Manhattan

If you're a reader, prepare to fall in love. This West Village condo apartment at 302 West 12th Street is essentially one big book shelf, and beautifully designed at that. It's also located in a pre-war apartment building right in the heart of the West Village and just a short walk away from the Hudson River Greenway, the Chelsea art galleries and the Meatpacking District. For bookshelves galore and such a charming location: $2.4 million.
Check it out

September 15, 2015

Is Bjarke Ingels Redesigning the New York Public Library Flagship?

By Diane Pham

Bjarke Ingels is most certainly on his way to New York architectural greatness, and scattered on the path behind him are the remains of Norman Foster's abandoned designs. Curbed has caught wind that the baby-faced starchitect is currently being considered for the redesign of the New York Public Library's landmarked Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street. Yesterday afternoon, Theodore Grunewald, Vice President of the Committee to Save the New York Public Library, tweeted that both Bjarke Ingels and Ennead Architects were among the eight finalists being considered for the project—a list that also includes Studio Gang Architects and Robert A.M. Stern Architects.
Find out more here

Architecture And Design

September 15, 2015

There’s a Secret Bathhouse Modeled After Ancient Greco-Roman and Ottoman Traditions in Tribeca

By Rebecca Paul

We don't always have enough free time to escape NYC as often as we'd like (or need). However, when we find ourselves desperate for some immediate R and R there are a few gems of tranquility hidden inside the walls of this concrete jungle. One breathtaking example is AIRE's Ancient Bath House located right in Tribeca behind a very unassuming cast iron storefront (we didn't know it existed either!). This sexy newcomer offers guests access to a suite of amenities including pools of hot, warm, cold and ice water; jet and salt baths; and a steamy hammam.
Have a look inside the incredible space ahead

September 15, 2015

Gorgeous Roof Garden Atop This $3M Flatiron Loft Has an Outdoor Cinema and Cinematic Views

As much as we love lofts, they're sometimes better in theory than reality; they're either too slick and highly customized as someone's dream palace, or they're a little too raw and lack privacy and separation of space. And their rooftops, while huge, are often gritty urban spaces. In the penthouse loft at 22 East 18th Street asking $2.995 million, you can have your cake in a custom kitchen worthy of a newly-minted luxury apartment and eat it in a verdant enchanted roof garden high above the Flatiron district. This one- (convertible to two-) bedroom co-op has authentic 1900 cast-iron loft bones, details and all, state-of-the-art interiors and mechanical systems (central air and sound and a private elevator to name just a few), plus tons of light and, perhaps best of all, a magical common roof garden with self-irrigated plantings, benches and a custom outdoor cinema–and movie-worthy views of the city.
Have a look around, this way...

Distinctive Homes

September 14, 2015

Historic Soho Townhouse With Massive Rec Room and Skylights Galore Asks $16.3M

We'd figure that a large and lovely townhouse on a prime Soho block would have a hefty price tag just by virtue of its location; this four-story, 20-foot-wide-by-100-foot-deep home is no exception. But for your $16.3 million, you're getting an 1832 house that, after a three-year gut renovation, achieves a rare level of near-perfection. The couple who purchased the house at at 27 Vandam Street from revered choreographer Paul Taylor in 2009 for a (relatively) mere 3.3 million reconfigured what was at the time four apartments into one grand single-family residence while retaining its historic character. The result: Every detail–and there are many–in this home is state-of-the-art and every inch has been custom-designed for maximum comfort, convenience and peerless good looks.
Tour the interior of this beautiful house

September 14, 2015

VIDEO: Take a Sweeping Drone Tour of Bjarke Ingels’ West Side Pyramid

By Diane Pham

Few NYC projects are as architecturally exciting as the massive tetrahedron on the rise along West 57th Street. The design, which is the creation of starchitect-of-the-moment Bjarke Ingels, will soar 460-feet from its site (fun fact: the Great Pyramid of Giza stands 455 feet tall) and is slated for completion later this year. While the final form can already be appreciated by passersby from street level at this point—the architect has by now led camera crews through what he calls the "courtscraper" ("the lovechild of a courtyard building and a skyscraper," to be exact)—here's a spectacular, and quite poetic we might add, new video produced by Dark Horse that gives us expansive ariel views of the whole thing through the eye of a drone.
watch the drone tour here

