All articles by Diane Pham

Diane is the founder and Editorial Director of 6sqft. After graduating from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Real Estate Finance & Development and a minor in Architecture, she enjoyed stints at SCI-Arc, the A+D Museum Los Angeles, Perkins Eastman Architects and Resolution 4: Architecture. She also previously served as Senior Editor of Inhabitat.com and spent several years as an analyst at CB Richard Ellis Investments in Milan, Italy.

Pikettyscrapers: What You Call Those Expensive Supertall Buildings Nobody Lives In

Image: NYC’s 2018 future skyline via CityRealty

March 12, 2015

Pikettyscrapers: What You Call Those Expensive Supertall Buildings Nobody Lives In

Supertall, pencil tower, megatall, superslim, skinnyscraper... As we struggle for new ways to describe all the glass and stone towers popping up in Manhattan, we've come to notice that not one person has come up with a way to describe all those skyscrapers being scooped up, floor by floor, by the superrich, never to be lived in. Now enter the Skyscraper Dictionary, a cheeky reference site (created because "The world needs one.") that's coined all the vocab you need to throw around next time you find yourself talking about NYC's skyscraper boom. So, what do you call those super-luxury towers that nobody lives in? How about pikettyscrapers.
Find out how the term was coined

Prospect Park West Townhouse May Be Brooklyn’s Most Expensive; Studio Rents Are Way Up

March 12, 2015

Prospect Park West Townhouse May Be Brooklyn’s Most Expensive; Studio Rents Are Way Up

Prospect Park West townhouse once home to Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany could be Brooklyn’s most expensive sale. [Curbed] The landmarked One Chase Manhattan Plaza will get a newly renovated plaza and storefront. [WSJ] The NYC task force going up against Airbnb may be tripled in size. [NYP] Manhattan studio rents have jumped 10 percent year-over-year. [TRD] Images: 17 […]

Real Estate Trends

Extell’s Massive 71-Story LES Tower Will Dwarf the Manhattan Bridge

March 12, 2015

Extell’s Massive 71-Story LES Tower Will Dwarf the Manhattan Bridge

Here's your first look at Extell's new tower popping up just north of the Manhattan Bridge along the East River waterfront. Spotted by Bowery Boogie on the construction sign at the 250 South Street site, the somewhat vague rendering is short on design details but manages to show a behemoth ready to dominate the area.
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New Developments

Tiny 500-Square-Foot Apartment Is as Fashionable as Its Chelsea Address

March 11, 2015

Tiny 500-Square-Foot Apartment Is as Fashionable as Its Chelsea Address

Though we tend to focus on larger than life luxury apartments, we've certainly come to love the creative tenacity that comes with living small. Our latest gem comes from Foz Design, led by Fauzia Khanani, who worked to renovate this 500-square-foot pied-à-terre for a Dutch composer and Manhattanite journalist. Located in a pre-war, landmarked building in the heart of Chelsea, Foz managed to create a glamorous modern home with plenty of old world charm.
more interiors this way

Distinctive Homes

70-Story Residential Tower Coming to Long Island City; Piero Lissoni Chosen to Design Interiors of 45 Park Place

March 11, 2015

70-Story Residential Tower Coming to Long Island City; Piero Lissoni Chosen to Design Interiors of 45 Park Place

Long Island City’s skyline continues to take shape. A new 70-story tower is slated to bring hundreds of residential units to the area. [TRD] Italian architect Piero Lissoni will design the residences and amenities at stunner 45 Park Place, which is being designed by a team made up of SOMA and Jean Nouvel. [6sqft inbox] Billionaire David Bren […]

Real Estate Trends

Architect Marc Kushner Discusses How Social Media Will Dictate Future Architecture

March 11, 2015

Architect Marc Kushner Discusses How Social Media Will Dictate Future Architecture

Marc Kushner's architectural star has been on the rise over the last few years thanks to his booming practice, HWKN (Hollwich Kushner), and his super popular web venture Architizer (maybe you've heard of it?). So it only makes sense that TED would invite Kushner to offer up his thoughts on the state of architecture today and what he sees in its future—which happens to involve more of your input than you'd ever guess. In what is a quite an enlightening and inspiring talk, Kushner takes us through the architectural styles of the last thirty years, and more interestingly, how social media is completely transforming the profession.
watch the video here

