Real Estate Trends

Jonah Hill Spotted Eyeing Noho Condo Conversion The Schumacher

Current photo of the Schumacher by 6sqft

December 23, 2015

Jonah Hill Spotted Eyeing Noho Condo Conversion The Schumacher

Looks like Jonah Hill is battening down the hatches in hopes of finding a new Downtown pad. Three years ago, the actor bought a Soho loft at 27 Howard Street for $2.65 million, but put it on the market in August 2014 for a hefty $3.8 million. Back in March, he chopped the price to $3.5 million, and now a tipster tells us that he was seen taking photos outside The Schumacher, the newly unveiled Noho condo conversion at 36 Bleecker Street.
Check out Jonah's options

Celebrities

December 22, 2015

Cameron Diaz Unloads Her $4.25M West Village Pad in Less Than Two Months

The market may be in its winter slump, but that hasn't affected Cameron Diaz, whose West Village apartment has gone into contract after just 47 days, reports the Observer. The actress bought the two-bedroom home in 2008 for $2.95 million and then enlisted famed California-based designer Kelly Wearstler to outfit the pre-war condo with lots of gilding and luxe finishes. After purchasing a $9.5 million home in the Walker Tower two years ago and recently marrying musician Benji Madden, Diaz put the 12th Street residence on the market for $4.25 million last month.
Take a look around

December 21, 2015

Studio DB’s Tribeca Penthouse Strikes the Perfect Balance of Beauty and Functionality

By Rebecca Paul

Tribeca has been a NYC hot spot for well over a decade and is home to one of the city's most sought-after zip codes. Thanks to its large stock of lofts and historic architecture, the trendy 'hood is chock full of drool-worthy real estate, and this classic penthouse is no exception. The home was renovated in 2014 by the design team at Studio DB, who set out to make the space both beautiful and functional for the homeowners' growing family.
See the whole renovation

December 21, 2015

More Details Revealed for Bjarke Ingels’ High Line Towers

The latest project to come from starchitect-of-the-moment Bjarke Ingels is a set of towers that will rise along the High line at 76 11th Avenue. The renderings made waves a month ago when the angular, asymmetrical structures were revealed, and at this time it was also announced that the project would encompass a hotel, retail space, and around 300 luxury condos. But new plans filed by developer HFZ Capital Group, first uncovered by The Real Deal, show that the towers' four-story base will not include a hotel, but rather retail and office space, likely because "[commercial office space] vacancy rates in the [Meatpacking District] are notoriously low–around 2 percent–while prices are high."
Find out more

December 18, 2015

$13K Furnished Rental Is a Mix of All the Coolest Downtown Dwellings

By Michelle Cohen

The kitchen says Greenwich Village, the bedroom reads East Village, and the large living space is pure Soho loft. Located just south of Union Square and a few blocks from almost everything else in the universe, this good old fashioned "loft-style home" at 816 Broadway is the perfect mix of cool downtown dwellings. Unless you're seeking total peace and quiet (which rules out most of New York City) there isn't much downside–other than the $13K a month rent–to moving right in to this hip, well-stocked apartment with the world just outside your door. This furnished home is available for six months or less (January-September); weekly cleaning and utilities are included in the rent.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

Why Is the Face of This Clock in Central Park Rotating Backwards?

GIF created from a video by Scott Beale for Laughing Squid

December 18, 2015

Why Is the Face of This Clock in Central Park Rotating Backwards?

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary 19th century street clock, but when you notice its movement, things get a little weird. Located at Central Park's Doris C. Freedman Plaza, the clock's face rotates backwards, while the second hand appears to remain upright and stationary at all times (h/t Laughing Squid). What'll really throw you for a loop is that the clock is displaying the correct time, but because of how accustomed we are to the regular rotation, it's almost impossible to read. Titled "Against the Run," the clock was created by Alicja Kwade for the Public Art Fund. The Polish-born, Berlin-based artist wanted to challenge "the systems we invent to make sense of our lives," thereby forcing us to "see 'reality' from a new perspective."
More about the trippy clock

Events & Things To Do

December 18, 2015

Historic UWS Townhouse Filled With Bold Modern Furniture Hits the Rental Market

Original mahogany and oak paneling, inlaid parquet floors, carved mantels and a grand staircase. That's the lowdown at 315 West 78th Street, an impressive townhouse in the Riverside Drive/West End Avenue area of the Upper West Side. It's a huge house, with 4,000 square feet, 11 rooms, five bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms. It also has an impressive number of historic details intact. The home has been offered as a rental for a few years now, priced between $15,499 and $16,000 a month. It's back on the market asking $16,000 and is being offered furnished or not. It's also available short term, for a minimum of a six-month stay. This is a spot we definitely wouldn't mind hanging for six months.
See the interior

