Search Results for: green

December 5, 2016

West Chelsea mansion reboot with gym, pool, elevator, theatre and wine room ready for its $36.8M close-up

Back in September 6sqft brought you news of the “unbridled luxury” in the works for a townhouse at 357 West 17th Street that designer Karim Rashid sold to Wonder Works Construction Corp., developer of Williamsburg‘s pricey Oosten condominium complex, for $9.35 million in 2014. Rashid had lived in–and occasionally rented out–a candy-colored, neon-furnished loft in the building. Wonder Works subsequently hired Architect Andres Escobar to transform the 25-foot-wide building into an 11,000-square-foot modern single-family mansion with five bedrooms, 11 baths, a private internal garage, a 400 bottle glass-enclosed wine room, a fully-stocked gym and spa with a pool, a screening room, decks, terraces and patios with city views. Though the renderings looked sufficiently swank, the finished home, now on the market for $38.6 million, more than delivers on the promise of luxe. From the smallest details (Swarovski crystal drawer pulls, faux croc finishes on kitchen cabinets, marble everything and a bathroom faucet that's suspended from the ceiling) to the previously-mentioned lifestyle transformers, no expense was spared in the creation of this contemporary urban manse.
Lots more shiny things and marble, this way
December 3, 2016

November’s 10 most-read stories and this week’s features

November’s 10 Most-Read Stories Live in SHoP’s Domino Sugar Refinery tower for $596/month, lottery open for 104 units My 4000sqft: Tour the 113-year-old Ditmas Park home of an architectural preservationist Apply for 195 affordable units in Long Island City’s glitzy new rental tower The Hayden, from $913/month Lottery opens for two affordable units in prime […]

December 2, 2016

Jemima Kirke’s dad, ‘Bad Company’ Drummer Simon Kirke, buys $1.3M Gramercy co-op

English drummer Simon Kirke, of Free and Bad Company and father to "Girls" actress Jemima Kirke, sold his Hamptons beach cottage for almost $1.4 million over the summer, and it looks like he's used those earnings to buy a Manhattan home. Though he allegedly toured a $1.7 million spread at the famed Dakota in August, the Observer reports that Kirke spent of $1.3 million on a corner co-op at 201 East 17th Street in Gramercy.
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December 2, 2016

State seeks proposals for massive development above South Bronx rail yard tracks

As the city's land costs rise, interest has been focused on the South Bronx, including the potential for a huge waterfront development above the MTA's Concourse Yards, as 6sqft previously reported. Now, Crains reports that Empire State Development (ESD) has invited developers to present offers for leasing or purchasing a 13-acre South Bronx rail yard along the Harlem River just north of the Willis Avenue Bridge and decking it over to build a residential or mixed-use project.
Find out more
December 2, 2016

The Urban Lens: Inside the Christmas wonderland that is Rolf’s German Restaurant

6sqft’s ongoing series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, award-winning photographers James and Karla Murray return with a look inside Rolf's German Restaurant, known for its over-the-top Christmas decorations. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Beginning the last week of September, a six-man team starts the process of adorning Rolf's German Restaurant with 15,000 Christmas ornaments, 10,000 lights, and thousands of icicles. By the first of November, the process of turning this historic Murray Hill restaurant into a holiday wonderland is complete, attracting both locals and tourists who are eager to see the one-of-a-kind display of Victorian-style decorations. We recently paid a visit to Rolf's, capturing everything from dolls found in New England antique shops to 19th century German ball ornaments worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And we've shared an interview with owner Bob Maisano where he talks about the building's past life as a speakeasy during Prohibition, German history in NYC, and what makes Rolf's a unique holiday destination.
All the photos and the interview with Bob
December 1, 2016

Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel lists East Village penthouse for $6,200/month

Victoria’s Secret beauty Candice Swanepoel may be this year's eighth highest paid model, but her East Village apartment doesn't scream dollar signs. The rather standard, modern condo at 311 East 11th Street has two bedrooms, a balcony, and a corner penthouse location, and it's available for rent for $6,200 a month, reports the Post. The South African supermodel and her boyfriend, Brazilian model Hermann Nicoli, welcomed their son in October, so perhaps they're looking for some extra room.
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December 1, 2016