My 780sqft: Inhabitat Editor Yuka Yoneda Invites Us into Her Quirky Greenpoint Love Nest

Photo: Shin, Yuka and Ron Swanson

March 10, 2015

My 780sqft: Inhabitat Editor Yuka Yoneda Invites Us into Her Quirky Greenpoint Love Nest

Our new series “My sqft” checks out the homes of 6sqft’s friends, family and fellow New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to Greenpoint. What do you get when you join a green-design-blogger-slash-DIY-enthusiast and a finance guy in Greenpoint? How about a mash up of modern-meets-quirky with an eco-conscious bent? 6sqft recently dropped by the home of Inhabitat.com's NYC editor Yuka Yoneda to get a glimpse of the little love nest she's created with her fiancé Shin, and to see how seemingly divergent styles can indeed come together to create the perfect home. And because she and Shin recently got engaged (yay!) she's offering up some sweet stories—sure to serve both as advice to other couples looking to share a home, and hope for NYC singles who've given up on love—that range from their missed connection to a chuckle-worthy first date to an early relationship mishap that later yielded her a cozy little escape to call her own. There will also be plenty of fun little design details for you to fawn over. Onward we go!
Inside Yuka's home here

Home Tours

Here’s a Map of Where the World’s Insanely Rich Live

March 10, 2015

Here’s a Map of Where the World’s Insanely Rich Live

Ever wondered where the world's richest people live? While London and New York are ol' standbys, as you may have guessed, it looks like the wealthiest of the wealthy are popping up in completely new locales. CityLab recently took a look at Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2015, which identifies the world's "ultra-high-net-worth individuals" (UHNWI), a set of the global population that accounts for those with more than $30 million or more in net assets, and found that there are roughly 173,000 people in the world who fall in this category. To put that number in perspective, these folks make up the upper 0.002 percent of the world's 7 billion inhabitants and hold over $20 trillion of its money.
Find out more here

Uncategorized

190 Bowery Being Stripped of Its Graffiti as We Speak

March 10, 2015

190 Bowery Being Stripped of Its Graffiti as We Speak

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

The Tower Replacing the Famed Roseland Ballroom; Air Shafts a Coveted Amenity?

March 10, 2015

The Tower Replacing the Famed Roseland Ballroom; Air Shafts a Coveted Amenity?

Ian Schraeger has closed on 357 West Street, the site of planned 12-story, 88-unit residential building designed by Herzog & de Meuron. [The Real Deal] Here’s the tower that will rise in place of the demolished historic Roseland Ballroom. [Curbed] Two Trees has created a virtual open house for their 60 Water Street apartment building. [6sqft inbox] […]

Real Estate Trends

Popular Articles

#SaveNYC: Campaign Urges New Yorkers to Band Together to Save City from Superrich

Image via nyc.go

March 9, 2015

#SaveNYC: Campaign Urges New Yorkers to Band Together to Save City from Superrich

"Small businesses in New York City have no rights. You’ve been here 50 years and provide an important service? Tough luck—your space now belongs to Dunkin’ Donuts. You own a beloved, fourth-generation, century-old business? Get out—your landlord’s putting in a combination Chuck E. Cheese and Juicy Couture." – Jeremiah Moss in today's Daily News. With out of control rents, insane land prices, and properties trading hands for tens of millions–if not hundreds of millions–New York has become a playground (and a bank) for the ultra-rich. While most of us complain about the rising the cost of living with little action beyond a grumble, others are far more affected, namely the "mom and pop" shops forced out to make way for high-rent-paying tenants such as Duane Reade, Chase and Starbucks. But all is not lost. The issue of small business survival seems to be gaining some traction, particularly with a new campaign called #SaveNYC launched by Jeremiah Moss of Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York.
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Is South Bronx the Next Williamsburg/DUMBO?; Bjarke Ingels on the ‘New York Dryline’

March 9, 2015

Is South Bronx the Next Williamsburg/DUMBO?; Bjarke Ingels on the ‘New York Dryline’

Bjarke Ingels and Oliver Wainwright talk about the New York Dryline. [The Guardian] Marc Jacobs exec Robert Duffy sells his West Village townhouse for $5.5 million. [NY Post] A map of all the developments coming to Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene. [The Real Deal] Modular housing developers may be getting a boost from the de […]

Real Estate Trends

What if NYC Offered Subway Riders Free E-Books?

