Manhattan

The former home of indie film star and "Big Love" actress Chloë Sevigny is back on the market. Sevigny sold the garden-level abode located at 119 East 10th Street back in 2013 for $1.76 million to tech power couple Halle Tecco and Jeffrey Hammerbacher. The couple then turned around and gave the 1,250-square-foot pad a nine-month overhaul that was featured in Apartment Therapy. Now, it's back on the market, sporting a modern new look, a slightly modified floor plan, and a $2.2 million price tag.
More pics inside

June 12, 2015

Opponents of the Pier 55 Floating Park Slap Barry Diller with a Lawsuit

As with any major project ready to make waves in NYC, we were just counting the days until Barry Diller's plan for a futuristic floating park would run into legal trouble. Today, the Times reports that opponents of the $130 million project have joined together to sue Diller and The Hudson River Park Trust (who approved the plans to build) in order to stop construction. The civic group, known as City Club of New York, are saying that the parties have failed to throughly evaluate the environmental impact of the park, and they want Pier 55 to undergo a new environmental review while also obtaining approval from the State Legislature.
More on the lawsuit here

Architecture And Design

June 12, 2015

Former Tribeca Mansion Now Holds Spectacular Triplex Penthouse Asking $85,000 a Month

By Emily Nonko

144 Duane Street in Tribeca has an interesting history behind it. The 150-year-old limestone building was originally used as a shoe factory and was later transformed into an insane single-family mansion. The 23,000-square-foot home was outfitted with a basketball court in the basement, a landscaped roof deck, and a crazy glass staircase. It hit the market in 2011, asking $45 million, and when a buyer never turned up it hit the rental market, asking $100,000 a month. It eventually sold in 2013 for $43 million, according to public records. The owner then converted the mansion into four rental apartments asking between $12,500 and $85,000 a month. Are you keeping track? This unit, a triplex penthouse, is the one asking $85,000, and it's just as insane as you'd expect it to be, with a massive 10,829-square-foot footprint, five bedrooms, and a crystal-like glass topper.
Take a look inside

Distinctive Homes

June 11, 2015

98 Percent of Manhattan Rentals Are Occupied, Rents Keep Rising Everywhere

Looking to change apartments? Well apparently so is everyone else in the city as they get slammed with rent hikes. According to Douglas Elliman's latest rental report prepared by real estate guru Jonathan Miller, there was an 85.1 percent increase in new leases signed last month with units lingering on the market an average of only 41 days before being scooped up by a new tenant. Landlord concessions have also pretty much disappeared, they report, and the city's vacancy was a mere 1.65 percent in May. The takeaway: Even in the face of insane, and ever-rising rents—we're now talking a median $3,380 in the city (up for the 15th consecutive month)—Manhattan's is still full of crazy people (including us) willing to pour their paychecks into one-bedroom apartments with no views. Brooklyn, of course, was no better, with median rents also climbing to $2,961.
more here

Real Estate Trends

Two World Trade Center rendering via Silverstein Properties

June 11, 2015

Bjarke Ingels Talks About His Design for 2 World Trade Center

If you were still itching for more after Tuesday's reveal of Bjarke Ingels' design for Two World Trade Center, you're in luck. The starchitect himself chatted with NY Yimby about his design process and inspirations behind the tower. He also revealed an interesting tidbit of information when asked when asked when he started the design process. "Let's say in December," he responded. Keep in mind, though, that word only broke about him replacing Norman Foster in April. Controversy aside, Ingels has a lot to say about this world-famous project, including why he thinks Foster's plan was scrapped for his.
More revealing details right this way

June 11, 2015

Photographer Bob Estremera Shows Us That Greenwich Village Is Still Full of Character

When we talk about the allure of Greenwich Village, we're often referring to it in past tense, reminiscing about the good old days of folk music, ridiculously cheap apartments for artists, and the free-spirited bohemians that transformed the enclave into a cultural hub. And when we do talk about the Village in present tense, it's often because we're examining gentrification, whining about those pesky NYU students, or looking at the ever-rising rents. But if we stop feeling bitter about the fact that we can't get a $600/month studio there anymore, the Village still has plenty of charming and quirky storefronts, buildings, and characters. Photographer Bob Estremera captured this essence of the neighborhood in an impromptu rainy-day photo shoot that reminds us to take the time to look around and appreciate the small things.
See all the amazing black-and-white photos here