Artists’ storied 187-year-old West Village carriage house finally finds a buyer

A 187-year-old carriage house at 29 Downing Street on a quintessential West Village block has appeared in print for so many reasons it's hard to name them all–starting with the six-degrees-of-"Hamilton" fact that it was built in 1829 on land owned by third U.S. vice president Aaron Burr. 6sqft featured the historic home owned by artists John Bennett and Karen Lee Grant in early 2015 when it was listed for $13 million. The homeowners' vision reflected in this remarkable art studio, gallery and living space was featured in House Beautiful, Elle and two coffee table books; the Wall Street Journal called the 25-foot-wide home a "time capsule of development in the West Village." Not only is it one of the most photographed homes in the neighborhood, it's also among the oldest. Purchased by Bennett in 1977 for $155,000 with the help of a loan from the previous homeowners, the house recently sold for $6.8 million–about half the original ask–after two years on the market and several broker changes and price chops (h/t Curbed).
Get a peek inside this rare slice of Village life
November 30, 2016

10 eco-friendly Christmas tree alternatives for small spaces and apartments

Our ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week we've rounded up some alternative holiday tree ideas for those living in tight spaces. While you could buy a Charlie Brown tree, or try ask to have a few feet knocked off that pine when you hit the register, if you're a small space dweller who wants a more eco-friendly holiday arbol this year, there are plenty of options for you beyond the classic artificial fir (which fyi is even more environmentally unsound than chopping down an evergreen thanks to the carcinogens produced during manufacturing and disposal). From edible trees to LED pines to DIY options that smell just as good as the real thing, 6sqft has searched high and low for 10 different types of sustainable Christmas tree alternatives to jazz your apartment up with this year—and years to come.
ten alternative ideas here
November 30, 2016

Renderings revealed for adaptive reuse Maker Park along the Williamsburg waterfront

Plans for Bushwick Inlet Park, a 28-acre open space along an unused industrial stretch of the Williamsburg waterfront, first came about in 2005, when the Bloomberg administration rezoned the area to allow for new residential development in exchange for the open space. Fast forward to last week, and the city finally acquired the last piece of land for the project, the controversial Citistorage site. Now that the park is on its way to becoming a reality, a trio of grassroots creatives hopes to bring their alternative vision for the former Bayside Oil Depot site to the forefront. Maker Park is the proposal to adaptively reuse this seven-acre parcel's architectural infrastructure--namely the ten 50-foot decommissioned fuel containers--and create a "park as creative as the neighborhood around it." The Architect's Newspaper recently revealed the first set of renderings, which showcase performance venues, art galleries, hanging gardens, reflecting pools, and an adventure playground.
More views and design details
November 30, 2016

The 15 best NYC holiday markets and indie pop-up shops

December's first days bring a dazzling parade of holiday gift markets all vying for the opportunity to find new homes for a bounty of goodies and crafty gifts. We're all familiar with the big NYC markets at Bryant Park and Union Square, but some of the best finds—and the most fun—can be found at smaller, cooler pop-ups and neighborhood markets. 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 sparkle with drinks, food, workshops, tarot readings, nail art, music, and family fun to keep shoppers' spirits bright.
Find out where to get the goods
November 30, 2016

$16.8M Village townhouse has details, a celebrity history–and a secret artists’ cottage in back

This 185-year-old West Village townhouse at 121 Washington Place would enchant any lover of historic homes. Well-preserved details are everywhere, from a brick facade to a distinguished wood-paneled library and full-length arched drawing-room windows. Then there are the features that would thrill any homeowner; at 22 feet wide, the four-story house has an elevator and, best of all, the unexpected surprise of a pint-sized skylit English cottage/artists' studio with a full bath at the back of an idyllic walled garden. Even beyond its current charms, this home and its unique little studio have seen many a colorful, creative life and hosted artists, poets and other notables from Mark Twain to Hillary Clinton.
Read on to find out more
November 29, 2016

Own a glass-box Hamptons home designed by One World Trade Center’s structural engineer

