The condominium at 495 West Street in the West Village is known for having an exceedingly low turnover rate: Residents rarely leave. Built in 1999 by architect-developer Cary Tamarkin, the building’s lofts were given generous floorplans and big-shouldered details like sixteen-foot-high casement windows. Today, it’s still coveted, due in no small part to its wide-sprawling layouts and fabulous Hudson River views. This 1,988-square-foot loft with 776 square feet of private outdoor space, currently asking $3.995 million, is the first unit in the building to be on the market since 2004.

What makes this loft so special?

This Tribeca apartment will remind you of the artist lofts that once proliferated New York, but will also serve a jolt back to reality when it comes to the city’s ever-growing real estate prices. The full-floor pad at 60 Thomas Street sold in 2004 for $1.255 million, in 2007 for $1.795 million, and is now on the market asking $2.995 million. A keyed elevator entrance opens up to details like tin ceilings, a steel fire door, and exposed brick. The massive space also manages to fit four bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a media room, office, and full-sized laundry room.

Walk through the space

The Beaux Arts skyscraper known as the American Tract Building at 150 Nassau Street is among the city’s oldest landmarks. It was built in 1896 as the headquarters for the American Tract Society, one of the nation’s largest religious printing companies. As an anchor of the Seaport district’s Newspaper Row, it was among the city’s tallest office towers of its time and one of the city’s first steel skeletal frame skyscrapers. Like many historic NYC buildings, it has since been transformed into luxury condominiums like this sprawling 1,700 square-foot two-bedroom designer loft, now on the rental market for $8,250 a month.

Check out the space

You have every reason to look up at this Williamsburg apartment, renting for $4,500 a month in the condo building known as the Smith Gray. The blue cast iron facade of the building is striking, and this loft manages to also embody some of that industrial charm. The 13-foot ceiling is lined with raw plank wood, offset by iron beams and a chic ceiling fan. Exposed brick lines many of the walls, with wood flooring that mirrors the ceiling. Such a material-rich apartment deserves good interior design, which the owners provided with a nice selection of modern furniture.

Time for an interior tour

We’re guessing the words “genuine” and “Williamsburg” are spending less and less time together these days, but if you look diligently, you can find the odd authenticity–a big, pretty space that’s actually live/work friendly and isn’t a shiny, overpriced condo calling itself a loft. This one-bedroom-plus-office apartment at 119 North 11th Street looks to be just that. Occupying the third floor of a former paint factory taken over by artists over 30 years ago, it’s approved for mixed use, allowing live/work opportunities. Seeking a rental tenant for $6,800 per month, the space has many of the comforts of those shiny new buildings–central air, a washer/dryer, a roof deck with great views–without the shiny new.

Take a look around

This apartment may not have an outdoor space, but it’s boasting the next best thing. That would be tons and tons of greenery tucked into every corner of the apartment–a loft with more jungle-like vibes than industrial ones. It’s located in a former warehouse at 63 North 3rd Street, just off the North Williamsburg waterfront. It’s got the regular loft aesthetic: high ceilings, big windows, exposed pipes, and one wide open space, but it’s all the interior landscaping that really makes the space unique.

You’ll find plants everywhere

This 1,200 square-foot Bed-Stuy loft at 105 Lexington Avenue has one bedroom with room for two. Asking $1.75 million, its loveliest feature is a cozy balcony that’s accessible from both the living room and the master bedroom. All of this in a loft with extra-tall ceilings, in a former frozen food factory that was converted to apartments in 2008.

Have a look

If you love Gramercy and you’re into classic lofts and/or pre-war apartments you’d have to be thick as a brick to pass up this $6,950 two-bedroom rental opportunity–because this sizable sunny second-floor walk-up at 116 East 19th Street is of all of the above. Gut-renovated and air-conditioned, the apartment’s multitude of brick serves as a reminder that you’re in a New York City building and not, say, a North Carolina time share.

More lofty brick this way

Located in the historic 1890 Wells Fargo building, the Wells Fargo Loft was originally used for the company’s horses and city carts. The loft, located at 299 Pavonia Avenue in Jersey City, was redesigned over the last few decades, but most recently by Jeff Jordan Architects in 2016 (h/t Architizer), who took full advantage of the ceiling heights ranging from 14 to 50 feet and amazing NYC views. To create a better live-work balance, the architects removed and reconfigured walls for a clearer separation between art studio and living spaces by using plywood and ample storage space.

See inside the unique loft