Manhattan

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

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

By Ondel Hylton

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

In the 70s, there was Studio 54 and then there was the Halston House at 101 East 63rd Street. According to the Post, the mid-century modern gem where famous names like Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli and Bianca Jagger danced their decadent disco-glamour nights away has quietly been put on the market for $40 million.
Find out more here

November 11, 2015

Julia Roberts Makes a $5.35M Sale on Her ‘Beachy’ Greenwich Village Apartment

It didn't take much time for Julia Roberts to unload her apartment at 45 West 10th Street. According to the Observer, Ms. Roberts has just closed a $5.35 million sale on her Greenwich Village pad, pulling in more than $850K over her original $4.5 million ask. The apartment, which was being described as “easy breezy” and “Hamptons/California-style beachy” when it was listed in July, went to investment exec Nicolas de Croisset who recently tied the knot in a lavish beachside wedding in Greece with Vogue's Phoebe de Croisset. Not a bad starter home for newlyweds...
Take a tour of ROberts' former digs

November 11, 2015

Could This 19-Story Tower Replace Two Beloved Kips Bay Businesses?

By Ondel Hylton

The busy architects over at Issac & Stern posted on their website an image of a yet-to-be-built 19-story tower at 378-380 Third Avenue in Kips Bay. Their page indicates the building will be residential and commercial and will encompass approximately 61,000 square feet of floor area. The development would replace two existing five-story walk-ups that each contain well-regarded drinking and eating establishments. The ground floor of 378 Third Avenue is occupied by the east side branch of the highly rated Italian restaurant Coppola’s Trattoria, and next door at 380 Third Avenue, the ground floor is occupied by the bar Tavern on Third, which hails itself as one of the best Chicago Bears bar in New York City.
More details ahead

November 10, 2015

Amy Schumer’s Lovely Upper West Side Co-op Lists for $2M

If you're a fan of comedy's It girl, instead of just watching "Inside Amy Schumer," you can actually go inside Amy Schumer's home, a charming Upper West Side co-op that has just hit the market for $2,075,000, according to the Post. The floor-through residence occupies the top story of a historic townhouse on West 80th Street, just steps away from the Museum of Natural History. In addition to its cozy traditional decor, it offers two wood-burning fireplaces, several skylights, and a beautiful private roof terrace.
Go inside Schumer's pad here

November 10, 2015

Developers Chop 432 Park’s Full-Floor Apartments Into Smaller, Cheaper Units

Is the city's tallest residential tower seeing a slowdown in sales? Crain's reports that 432 Park developers CIM and Harry Macklowe have begun splitting full-floor apartments at the 1,396-foot-tall tower into two with the hopes of attracting smaller ticket buyers who can't swing $80 million for a posh pad—but wouldn't be opposed to shelling out $40 million. The paper adds that the move "may signal a slowdown in sales for $50 million-plus apartments," particularly as the market gets inundated with ultra-luxe developments. "There is some concern that there aren't enough buyers who can afford apartments priced in the tens of millions of dollars—an increasingly common figure for the latest crop of ultra-luxury condos."
find out more here

Interview: Ansonia Insider Michel Madie Shares Stories of the Iconic NYC Building

Photo of the Ansonia by Jeffrey Zeldman

November 10, 2015

Interview: Ansonia Insider Michel Madie Shares Stories of the Iconic NYC Building