September 14, 2015

Carriage House Apartment in Chelsea With Lush Landscaped Roof Wants $1.3 Million

We know every broker uses the word "charming" to describe their listing, but this co-op apartment at 337 West 20th Street, in Chelsea, really is. It is located in the Muffin House, a building where the Thomas family originally baked English muffins in the late 1800s. Now it's a co-op, located on a lovely and quiet residential block, that has eleven units, three of which are in the carriage house. The co-op also boasts an interior cobblestone courtyard, lined with hydrangeas, that leads back to this tucked-away carriage house apartment. Are you charmed yet?
See more

September 11, 2015

You Can Rent Lady Gaga’s Former LES Apartment for $2,000

Lady Gaga's old Lower East Side apartment is on the market once again. This time around, the rent-stabilized pad at 176 Stanton Street is going for a very reasonable $2,000 a month. In addition to its obvious star cachet, the unit offers a sizable bedroom with two windows, a kitchenette with new appliances, french doors, a bathroom with a full tub (ooh la la), and the place has even got a skylight. Okay, so it's not quite as glam as the pop star, but we've definitely seen worse for this price.
See more inside here

New Renderings of Vinoly’s 125 Greenwich Street, Downtown’s Future Tallest Residential Skyscraper

Rendering by ArX Solutions

September 11, 2015

New Renderings of Vinoly’s 125 Greenwich Street, Downtown’s Future Tallest Residential Skyscraper

By Ondel Hylton

On the 14th anniversary of the day that caused the city to question our skyward building ambitions, we give you a new look at lower Manhattan's future tallest apartment tower, 125 Greenwich Street. Not only has the city regained its confidence in building high again, but it has now been feverishly erecting 1,000-plus-foot supertall towers at a faster rate than nearly any other global metropolis. This particular residential spire will soar 77 stories and roughly 1,100 feet high, some 200 feet taller than downtown's next tallest ground-up residential buildings, 30 Park Place (937 feet) and New York by Gehry (870 feet).
Find out more here

September 11, 2015

Behold the City Skyline From a Room of Curved Glass Atop This $12.5M Chelsea Penthouse

We're fairly certain that if you look in the dictionary under "cool modern Chelsea penthouse," there's a picture of this apartment–because this duplex co-op at 143 West 20th Street pretty much nails the concept. Though there are certainly pricier pads, at over $12M, this four-bedroom stunner would certainly be someone's idea of a trophy–and it lives up to the job. Beginning on the 12th floor of an historic 1910 loft building at the classic Manhattan neighborhood's heart, the apartment's design treads the line between high-end generic contemporary and an attempt at hat-tipping the modernism of earlier decades via sleek minimal luxe. The listing says, "...one needs to walk through the space to experience it fully." But the pictures definitely get our attention with what looks a lot like a modern art museum that would be fun to live in.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

September 11, 2015

Lavish Lenox Hill Pad of Late Socialite and Philanthropist Carroll Petrie Lists for $30M

The lavish pad of the late socialite and philanthropist Carroll Petrie at big-name favorite 834 Fifth Avenue has just hit the market, and it's asking a very impressive $30 million. The big question is, where will the sale money go when the time comes? Carroll, who was married to the late retailing giant Milton Petrie, passed away in February, but drama quickly started brewing over her $100 million will. She left $12.5 million to her daughter Andrea Portago, whom she had with her former late husband, Spanish race car driver Alfonso de Portago, but with an odd stipulation based on their contentious relationship. The bulk of her estate was left to her Carroll Petrie Foundation, which supports the Dog Rescue Project of the ASPCA. But this likely isn't sitting well with Andrea, who already retained estates and trust attorney Harvey E. Corn (he also worked on the cases of Brooke Astor and Huguette Clark). Whatever the legal outcome, the 11-room home will certainly make its new owner feel like NYC royalty.
Take a look around the impressive apartment