Jeff Smilow is the Executive Vice President of buildings at WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff, and perhaps his greatest accomplishment has been serving as the structural engineer for One World Trade Center. His streamlined, rhythmic approach is also seen at this contemporary glass and steel home in East Hampton, which he completed just this year. Now on the market for $5.5 million, the transparent residence best exemplifies Smilow's handiwork on its first floor, where the 5,000-square-foot open plan is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, completely unencumbered by columns.
Check it all out
November 29, 2016

St. Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center tops out with cross

It's been a long and arduous process rebuilding the St. Nicholas National Shrine, a Greek Orthodox Church that was destroyed on 9/11 when the second trade tower toppled on it. Only last year was the foundation poured, and only two weeks ago were the steel ribs of the structure's defining dome installed. But despite construction moving forward at a glacial pace, officials yesterday celebrated a major milestone with a “topping out ceremony” at the church's new site at Greenwich and Liberty streets. The touchstone event was notably marked by the addition of a temporary 6-foot-3-inch Justinian cross, reports the Times.
see more photos here
November 28, 2016

Fidel Castro Threatens to Sleep in Central Park in Outrage Over Hotel Prices During 1960 Visit

Just four months after Cuban President Fidel Castro led a successful revolution to overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, he visited New York City for 11 days on an invitation from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. With his signature green army uniform and boots, bushy beard, and exuberant nature, Castro reportedly hired a PR firm (though it seems he hardly needed to), enjoyed the city’s famous hot dogs, and "kissed ladies like a rock star, and held babies like a politician," according to Mashable. During a tour of the Bronx Zoo, which he called “the best thing New York City has,” Mr. Castro is said to have jumped a railing and stuck his hand into a cage to pet a Bengal tiger.
More shenanigans to come
November 23, 2016

City may take a 20 percent cut from Midtown East landmarks that sell their air rights

At the end of August, the city released its long-awaited, very controversial Midtown East Rezoning plan. In addition to allowing 16 new towers to spring up in the area bound by Madison and Third Avenues and 39th and 50th Streets, the upzoning will "permit owners of landmarked buildings to sell their air rights across the district, rather than just to adjacent properties like the current law dictates," as 6sqft previously explained. The following month, the city embarked on a study of these unused development rights, which would amount to an additional 3.6 million square feet over the next 20 years. And part of their conclusion is that they're considering taking a 20 percent cut of these air rights sales, reports Politico.
Find out more
November 23, 2016

‘Sex and the City’ Writer Candace Bushnell lists Victorian farmhouse in Connecticut for $1.4M

Though she created a vision of Manhattan that made an entire generation want to move to the big city and sip cosmos, "Sex and the City" writer Candace Bushnell also has experience in a more laid-back country lifestyle. The Journal recently toured her historic Victorian farmhouse in Roxbury, Connecticut, which is currently listed for $1.365 million. Bushnell said she's an old house lover who grew up antiquing, so when she saw the circa 1830 home in 2005, she couldn't help spending $661,500 on it, even though she admits she "could barely afford it." Clearly a good investment, the three-acre property has an apple orchard, barn, salt water pool, and pool house, as well as original moldings and floorboards.
See the entire property
November 22, 2016

$12.8M massive, mod Flatiron pad is like having your own private design showroom

Even with a dizzying ask of $12.8 million, you know you're headed for off-the-charts territory when a 4,200-square-foot, three+ bedroom apartment starts with a sunken foyer that opens into an 800-square-foot sunken living room. And if you're thinking that's bigger than lots of people's entire apartment, consider the fact that there are many rooms like it in this full-floor home in the Photo Arts Building at 5 East 16th Street. And you haven't even seen the atrium wall yet.
More enthusiastic modern design, this way
November 22, 2016

New Isay Weinfeld-designed Four Seasons won’t resemble the historic restaurant at all

The 21st century incarnation of the iconic Four Seasons restaurant set to open at 280 Park Avenue will bear no resemblance to the original, beyond the famous name and the sign that fronted the "Mad Men"-era power lunch spot in the Seagram Building, according to the restaurant's co-owner, Julian Niccolini. The New York Post reports that the team behind the "new" Four Seasons–Niccolini and partner Alex von Bidder, the Bronfman family, landlord Steve Roth of Vornado and representatives of landlord SL Green Realty–approved the new restaurant's design, by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, last Friday.
A new femininity for the three-martini lunch?
November 21, 2016