By 6sqft

Today, the Upper West Side's Ansonia is considered one of the city's most iconic and prestigious addresses. With former residents ranging from Sergei Rachmaninoff, Gustav Mahler, Babe Ruth and more recently Natalie Portman, its history reaches far back. And along its more than century-old ride, it's no surprise that it has also attracted plenty of strange activity, including playing host to what probably was the city's first rooftop farm in 1904 and a debaucherous sex club known as Plato's Retreat. While there's lots of ground to cover when looking back on this 111-year-old building, we decided to tap an insider for his take on this storied structure. Michel Madie of Michel Madie Real Estate Services has over the years become an unofficial historian of sorts to the Ansonia. Madie moved from France to New York in 1984 and almost immediately fell in love with the French-inspired building. However, being near-penniless at the time, the thought of ever taking up space in such a grand building seemed like just a dream. But as he found success in the real estate business, he focused his attention on the Ansonia. He eventually purchased an apartment and then spent decades tending to the architecture, restoring its original layouts and recreating original finishes and fixtures in the building's many units whenever the opportunity would arise. During this time, Madie also learned a thing or two about the residence, stories which he shares with 6sqft ahead.
stories from michel this way

November 10, 2015

Pretty West Village Duplex Wants a Pretty Penny for Design, Location and a Private Roof Deck

This one-bedroom, 872-square-foot duplex condominium at 387 Bleecker Street couldn’t possibly be cuter, or in a better location. Tucked above trendy luxury handbag shop Mulberry in a 1817 townhouse, on a postcard-ready historic West Village street, it radiates designer charm everywhere from its sleek, white kitchen to its private roof terrace. So if this picture-perfect apartment is perfect enough for you, and you’re in possession of $3.15 million, this could be your new home.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

November 9, 2015

Furnished Nolita Loft in Moby’s Former Building Will Cost You $12,500 a Month

By Emily Nonko

262 Mott Street is a Nolita condo building that was formerly an 1850s armory. More recently, the building has gained notoriety for its creative loft spaces, with an apartment featuring moveable bookshelf walls and another with translucent partitions. Moby once owned one such space in the building, which he bought in 1996 for $215,750 and then sold for around $2 million last year. This apartment, a two bedroom, feels much more like a loft than Moby's modern pad, with wood beams galore and a nice open "great room." It's being offered as a six-month furnished rental for the not-so-low rent of $12,500 a month. Nobody said living in such a famously creative building–with some awesome furniture to boot–would come cheap.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

November 9, 2015

Seven Floors of One57 Hit the Market for $250 Million

It may not be the penultimate $100 million penthouse, but an investor with enough dough can still make headlines buying into the city's most expensive condo tower. According to the Journal, Extell is selling a block of 38 rentals in its blockbuster One57 for $250 million. The paper writes that unloading the units will bring the developer $3,800 a square foot, or an average of more than $6.5 million per apartment—more than double the $1,800 average of Manhattan condos sold during the third quarter.
FInd out more

November 9, 2015

‘Scrubs’ and ‘Clueless’ Star Donald Faison Sells $2.5M Harlem Brownstone

Depending upon your age, you may know actor Donald Faison best for his role as Murray on "Clueless" or as Dr. Chris Turk on "Scrubs." But long before he became a household face, Faison grew up right here in Harlem, with his parents active in the National Black Theatre in Harlem. In 2010, he returned to his roots and bought a historic townhouse at 206 West 137th Street for $1.4 million, but The Real Deal reports that he's now sold the six-bedroom home, last listed for $2.5 million.
Take a look around

November 6, 2015

Yet Another Burial Vault Uncovered Near Washington Square Park, Comes Filled With Coffins

Employees of the Department of Design and Construction are definitely being kept on their toes this week. After uncovering a hidden vault containing the skeletal remains of at least a dozen people believed to be approximately 200 years old, workers have uncovered a second burial vault, this one filled with wood coffins. Workers tasked with upgrading 19th-century water mains under the park stumbled upon the latest burial ground Wednesday night, a day after their first finding at the corner of Waverly Place and Washington Square Park East.
find out more here

History

November 6, 2015

Construction Update: FXFowle’s Circle-Hugging Harlem Condominium Rises Over Central Park