M Subway Library scan. Image via Fast Co. Exist

March 9, 2015

What if NYC Offered Subway Riders Free E-Books?

Here's a cool idea we'd love to see implemented in Manhattan: A free e-library for folks who ride the subway. Earlier this year, Beijing subway operator Beijing MTR rolled out a new digital library that would allow its underground commuters to download a book, at no cost, by simply scanning a QR code inside a train car. As you may have guessed, the initiative is looking to get citizens to spend more time reading over mindlessly watching videos or playing games.
More on the new program

Race Drives Gentrification and Neighborhood Boundaries, Study Finds

Photo by brandon king cc

March 6, 2015

Race Drives Gentrification and Neighborhood Boundaries, Study Finds

Focusing in on just race can be taboo when looking at gentrification, but a new study finds that an area's racial composition is actually the biggest predictor of how a changing neighborhood is perceived. CityLab recently dissected the study conducted by sociologist Jackelyn Hwang to find that the way that blacks and whites perceive and talk about change in their neighborhood is often wildly different. This gap in perception has wide-reaching effects for changing neighborhoods because not only does it polarize the individual groups, but it can also have a tremendous effect on where neighborhood boundaries are drawn and investment is distributed.
Find out more here

Be Chloe Sevigny’s Upstairs Neighbor; Live in Emma Stone’s Old Chelsea Townhouse for $22.5M

March 6, 2015

Be Chloe Sevigny’s Upstairs Neighbor; Live in Emma Stone’s Old Chelsea Townhouse for $22.5M

Live upstairs from Chloe Sevigny in this sunny Prospect Park pad asking $3.295M. Bonus: You’ll also get to call Senator Chuck Schumer your neighbor. [CityRealty] Derek Jeter is leaving his West Village rental at 56 Bank Street. [NYP] Construction defects abound in the city’s new buildings. [NYT] Numbers to back up millennials’ increasing interest in home ownership. [NYT] A Chelsea […]

Real Estate Trends

What $4 Million Bought This Week in NYC

March 6, 2015

What $4 Million Bought This Week in NYC

We've all come across real estate listings or recent sales that have us thinking either "Oh! I could live there!" or "What were they thinking?" Well we're going to make it a little easier for you to cast your judgements on the decisions of the rich—and sometimes famous—by rounding up some of the week's most interesting sales for you to compare and contrast. From a Greenwich Village pad purchased by a prolific '90s sitcom director to a classic Upper East Side co-op with crown moulding, this week we'll take a look at what $4 million bought in Manhattan.
See them all here

Real Estate Trends

220 Central Park South Penthouse Could Set a New Record with $175 Million Price Tag

March 5, 2015

220 Central Park South Penthouse Could Set a New Record with $175 Million Price Tag

It's a good day for Robert A.M. Stern, whose buildings seem to be bringing billionaires to their knees. The Real Deal has just caught wind of the offering plan for Stern's 220 Central Park South tower being developed by Vornado. According to the papers filed with the Attorney General and sources close to the development, the penthouse may ask $150 million to $175 million, bringing the building's total sellout to a staggering $2.4 billion. The $175 million price tag would by far blow the Sony Building's $150 million penthouse out of the water, and most certainly One57's record $100 million sale which currently holds the title for the most expensive unit ever sold in the city.
Find out more here, plus floor plans!

Woolworth Combo Apartment Wants $51M; Doggy Daycare and Spa Coming to the Abington House

March 5, 2015

Woolworth Combo Apartment Wants $51M; Doggy Daycare and Spa Coming to the Abington House

A 29th-floor Woolworth Building apartment combo totaling 11,450 square feet is asking $51.4 million. [WSJ] Taking inventory in “the most powerful apartment building in the world”: Here are all the big shots that live in 15 Central Park West. [TRD] Related Companies plans on opening an onsite Dog City doggy daycare and spa in their ultra-luxe Abington House located right […]

Real Estate Trends

VIDEO: Walk Through Manhattan in 1968, Across the Brooklyn Bridge up to Central Park

March 4, 2015

VIDEO: Walk Through Manhattan in 1968, Across the Brooklyn Bridge up to Central Park