September 11, 2015

Historic Harlem Townhouse, Restored to Victorian Standards, Asks $2.795 Million

Here's a Harlem townhouse that's been in the news before. Its former owner, Hugh Crean, is a professional preservationist and a MET curator that painstakingly restored the house "to Victorian specifications," according to Curbed. While under his ownership, it was elaborately designed and decorated, and eventually hit the market in 2009 for $1.595 million. It sold the next year for $1.55 million and now is back on the market again. Of course, in today's market, you should expect the price to have skyrocketed -- it's now asking $2.795 million. The current owners don't have it decked out like it used to be, but the house still retains its impressive interior details.
Keep looking

Times Square Characters and Performers May Get Confined to Designated ‘Activity Areas’

Map courtesy of the Times Square Alliance

September 11, 2015

Times Square Characters and Performers May Get Confined to Designated ‘Activity Areas’

By Dana Schulz

It looks like Mayor de Blasio's wish of coralling the costumed characters and topless performers in Times Square may be coming true. The Daily News reports that the Times Square Alliance has endorsed the "Times Square Commons" plan, which Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmen Daniel Garodnick and Corey Johnson publicized in an op-ed in the paper yesterday. The proposal would rezone Times Square's pedestrian plaza so that instead of being mapped as a street it would become a special district called Times Square Commons. This area would be divided into three zones: general civic zones, which would feature tables and chairs and arts events; pedestrian traffic flow zones, areas to walk with no physical obstructions; and the aforementioned designated activity zones, small slivers of space that "would allow any activity involving the immediate exchange of money for goods, services or entertainment."
More this way

Policy

You Can Call One of Manhattan’s Last Skybridges Home

Image via vivnsect’s flickr

September 10, 2015

You Can Call One of Manhattan’s Last Skybridges Home

By Dana Schulz

We've seen our fair share of quirky listings before, but a personal skybridge included with an apartment is a first. Gothamist reports that, in a very serendipitous twist of fate, the two Tribeca residences (one a townhouse, one an apartment) on either side of the Staple Street skybridge are currently for sale. And according to the Post, the whole package will cost you $30 million. In a recent newsletter, Town Real Estate noted the unusual offering: "By way of total coincidence, 9 Jay Street and 67 Hudson #3B are being offered for sale, off market, by one of those guys on 'Million Dollar Listing.' This will include the bridge connecting 9 Jay to the third floor apartment across Staple Street. Yes—the bridge will be all yours. The interiors are extremely bare, and open, compared to the historical exteriors. The price is available by request only."
More on the historic skybridge

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week, 9/10-9/16

In a city where hundreds of interesting happenings occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Art Nerd‘s philosophy is a combination of observation, participation, education and of course a party to create the ultimate well-rounded week. Jump ahead for Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer’s top picks for 6sqft readers!

September 10, 2015

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week, 9/10-9/16

By Lori Zimmer

No matter what age you are, for everyone, September has that overwhelming feeling of "Back to School." Educate yourself (while supporting female artists) and listen to Grimanesa Amorós speak about her work at El Museo del Barrio, or bone up on your French with the last free French film screening of the season at Columbia. Art galleries are back in full swing, and I'm personally looking forward to Tahiti Pehrson's epic paper cuts at Joseph Gross, Elias Sime's remixing of elements from Ethiopia at James Cohan Gallery and the heart-wrenching portraits investigating prostitution around the globe by Yapci Ramos at Catinca Tabacaru. Visitors are welcome to taste the boom of the Williamsburg/Greenpoint neighborhood—literally, and you can also relive the New York classic "The Warriors" for a grandiose reunion and day-long celebration at Coney Island. Finish the week with No Longer Empty's contribution to the newly redeveloped South Street Seaport with an installation about the converging of waters.
All the best events to check out here