By Heather Cooper Vivares

Artimus Construction's upcoming Harlem condo development Circa Central Park is rapidly rising skyward. After lengthy site remediation work due to a pre-existing BP gas station, the structure is finally above ground and already beginning to frame its sixth floor. Ultimately, the building will stand 11 stories/140 feet high and will contain some 126,362 square feet of total floor area. Artimus picked up the 13,500-square-foot site at 2040 Frederick Douglass Boulevard (285 West 110th Street) for $25 million in late 2013 after being selected through a bidding process conducted by the city's Economic Development Corporation. As part of the deal, Artimus must build space for the local Millennium Dance Company, which will occupy 8,000 square feet of the ground floor, and 20 percent of the building's 51 apartments must be designated as affordable housing.
More details ahead

November 6, 2015

Listings Launch for Nomad’s 212 Fifth Avenue Condo Conversion

Though sales began a few weeks ago, listings are up for 212 Fifth Avenue, the highly-anticipated in-progress Nomad condo conversion by NYC-based firm Helpern consisting of 48 two-, three- and four-bedroom residences in a landmarked 1912 neo-Gothic building at the northwest corner of Madison Square Park. Listings with Town Residential–16 currently–range from 5C, a $3.9 million fifth-floor two-bedroom home, to $16.1 million for one of the building's 4,000-square-foot+ four-bedroom residences on the 15th floor. Floors 3-13 of the 24-story building offer three units per floor while floors 14-19 offer two; two immense triplex penthouses with Empire State Building and city skyline views are still to come. All homes boast multi-zoned heat and air, vented kitchens and bathrooms and smart home technology. Interior finishes were created by renowned designers Pembrooke & Ives and include eight-foot doors, book-matched marble, solid oak floors and custom cabinetry.
Floor plans and renderings this way

November 5, 2015

Hidden Burial Vault and the Skeletal Remains of 12 Found Under Washington Square Park

By Rebecca Paul

It's pretty well known that Washington Square Park started out as a potters field, a burial ground for the poor, and later as a resting place for those who died from yellow fever. But this has always been something out of the history books. Until now. Recently, a group of city workers in the process of upgrading water mains under the park came upon a hidden vault containing the skeletal remains of at least a dozen people believed to be approximately 200 years old. According to officials from the Department of Design and Construction, the vault is eight feet deep, 15 feet wide, and 20 feet long. While the exact details are unknown right now, a team of anthropologists and and archaeologists will be requested to evaluate and determine the age of both the remains and the vault.
Find out more

History

November 5, 2015

Renderings Revealed for Jeanne Gang’s $325M Museum of Natural History Expansion

By Dana Schulz

One of the many things that makes the American Museum of Natural History so fascinating is its combination of architecture–very different styles from varying time periods that together make up 25 separate structures. The original Victorian Gothic building was erected in 1877, followed and eclipsed quickly by the southern neo-Romanesque stretch. Then, in 1936, the grand Beaux-Arts entrance was added, and in 2000 the famous glass box known as the Rose Center for Earth and Space was built. Now, the museum is growing yet again, reports the Times, this time with a $325 million expansion courtesy of Studio Gang. In addition to its hefty price tag and undulating form, the addition is significant for the fact that it will be the first female-led project associated with the museum structure, as the firm is headed up by starchitect Jeanne Gang. The Times calls the concept for the new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation "both cautious and audacious," noting that it "consumes less coveted park space than expected, while introducing a contemporary aesthetic that evokes Frank Gehry’s museum in Bilbao, Spain, in its undulating exterior and Turkey’s underground city of Cappadocia in its cavelike interior." The new 218,00-square-foot Center will help solve circulation issues (it will create more than 30 access points across ten buildings) and will be an integrated space for museum activities and research.
More renderings and details ahead

Architecture And Design

November 5, 2015

Rent This Bright and Lovely Duplex Loft in an Historic East Village Artists’ Haven

Distinctive Homes

November 4, 2015

‘Veronica Mars’ Actor Lists Village Loft Featuring Cast Iron Columns and Double Height Ceilings