Places

June 10, 2015

$120M UES Townhouses-to-Mansion Combo Officially Hits the Market

On Monday, news broke that the three Upper East Side townhouses owned by the billionaire Safra family were being quietly marketed as a $120 million combination to be turned into one giant mega-mansion. Today, the listing at 12-16 East 62nd Street has officially hit the market, and there's some pretty impressive floorplans to give prospective buyers an idea of how their palatial home could look. Also up for grabs is the brownstone next door to the trifecta at 18 East 62nd Street. This wouldn't combine as easily as the other three, as their cornices, ceilings, and floors all line up, but it could make a pretty spectacular guest house.
Ogle the floorplans here

Distinctive Homes

June 10, 2015

Winston Marshall, Banjoist for Mumford & Sons, Buys $3.2M Nolita Pad

By Annie Doge

Fresh off the release of their third album, and in the midst of a national tour, Mumford & Sons has laid down some roots in NYC. Banjoist for the band Winston A. Marshall has picked up an impressive Nolita apartment at 237 Lafayette Street for $3.2 million, according to city records released today. The sprawling, 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom co-op definitely has room for the entire band to crash, and its charming downtown loft vibe will certainly impress any love interests (ahem, Katy Perry).
Take a look around the musician's new digs

June 10, 2015

POLL: Do You Like Bjarke Ingels’ Design for 2 World Trade Center?

Yesterday, it was huge news when the renderings were revealed for Bjarke Ingels’ redesign of 2 World Trade Center, taking over from architect Norman Foster. Now that the immediate buzz has subsided, and we’ve all had a chance to study the design and considers Ingels’ motives for its stepped design and stacked-volume height, we want […]

Architecture And Design

June 9, 2015

REVEALED: Bjarke Ingels Design for 2 World Trade Center

Last week it was made official that starchitect Bjarke Ingels would replace Norman Foster as the designer of 2 World Trade Center, as News Corp. and 21st Century Fox closed in on a decision to move into the downtown tower. Now, without delay, Wired has revealed exclusive renderings of the Ingels redesign for the site, which will top out at 1,340 feet, just 28 feet shy of One World Trade Center. The glass tower is defined by its striking setbacks that retract from the spot of the 9/11 attacks. Bjarke said in a statement, "To complete this urban reunification (the) tower will feel equally at home in Tribeca and the World Trade Center. From Tribeca, the home of lofts and roof gardens, it will appear like a vertical village of singular buildings stacked on top of each other...From the World Trade Center, the individual towers will appear unified, completing the colonnade of towers framing the 9/11 Memorial. Horizontal meets vertical. Diversity becomes unity."
Watch a video of the architect discussing his new design

Architecture And Design

June 9, 2015

You’ll Spend All Your Time on the Terrace of This $775K West End Avenue Penthouse

Something about this West End penthouse feels like a Florida vacation home. It's surrounded by a fully planted wraparound terrace on three sides, and there's plenty of light from large windows and oversized glass doors. Plus, it has some high-end finishes that make this $775,000 unit (yup, a penthouse for well under $1 million) really stand out.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

June 9, 2015

Jil Sander CEO’s 5th Avenue Apartment Gets an Ultra Minimalist Renovation by Thomas Phifer

By Ana Lisa Alperovich

Jil Sander's CEO, Constance Darrow, and her husband, Angelo Lombardi, are constantly traveling between Milan and New York. But when they stay in the Big Apple they have a stunning, ultra contemporary space to rest their heads. Located in a prewar building on Fifth Avenue, the couple's love nest is a modern renovation by Thomas Phifer and Partners that opts for the scant over the ostentatious. Though living in such sparse quarters would make many feel uncomfortable, this space embodies a very powerful air by having almost nothing in it.
Learn more about this ultra minimal Fifth Avenue Apartment

