RFR Realty

See the observation deck proposed for the Chrysler Building

Proposed east-west view; Rendering by Gensler/ RFR Realty, courtesy of Landmarks Preservation Commission

May 19, 2020

See the observation deck proposed for the Chrysler Building

An observation deck will return to the Chrysler Building. During a Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing on Tuesday, Aby Rosen's RFR Realty, which bought the Art Deco landmark last year for $151 million, presented its proposal to revamp the skyscraper's 61st and 62nd floors to allow for public access. The Chrysler Building previously housed an observatory, which opened on the 71st floor in 1945 as the Celestial.
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Bjarke Ingels is tapped for his first residential project in Brooklyn

Courtesy of LIVWRK; Photo of Ingels via Wikimedia

September 28, 2018

Bjarke Ingels is tapped for his first residential project in Brooklyn

By Emily Nonko

Bjarke Ingels' architectural dominance of New York City is growing -- the Danish starchitect has got his first commission in Brooklyn, reports Crain's. Developer Aby Rosen tapped Ingels' firm Bjarke Ingels Group to draft plans for a large new apartment project on the banks of the Gowanus Canal. The site in question -- at 175-225 3rd Street, pictured in the aerial shot above -- is currently a parking lot.
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Architecture And Design

Aby Rosen signs fashion company Totokaelo as first retail tenant at 190 Bowery

Image: Before the 2005 sale

July 25, 2017

Aby Rosen signs fashion company Totokaelo as first retail tenant at 190 Bowery

By Dana Schulz

It's been two-and-a-half years since developer Aby Rosen of RFR Realty scooped up the former Germania Bank Building for $55 million. He bought it from photographer Jay Maisel, who in 1966 turned the then-abandoned landmark into his own private 72-room mansion. After removing the Nolita building's iconic graffiti last summer, Rosen is now all systems go for his conversion to an office building with ground-floor retail. As the Post reports, Seattle-based fashion retailer Totokaelo (who counts among its designer offerings Acne Studios, Comme des Garçons, Jil Sander and Proenza Schouler) signed a lease for 8,918 square feet at street level. However, the deal only covers early fall through March 2018 for a large-scale pop-up store.
All the details ahead

Uncategorized

July 18, 2016

Beyond the Four Seasons: Aby Rosen Talks Maintenance and Costs at the Seagram Building

By Dana Schulz

On Saturday night, after what seems like an eternity of speculation followed by lamentation, the iconic Four Seasons hosted its last dinner. Last summer, Seagram Building owner Aby Rosen of RFR Realty chose not to renew the iconic restuarant's lease, and even before this, he faced criticism when he removed Picasso's largest ever work, Le Tricorne, from the space. But despite the constant contention, the developer is speaking out, hoping to get a little credit for the work and money he has put into the office building. "I see myself as a custodian," he told the Times, referring to the fact that it costs RFR an estimated 20 percent more to maintain the landmarked structure than it would a typical tower of the same size and age. But experts say this is par for the course when one willingly purchases a designated building, which Rosen did in 2000 for $379 million.
Rosen breaks down the specifics

Architecture And Design

Despite Landmarks Approval, 190 Bowery May Shed Its Iconic Graffiti After All

190 Bowery getting a bath; photo via Bowery Boogie

March 23, 2016

Despite Landmarks Approval, 190 Bowery May Shed Its Iconic Graffiti After All

By Michelle Cohen

Though the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a proposal to restore the former Germania Bank Building at 190 Bowery with its controversial coat of graffiti intact, the on-again-off-again spray paint layer looks to be on its way out according to onlookers (h/t Bowery Boogie). Power-washing and a "paint-removal system" are reportedly underway, disappearing decades of scrawl.
Refresh your memory on what's in the future for 190 Bowery

Architecture And Design

190 Bowery Is Already Back on the Market, Aby Rosen Attempts a Flip

EDITOR’S NOTE: An RFR Realty representative reached out to Curbed to say that 190 Bowery is NOT for sale. The listing is not current and will be removed from Cushman & Wakefield’s site.

July 15, 2015

190 Bowery Is Already Back on the Market, Aby Rosen Attempts a Flip

By Dana Schulz

It seems like the saga of 190 Bowery is never going to be over. As you'll recall, photographer Jay Maisel turned the former Germania Bank Building into his own private mansion and lived there from 1966 until February of this year, at which time he sold it to developer Aby Rosen of RFR Realty for $55 million. Like we previously said, "Since that time, it’s been all eyes on Rosen. Is he removing or preserving that iconic graffiti? What the heck happened with that 'public' art show inside the building?" And though the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved plans in May for a restoration and conversion to an office building with ground-floor retail, it now seems that Rosen may be getting cold feet. Curbed reports that he's taking offers for 190 Bowery in what looks like a very high-profile flip attempt.
See what the listing has to say

Photo via Le Travelist

May 20, 2015

Four Seasons Renovation Plans Shot Down by Landmarks Preservation Commission

By Diane Pham

Aby Rosen's plans to update the Four Seasons has been squashed by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. According to Crain's, the only upgrade that received a nod from the commission was a request to change the carpet. Bigger renovations, like replacing a non-original fissured glass partition with planters and to replace a fixed walnut panel between the public and private dining rooms with a movable one, were all rejected. "There is no good reason why they should make these changes," said Meenakshi Srinivasan, the commission's chairwoman, Crain's reports. "There's no rationale. The space could function perfectly well without these changes, so why do it?"
Find out more