By Emily Nonko

Cast iron is prevalent throughout 67 East 11th Street, a Greenwich Village building built in 1868 and converted to a co-op in 1973. Back in the late 19th century, it was home to the James McCreery Dry Goods Store; the facade has beautiful cast iron details like Corinthian columns as well as big arched windows, and this apartment owned by actor Chris Lowell of "Veronica Mars" fame is now on the market for $1.195 million. The unit is a two bedroom, with the master bedroom located in a sleeping loft above the living room. The lofted space allows for 16-foot ceilings and incredible oversized windows.
Take a tour

November 4, 2015

Petite Upper East Side Apartment Boasts Uptown Class With Downtown Style

By Rebecca Paul

The Upper East Side is often associated with the traditional design aesthetic of old New York. However, the interior design for this Upper East Side apartment, from The New Design Project, is a modern and welcomed departure from the norm. This young studio brings a fresh perspective and out-of-the-box approach to their work, and we love what they've come up with. From the unconventional wall art to the up-cycled bar stools and coffee table, this home is packed full of smart design that is both hip and elegant.
See it all

November 4, 2015

220 Central Park South Costs $5,000 Per Foot to Build, Now 50 Percent Sold

By Dana Schulz

Robert A.M. Stern's 220 Central Park South has been keeping us on our toes, from its $1.3 billion construction price tag to its $200+ million penthouse to its lightning fast sales (the building was one-third sold after just six weeks, and it's now more than 50 percent sold even though listings for the 118 units have yet to go public). The latest head-spinner comes courtesy of The Real Deal, who reports that developer Vornado is spending $5,000 per square foot to build the Billionaires' Row blockbuster. The actual land comes out to $1,500 per foot, with the remaining $3,500 per foot going to "hard, soft and financial costs." The total sellout is close to $3 billion, and of the 59+ units that are in contract, 14 were pricier than $50 million.
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Uncategorized

November 3, 2015

Cosmopolitan Editor Helen Gurley Brown’s Pink Penthouse Lists for $20M

Over the summer, the Times asked the question, "Who owns Helen Gurley Brown's legacy?" The 32-year editor of Cosmopolitan passed away in 2012, leaving behind her apartment in the legendary Beresford, one of only three that has space in the building's iconic turrets. The co-op board, of course, wanted the valuable Central Park West residence listed, but those involved with her will didn't oblige. The board must've won the fight, though, because Curbed reports that the penthouse apartment has hit the market for $20 million (significantly less than the $50 million+ some were speculating). And just as you'd expect from the author of "Sex and the Single Girl," the four-level spread is full of leopard, flowers, and pink, pink, and more pink.
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November 3, 2015

The World’s Most Expensive Dollhouse Will Be On Show at Columbus Circle This Month

If you think Manhattan condos are pricey, feast your eyes on the world's most expensive dollhouse! Valued at $8.5 million, The Astolat Dollhouse Castle is a 29-room micro-mansion that's been is filled to the brim with 10,000 painstakingly crafted miniatures that include "elaborate furniture, oil paintings, mirrors, fireplaces, gold miniature jewelry, rare-mini books more than 100 years old, fine rugs, fabrics, and pieces made of and silver and gold." Sound too absurd to be true? Well, you can check out this pricey and petite pad up close and personal starting this month. The Shops of Columbus Circle at Time Warner Center (TWC) will be showing the dollhouse for the first time ever since it was built in the 1980s.
Find out more here

November 3, 2015

This Little East Village Co-op Is Big on Style and Custom Details

This charming Bowery bolthole at 32 East 2nd Street may not be huge, but it has everything you need for a great downtown life (unless you need a queen-sized bed in your actual bedroom). The one-bedroom co-op has benefitted from a tasteful, chic and well-considered custom renovation, resulting in finishes that are both creative and convenient, and the building is in a perfect location to enjoy both the friendly East Village vibe and the hip, downtown Manhattan location near just about everything you'd want to see, do, or buy.
Take a peek inside

Distinctive Homes

November 3, 2015

Buy Cameron Diaz’s Glam West Village Apartment for $4.25M