December 18, 2015

Get a Look at the South Village’s Upcoming Boutique Condo, 54 MacDougal Street

By Ondel Hylton

Excavation is nearly complete at 54 MacDougal Street, a ground-up, six-story condominium being developed by Valyrian Capital and Ajax Partners. Up until 2013, a humble three-story townhouse stood at the 2,500-square-foot lot for nearly 200 years, dating its creation to around 1820 when it was built on land formerly owned by Aaron Burr. The building lot is within a once working-class and immigrant neighborhood referred to by some as the South Village. Unlike large swaths of Greenwich Village to the north and cast iron sections of Soho to the west, the motley mixture of low-rise, pre-war buildings for years lacked landmark protections. Since 2006, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) has urged the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate a 35-block stretch of the neighborhood as an historic district, making it the city’s first tenement-based landmarked district. To date, two of the three phases of the district have been designated.
More details ahead

December 17, 2015

Colorful and Quirky Four-Bedroom With Pre-War Charm Asks $775K in Hamilton Heights

By Michelle Cohen

Some are saying that the next Harlem Renaissance is poised to happen in Hamilton Heights. And everyone's got their eye on Columbia University's planned 6.8 million-square-foot expansion into neighboring Manhattanville—it's expected to bring an influx of new residents. If you're looking to get in a little early—or you're just looking for a decent amount of living space in Manhattan that doesn't cost millions, this quirky four-bedroom co-op at 616 West 137th Street could be your lucky break.
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Distinctive Homes

December 16, 2015

Where I Work: Artist Nancy Pantirer shows us around her imaginative Tribeca loft

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we take a tour of painter and sculptor Nancy Pantirer’s imaginative Tribeca studio. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! When artist Nancy B. Pantirer opened up her studio for this year's Inside Tribeca Loft Tour, guests were swooning over everything from the high ceilings to the eclectic furniture, and of course, her incredible paintings, many of which are done in a large-scale format. But what really left an impression was Nancy's welcoming nature, evident as she chatted with almost everyone who passed through her space, telling them a bit about herself, her work, and the neighborhood. Eager to share this with our readers, 6sqft was lucky enough to get a private tour of Nancy's space, where she filled us in on her process, design choices, and how she feels Tribeca has changed since she arrived in 1995.
Take our tour right this way

SHoP Architects’ Controversial Seaport Tower Won’t Move Ahead

Rendering of the proposed 494-foot tower via SHoP Architects

December 16, 2015

SHoP Architects’ Controversial Seaport Tower Won’t Move Ahead

The long-plagued condo tower designed by SHoP Architects for the Fulton Fish Market site at the South Street Seaport has been nixed, according to statements made by the Howard Hughes Corporation at a community board meeting last night. DNAinfo, who first reported on the fate of the 494-foot tower, says that the developer will instead construct a "not tall" commercial building at what's now known as the New Market Building site.
More details

Real Estate Trends

December 16, 2015

130-Year-Old Limestone Townhouse on the Upper West Side Asks $12.95 Million

It's hard not to be impressed by this 130-year-old limestone townhouse, built at 64 West 87th Street on the Upper West Side. The Jacobean Revival townhouse was designed by the 1890s architect Clarence Fagan True as a set of three—but this one is "the star of the show," according to Daytonian in Manhattan. There's an intricately carved facade with a four-story bay and an imposing stone porch with balustraded railings. It sold in 1895 to Lucius Nathan Littauer, a close friend of Theodore Roosevelt with his own political ambitions, and is known as the L. N. Littauer Mansion. Today, the facade is intact and the interior has been completely renovated by Zivkovic Connolly Architects to add some modern upgrades to the old world charm. Despite the modern upgrades, there are plenty of historic goodies left, including a truly impressive plaster ceiling that sits atop a ceramic-faced fireplace and parquet floors.
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December 15, 2015

Designer’s Boldly Renovated West Village Pad Asks $1.15M

By Michelle Cohen

Let's start by saying we just might live in a paper grocery bag if it were on this street. Now that we've got that out of the way–this barely-big-enough one-bedroom co-op on a dreamy West Village block at 68 Barrow Street has more than location going for it. The double-exposure floor-through got a snappy makeover in 2013 by NYC designer/developers ASH–its owner is company founder Ari Heckman–and has been featured in New York Magazine among others. Bold design choices and a modern aesthetic set this co-op apart from the average Village aerie.
Check it out here

Distinctive Homes

December 15, 2015

Gramercy Duplex With Three Exposures and Lots of Light Asks $7,500/Month