September 10, 2015

Jon Bon Jovi Scoops Up a 10-Room Village Condo for $12.9M

By Ondel Hylton and Heather Cooper Vivares

It looks like Jon Bon Jovi has no plans on leaving New York behind. After finally unloading his $34 million Soho penthouse earlier this year, according to the Observer, the rocker has just paid $12.88 million for a sprawling ten-room apartment at the brand new 150 Charles Street in the West Village. There are no photos of the […]

September 10, 2015

Construction Update: Related Companies’ Rental Tower at Hudson Yards’ Front Door Begins to Rise

Related Companies' new mixed-use rental tower at the front door of Hudson Yards is forging ahead. Located at 530 West 30th Street, just south of the towering Coach Tower (10 Hudson Yards) and west of the recently finished Abington House (also developed by Related), the 28-story building will bring 174 new rental homes to the rapidly evolving neighborhood. 530 West 30th shares its lot with 529 West 29th Street, an all-affordable, 126-unit building Related opened last year with apartments set aside for artists, seniors, and local residents of Community District 4.
More details

September 10, 2015

Soccer Star Frank Lampard Checks Out a $52,000/Month Pad at 15 Central Park West

It certainly is the season for international soccer stars to get in on the NYC real estate game. First, hunky player Cristiano Ronaldo bought an $18.5 million loft at Trump Tower shortly after it was rumored that he'd be moving from Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team to the MLS (the United States soccer league). Then just ten days later, Italian player Andrea Pirlo scoped out a $29,995/month penthouse at 205 East 59th Street, as he had recently joined the New York City Football Club. And now, the Post reports that English footballer Frank Lampard was seen checking out a $52,000/month pad at 15 Central Park West. Lampard, often considered one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, is the all-time leading goalscorer for Chelsea. As of this year, he signed a two-year contract with the New York City Football Club, so it makes perfect sense why he's now house hunting. He reportedly looked at the 2,761-square-foot apartment with his fiancée, Northern Irish broadcaster Christine Bleakley.
Take a look around the loft

September 10, 2015

Traditional Japanese Design Defines This $2.7M West Side Maisonette With Two Tea Rooms

In the world of modern interiors, traditional Japanese design concepts have led to some very innovative interpretations that also meet residents' needs such as providing a peaceful retreat, keeping the flow of life organized, or, as in this case, offering flexibility of space and rooms that serve multiple functions. This duplex maisonette, however, would be counted among the more traditional end of the spectrum in its execution. Though having a nine-room apartment certainly helps when it comes to versatility, this particular space achieves its goals and more. The home's $2.7 million ask seems reasonable for this large duplex loft at 419 West 55th Street in increasingly popular West Midtown; though monthly maintenance fees seem a bit high for a condo at $4,333 (with no mention of taxes) when compared to the price, those generally reflect unit size, and–though no square footage is listed–there's no denying that attribute. So, pros and cons aside, let's take a look at this carefully-crafted testament to the owners’ vision of creating a loft space with a Japanese aesthetic.
Take the tour this way, shoes off, please

September 9, 2015

Live in Kate Moss and Johnny Depp’s Former ’90s Love Nest for $14.9 Million

Here's a blast from the past that's sure to get you nostalgic for the '90s. A 6sqft tipster has pointed out that the beautiful NYC townhouse that equally beautiful Johnny Depp and Kate Moss rented in when they were engaged 20-plus years ago is now on the market. Priced at $14.9 million, the brick-clad stunner at 112 Waverly Palace is an historic 1820s structure spanning five levels with four income-producing units that include a duplex penthouse, a 925-square-foot one-bedroom, a garden duplex, and, of course, the spectacular carriage house that Moss and Depp canoodled in during the mid-90's. Let's have a look inside, shall we?
Go inside here