May 6, 2015

Landmarks Greenlights 190 Bowery Restoration Plan with Iconic Graffiti Intact

By Dana Schulz

After several weeks of back and forth on whether or not the new owner of 190 Bowery, Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty, would keep its iconic graffiti, it's now official that the historic Germania Bank Building will remain in all its tagged glory. As Yimby reports, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the proposed restoration and conversion to an office building with ground-floor retail. The plan, conceptualized by preservation architecture firm Higgins Quasebarth & Partners with the help of MdeAS Architects, "calls for restoration of metal gates, wooden doors, stained glass, and other elements, but not removing the graffiti or cleaning the façade."
More on the approved plans here

Photo via Le Travelist

April 29, 2015

The Four Seasons: An Iconic Interior Landmark Faces an Uncertain Future

By Dana Schulz

As you probably already know, 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the NYC landmarks law. And one of the ways the city is marking the historic event is with an exhibit at the New York School of Interior Design called Rescued, Restored, Reimagined: New York’s Landmark Interiors, which focuses on some of the 117 public spaces throughout the five boroughs that have been designated interior landmarks. In conjunction with this exhibit, Open House New York recently hosted an interior landmark scavenger hunt (for which 6sqft took eighth place out of 40 teams!), which brought participants to designated interior spaces in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn over the course of seven hours. One of the spots we visited was the Four Seasons restaurant inside the famed Seagram Building. Through our scavenger hunt challenges here, we learned just how groundbreaking this restaurant was for its innovative design and role as the quintessential Midtown "power lunch" spot. But the Four Seasons, despite its landmark status, is facing an uncertain future.
Learn about the past, present, and future of the Four Seasons here

April 20, 2015

190 Bowery’s New Tenant Plans to Keep Iconic Graffiti on the Facade

By Diane Pham

Those who have been mourning the loss of 190 Bowery to the clutches of the rich can breathe a slight sigh of relief. Just a month after having some of its graffiti removed, the WSJ reports that the former Germania Bank—and former home of photographer Jay Maisel—has just inked its first lease. The tenant, "a company made up of agencies representing creative professionals in the industry of luxury and fashion image-making" has signed on for nearly 30,000 square feet and says that it will maintain all of the building's historic touches, from "its marble wash basins to the graffiti covering the lower part of the facade."
Find out more

Architecture And Design

190 Bowery Being Stripped of Its Graffiti as We Speak

By Diane Pham

Image courtesy of Lori Zimmer We all knew this day would come. 190 Bowery is currently undergoing a deep cleaning as its new owners prime it for its next life as a luxury mixed-use condo/retail development.
More here

February 10, 2015

New Fly-Through Video of 190 Bowery Gives Us a Peek at How Photographer Jay Maisel Lived

By Diane Pham

One of New York’s most mysterious buildings continues to come further into light, now with a brand new marketing video (h/t EV Grieve) that not only shows us images of the building completely graffiti-free, but how its former owner, photographer Jay Maisel, had set up his work and living spaces. The three-minute video offers up […]

February 6, 2015

Photographer Jay Maisel Officially Sells 190 Bowery for $55M

By Dana Schulz

It's being considered one of the greatest returns on investment in New York City real estate history, reports the Daily News. Photographer Jay Maisel bought the now-famous graffiti-covered home at 190 Bowery back in 1966 when it was abandoned for only $102,000, and he's now officially sold the Gilded Age bank building to developer Aby Rosen of RFR Realty for $55 million. Developers have been urging Maisel to sell ever since the Bowery changed from a seedy row of drugs and flop houses to a trendy destination for foodie-favorite restaurants and high-end boutiques. Rosen finally convinced the artist, who lived in the six-story, 72-room mansion with his wife and daughter, to sell on the basis that it had no heat and was in disrepair.
More on the epic sale

Real Estate Trends

December 6, 2014

New Rendering of 190 Bowery Gives Us a Look at the Mysterious Building Graffiti-Free

By Diane Pham

One of the city's most mysterious buildings has become a whole lot less intriguing with this newly released rendering from Massey Knakal. The image, which was pulled from the marketing materials of the broker by Bowery Boogie, shows a very pristine 190 Bowery totally free of graffiti and all lit up. Formerly the Germania Bank Building—and formerly the home of photographer Jay Maisel—the massive 72-room building was reportedly recently purchased by Aby Rosen of RFR Realty for an undisclosed amount (the sale has yet to hit city records) and, to much surprise, was put back on the market just a couple of weeks ago as a flip.
Find out more here

Architecture And Design

May 14, 2014

Plans to Convert the Jehovah Witness Watchtower Complex Into a High Tech Incubator Revealed!

By Ondel Hylton

Leeser Architects, designer of the Museum of the Moving Image expansion in Astoria, seems to be single-handedly upping the architecture ante in the outer-boroughs. Fresh off the heels of demolition commencing on the site of their multi-faceted 30-story Marriott Autograph Collection tower in the BAM Cultural District, Leeser may also be busy in the conversion of DUMBO's five-building Jehovah Witness Watchtower complex into a high tech incubator and residential tower.
See the renderings we've uncovered after the jump

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