It's hard to imagine New York City without its streets overflowing with people, but this "home video" we've uncovered from 1968 gives us an incredible look at the city during one of its most transformative periods. Although the video quality isn't all that great—the guy or gal filming this is using '60s technology, after all—the footage captured is pretty stellar nonetheless. Expect to see a near-desolate Soho, a Strand bookstore that amazingly looks exactly like it does today, and a lot of tucked shirts and knee-length skirts. Though there aren't any protesting hippies or riots in the near-30-minute video, there are signs of the politically contentious times, including a couple of poster boards urging citizens to join the U.S. Marines and Army. Starting at the Brooklyn Bridge, going up Broadway, and ending at the lake in a very crowded Central Park, you won't want to miss a second of this fantastic film.
Watch the video here

History

How Brokers Benefit from Racial Tipping Points; Buying the Worst House in the Best Neighborhood

March 4, 2015

How Brokers Benefit from Racial Tipping Points; Buying the Worst House in the Best Neighborhood

When does it make business sense for a broker to trigger white flight? Or: How do brokerage fees anticipate a neighborhood’s racial transition? A new paper investigates. [CityLab] A new eight-unit condo building at 150 Richardson Street in East Williamsburg will launch sales next week. [6sqft inbox] Real Estate crowdfunding could top $2.5B in this year. [Finance and commerce] […]

Real Estate Trends

A Massive Modern Tower Could Sprout Next Door to Controversial One Vanderbilt

Image: One Vanderbilt via SL Green/KPF

March 4, 2015

A Massive Modern Tower Could Sprout Next Door to Controversial One Vanderbilt

Foes of One Vanderbilt could soon find themselves with choice words for a new supertall enemy on the rise in the Midtown corridor. The Post reports that developer Howard Milstein is now looking to design and develop a brand new tower at 335 Madison Avenue. Millstein’s move takes advantage of the new Vanderbilt corridor zoning that would […]

New Developments

Penthouse from ‘9 1/2 Weeks’ Wants $20K/Month; Chelsea’s Oldest House Asks $6.5M

March 3, 2015

Penthouse from ‘9 1/2 Weeks’ Wants $20K/Month; Chelsea’s Oldest House Asks $6.5M

For $20,000 a month, you can rent this sun-soaked penthouse once featured in the Mickey Rourke/Kim Basinger erotic thriller “9 1/2 Weeks.” [NYDN] The oldest house in Chelsea, located at 404 West 20th Street, has hit the market for $6.5 million. [Curbed] Related CEO Jeff Blau is the mystery buyer of the city’s second most expensive townhouse, […]

Real Estate Trends

New Ruling: Landlords Can’t Kick a Bankrupt Tenant Out of Their Rent-Controlled Apartment

March 3, 2015

New Ruling: Landlords Can’t Kick a Bankrupt Tenant Out of Their Rent-Controlled Apartment

Going broke will no longer mean losing out on your rent-controlled apartment in NYC. According to Bloomberg, city tenants who file for bankruptcy will now be able to keep the keys to their affordable apartments as public assistance. The decision is taken from two opinions formed by the New York State Court of Appeals and the Manhattan-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Previously bankrupt tenants faced a threat of eviction even when they were current on rent.
Find out more here

Animated GIF Shows How NYC’s Subway Has Evolved over the Last 100 Years

March 2, 2015

Animated GIF Shows How NYC’s Subway Has Evolved over the Last 100 Years

If you’ve ever wondered what subway lines were the first to appear in NYC, this cool animated map has all the answers and then some. Created by Appealing Industries via Paste Magazine (h/t Untapped), the map shows the evolution of the city’s various lines over the 100-plus years that it’s been in operation. Surprisingly, Brooklyn is the first to see action on […]

Broker Ryan Serhant Bares (Almost) All to Sell One57 Pad; Landlord Owes Tenant $112K for Overcharging

March 2, 2015

Broker Ryan Serhant Bares (Almost) All to Sell One57 Pad; Landlord Owes Tenant $112K for Overcharging

It’s a good day for the little guy: A landlord now owes a tenant $112,000 after overcharging him for years. Ramon Hernandez paid $1,600 a month even though the legal rent of his apartment was only $233. [DNA Info] “Sexy” broker Ryan Serhant strips down in a Flaunt magazine spread to sell a One57 apartment he holds a […]

Real Estate Trends

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