Live a block from the Bronx Zoo for $1,348/month, lottery opening for nine units in Belmont

As of tomorrow, nine brand new units in the Belmont section of the Bronx will become available through the city's affordable housing lottery. Located just a block from the Bronx Zoo and within walking distance to the New York Botanical Garden, the seven-story, 41-unit building at 2346 Prospect Avenue was recently constructed by the Stagg Group and Badaly Architects and also has ground-floor community facility space. The available apartments, open to those earning 80 percent of the area media income, include four one-bedrooms for $1,348/month and five two-bedrooms for $1,521/month.
Find out if you qualify here
November 21, 2016

This $649K co-op has pre-war charm, East Midtown convenience and room to grow

How much you love the location of this surprisingly-spacious-for-six-figures co-op at 155 East 49th Street just north of Turtle Bay in East Midtown might just depend on how much you like skyscrapers. Because though the spot is convenient to everything from MoMA and shopping to Grand Central Station and the subway, there are tall towers in every direction and many more, even taller, on the way. But this 10-story co-op does a pretty good job making the case for classic brick amid towers of glass and steel.
Take a look
November 18, 2016

Long Island’s ‘Amityville Horror’ house finds a brave buyer

Presumably unfazed by the gruesome murders that took place there in 1974, an anonymous buyer has picked up Long Island's notorious "Amityville Horror" house. The five-bedroom Dutch Colonial came on the market for $850,000 in June, and Newsday now reports that it went into contract this week. Likely due to the fact that the address is where then-23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot his parents and four younger sisters while they slept, the listing broker said she won't "discuss the terms of a sale until it’s closed."
Find out more
November 18, 2016

The Urban Lens: Bushwick’s ‘Bizarre’ world of burlesque, acrobats, and fire spinners

6sqft’s ongoing series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Meryl Meisler captures the artists and performers of Bushwick's bar and event space Bizarre. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. When he moved to NYC, French filmmaker Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire squatted in a boarded up Bushwick building until he eventually owned it. Along with friend Gregory Baubeau, he decided to turn the building into a bar, performance space, and gallery inspired by the wild stories of Greenwich Village's underground, avant-garde Café Bizarre. Their own BIZARRE opened in 2013, and shortly thereafter they exhibited photographer Meryl Meisler's iconic shots of the neighborhood in the glam/gritty '70s and '80s. Now, Meisler has come together with Sauvaire and Baubeau for a new exhibition that showcases the "assorted madness and the unexpected" of present day BIZARRE. They've shared their energetic photos with 6sqft, capturing all those who make the venue special--the acrobats, artists, burlesque, circus, drag kings and queens, fire spinners, magicians, musicians, poets, patrons and more--and Meisler has given us the inside scoop on this unique scene.
See the collection here
November 18, 2016

Construction update: Pier 55’s 535 concrete columns rise from the Hudson River

Now that the Barry Diller-funded Pier 55 offshore park can proceed freely, the Wall Street Journal took a look at how construction is progressing on the $200 million project. Currently, the 535 concrete columns, each three feet wide and ranging from 70 to 200 feet long, that will support the 2.75-acre park have been erected, poking out of the Hudson River amidst the historic wooden piles that once supported Pier 54, where the Titanic was supposed to dock (these will remain to sustain marine life development). On top of them will be pots, "hollow pentagonal forms" that weigh as much as 60 tons and will be "linked with concrete to create a rectangular platform of about 104,000 square feet."
More new details this way
November 18, 2016

Charming railroad co-op hits the market for $675K in Carroll Gardens

Carroll Gardens is well-known for its blocks of charming townhouses that boast a New York rarity--a front yard. Located at 66 4th Place, one of those "front yard blocks," this apartment is part of an eight-unit co-op and has just hit the market for $675,000. The railroad pad will certainly charm potential buyers with details like wide-plank floors, exposed brick, the original pocket shutters and a working wood-burning fireplace.
Take the grand tour