Distinctive Homes

June 9, 2015

Karim Rashid Asks Facebook Followers to Choose the Facade of His Next Building

With all the controversy currently swirling around Karim Rashid's colorful design of a residential building in a historic Harlem neighborhood, it looks like the designer is looking to avoid any additional headache with the public as he moves forward with a brand new project in Soho. Rashid recently took to Facebook, asking his more than 419,000 followers to vote for one of four facades being considered for a building slated to rise at 30 Thompson Street. "It is a great opportunity to get feedback for my work," he said. "I believe we live in the age of 'the empowerment of the individual' where we all have a voice in the digital age."
Find out more here

June 9, 2015

Luxury Parisian Hotel May Be Coming to Chetrit’s Sony Building Conversion

It's definitely been a big number game at Chetrit's Sony Building conversion–from the 96 luxury condos they'll add to floors 14 to 33 of the 37-story tower, to the planned $1.8 billion sellout, to the $150 million triplex penthouse, which, if sold, would be both the city's priciest unit in history (if not eclipsed by the $175 million unit at 220 Central Park South) as well as the largest at 21,504 square feet. And now the Post reports that Chetrit is going to up the ante at 550 Madison Avenue by turning part of the commercial space on the lower floors into a luxury Parisian hotel.
Get the scoop

June 9, 2015

Former Tribeca Commercial Space Is Now an Extravagant Modern Loft Asking $8.2 Million

By Emily Nonko

This Tribeca loft is really something. It's located at 88 Franklin Street, a former textile factory turned commercial space. The New York Times profiled the current owner who decided to buy the commercial space and work to convert it himself into a residential loft apartment. The result, after a thorough renovation, is a modern pad with big windows and unique bathrooms.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

Three UES Townhouses List for $120M, Could Be Single-Family Mansion

12-16 East 62nd Street via NYDN

June 8, 2015

Three UES Townhouses List for $120M, Could Be Single-Family Mansion

Most of us can only dream of owning a townhouse on the Upper East Side, so the idea of having three of them seems downright silly. But that's exactly what's for sale on East 62nd Street–three adjacent townhouses that are being sold as a package deal for their potential to be combined into one giant, 30,000-square-foot mansion. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the $120 million listing, and the Daily News revealed that the billionaire Safra family, of Brazilian banking fame, is behind the company listed as the seller. Currently, the three limestone, six-story homes at 12, 14, and 16 East 62nd Street are divided into 13 apartments with one doorman, though they can be delivered vacant. Together they boast 23 fireplaces, 11 terraces, and two roof decks. What makes the trifecta perfect for a combination is the fact that the homes are pretty much identical, with their cornices, ceilings, and floors all lining up.
More details ahead

Distinctive Homes

June 8, 2015

No One Will Dare Challenge Your Throne in This $29M Palatial Pad

Here's a particularly gaudy apartment for those who want to literally feel like a king and queen of their palace. This six-story, 13,000-square-foot mansion at 7 East 84th Street came on the market for the first time in almost two decades in 2013, asking $30 million. It appears that after two years and no takers, it has finally lowered the price by a whole million, landing at $29 million. It's appropriately located inside the Metropolitan Museum Historic District, so its statues must feel right at home. Plus, it has a temperature-controlled wine cellar and tasting room in the basement that looks like it's straight out of "Game of Thrones," so we had to take a look.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

June 5, 2015

Pier55 Floating Park Gets New Renderings and Updated Design Details

Back in April, the city introduced a plan B for Barry Diller's Pier 55 floating park, but it was far less exciting than the original futuristic design. Thankfully, the latest set of renderings, revealed by Curbed, show that the whimsical nature of the park hasn't gone anywhere. Mathews Nielsen, the landscape architect for the project who is working with designer Thomas Heatherwick, unveiled the latest set of images at a meeting this week. They take into account concerns from the local community board, including its height (the platform will now be 62 feet at its highest point as opposed to 70), circulation (the winding pathways are being designed with congestion in mind), and the issue of people jumping off (the periphery will be lined with shrubbery and a fence).
More details ahead