REVEALED: First Look at 1399 Park Avenue, 23-Story Tower Coming to East Harlem

Google Streetview of buildings that previously stood at the site (L); Rendering of the new building via Goldstein Hill & West Architects (R)

September 9, 2015

REVEALED: First Look at 1399 Park Avenue, 23-Story Tower Coming to East Harlem

By Ondel Hylton

Here's our first look at Heritage Real Estate Partners' 23-story, 108-unit residential building underway at 1399 Park Avenue in East Harlem. Designed by Goldstein Hill & West Architects (GHWA), the 253-foot tall, glass and cast-stone tower is expressed as a stack of variably-sized, staggered volumes creating numerous terraces that face north towards the East River and west towards Central Park. Fittingly, Heritage has filed permits under the alias "Heritage on the Park LLC," possibly hinting at the official name for the tower.
More details ahead

September 9, 2015

Lauren McGrath’s Upper East Side Pied-a-Terre Is an Elegant Mix of Traditional and Contemporary

By Rebecca Paul

Keeping business in the family is extremely common, but it's not everyday that you meet a mother-daughter interior design team with taste this impeccable. Lauren McGrath and her mother Suzanne, who make up the aptly titled firm McGrath II, are already known for their stunning townhouses, country homes and pied-a-terres, so when it came time to revamp her own Upper East Side apartment, Lauren led the way without hesitation.
READ MORE

September 9, 2015

No Walls in Sight at the Ultimate Loft, Asking $1.3 Million in Tribeca

What more could you ask from a loft apartment? A big space, tall ceilings, exposed brick, quirky details and no full walls. It's all here at 10 Leonard Street in Tribeca, a co-op apartment that is now on the market for $1.345 million. Although you don't have any separating walls, the apartment is large enough to create distinct spaces–as the listing puts it, "With great bones and a flexible layout, the possibilities abound for your creative vision." While a renovator could build out separate rooms here, this is the type of apartment where you've just got to embrace the loft living.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

September 9, 2015

Channel the Spirits of Tesla, Carnegie and Edison in the Former Engineers’ Club HQ for $14K/Month

Like so many places in this fascinating city, this listing comes with some interesting history: Known today as Bryant Park Place, the primarily residential co-op building at 32 West 40th Street was once the clubhouse of the Engineers' Club. Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1907, members included–in addition to Carnegie himself–Thomas Edison, President Herbert Hoover, H.H. Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla, who was honored here upon receiving the Edison Medal in 1917 and enjoyed feeding the pigeons in the park across the street. Units 1A and 1K currently comprise a commercial listing–with residential possibilities if you're willing to do your homework. The property–two connected co-op units–is for sale for $3.1 million, and also for rent at $14K a month (in the latter case it would make a pretty impressive HQ for that hot new startup–and since there's a small kitchen, those all-nighters won't be a problem). Buyers may need to unwind some red tape, but according to the listing, residential conversion is possible along with some serious subsequent upside.
Find out more

September 8, 2015

Hedge Fund Tycoon May Be the Buyer of $200M Penthouse at 220 Central Park South

By Dana Schulz

We first got wind of the potentially record-setting penthouse listing at 220 Central Park South back in March, when it was reported that the unit could sell for between $150 and $175 million. In June, sources said that a Qatari billionaire was looking to combine multiple apartments in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building to create a $250 million mega-penthouse. Then last month, the Post speculated that another high-profile buyer was Ken Griffin, the billionaire hedge fun tycoon who is currently in the midst of a messy divorce from wife Anne Dias-Griffin (she's asking for $1 million a month in child support). Now the paper reveals that it's Griffin who's looking to snatch up the $200 million+ penthouse in what's being called the "billionaire's bunker."
More details this way

Real Estate Trends

September 8, 2015

Handcrafted Organic Materials Meet Seamless Smart Home Tech in This $5.4M Village Loft