Architecture And Design

June 5, 2015

Jon Bon Jovi Unloads His Mercer Street Penthouse for $34M

By Annie Doge

It's official, rocker Jon Bon Jovi is now free of the 158 Mercer Street digs he's been trying to unload for the past for two years. First reported by The Real Deal, city records filed this afternoon show that the home traded hands for a whopping $34 million; although at first this seems like a pretty penny, it's actually way down from its original ask of $42 million. The buyer is Austrian-American businessman and investor Gerhard Andlinger, who previously called a sprawling 8,300-square-footer at the Time Warner Center his home.
Have a look inside the penthouse

June 5, 2015

Historic Riverside Mansion Designed by Notable Architect Asks $14 Million

By Emily Nonko

Within the Riverside Drive-West 80th-81st Street Historic District on the Upper West Side, there's a row of eight stunning townhouses built in the Elizabethan Renaissance Revival style. The row was designed by the prominent architect Clarence True, who contributed greatly to the development surrounding Riverside Park. Elegant properties like this one at 320 West 80th Street attracted the New York City elite around the turn of the century, and not much has changed today. Now the mansion is on the market for $14 million.
See the beautiful interior

June 5, 2015

Charming Apartment in One of Harlem’s Oldest Co-ops Asks $1.1M

If you want to live in one of the oldest private co-ops in Harlem, here's your chance. The 25-foot-wide, 102-foot-long unit at 152 West 131st Street has an interesting floor plan with the living room and dining room on complete opposite sides of a long narrow hallway. But it has charming original details, nice finishes, and it's in an adorable brownstone, so the $1.1 million pad is definitely worth a look.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

June 4, 2015

Ben Affleck Spotted Checking Out a $25M Time Warner Center Condo

By Annie Doge

Amidst rumors that Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner are heading to splitsville, the Post now reports that Affleck is on the hunt for a NYC pad. The actor was spotted scoping out a duplex condo at the Time Warner Center at 25 Columbus Circle, currently priced at $24.995 million. The home was originally listed at $50 million last year, the Post writes, then popping back on the market early in January at almost half the price at $28 million. With 3,582 square feet at his disposal, this sprawling unit most definitely offers more than enough room for the actor and family to stretch out in, plus or minus Garner.
Let's have a look inside

June 4, 2015

Soho’s Only Freestanding Home Already Back on the Market, Now a $22.5K Rental

If you thought you missed out on the chance to live in Soho's only freestanding home, you're in luck. Just two weeks after we broke the news that 514 Broome Street had sold for $6.887 million, it's back on the market with a new paint job and a rental price tag of $22,500 a month. Interestingly enough, "Million Dollar Listing" start Ryan Serhant is the broker once again.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

June 3, 2015

Starchitecture Firm Snøhetta Will Design Vornado’s Penn Station Area Overhaul

Back in April, we learned that Vornado Realty Trust was hoping to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into revitalizing the Penn Station area with new retail space, public plazas, and other infrastructure. Now, Crain's reports that the developer has tapped Oslo-based starchitecture firm Snøhetta to handle the overhaul's master plan, the same architects responsible for the 9/11 Memorial Museum Pavilion and the public plaza in Times Square. Snøhetta will be responsible for creating a "framework" for both Vornado's Penn Plaza buildings and the surrounding street-level spaces. And in a similar vein to the recently approved One Vanderbilt scheme at Grand Central, the master plan will include closing off part of West 33rd to vehicular traffic in the hopes of creating a permanent pedestrian plaza near Madison Square Garden.
More details and specifics on the street closures ahead

June 3, 2015

Bjarke Ingels Confirmed to Replace Norman Foster in the Design of 2 World Trade Center

Back in April, word broke that starchitect Bjarke Ingels was in talks to re-design 2 World Trade Center, as News Corp. and 21st Century Fox mulled over a downtown move. Now the Post's Steve Cuozzo reports that the rumors are rapidly closing in on reality as both media companies have signed a non-binding but detailed letter of intent with developer Larry Silverstein to anchor the new 80-plus-story tower that pins Ingels as the architect. The news conglomerate would occupy 1.3 million square feet of the available 2.8 million square feet—a portion significant enough to jumpstart construction of the tower that has been stalled since 2008.
FInd out more here

Architecture And Design

June 3, 2015

This Verdant and Bright NoMad Loft Rental Is Channeling the Tropics