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.

REVEALED: HWKN Will Bring a Shiny and Shingled YOTEL Hotel/Condo to Williamsburg

January 15, 2015

REVEALED: HWKN Will Bring a Shiny and Shingled YOTEL Hotel/Condo to Williamsburg

One of our favorite New York architects will soon be making their mark in Williamsburg. HWKN has just revealed new renderings for a brand new 14-story YOTEL coming to Brooklyn at 646 Lorimer Street. The images, which give us a taste of the exterior, are right on the mark with the YOTEL style and the rapidly changing neighborhood—and the design is what exactly you'd expect from HWKN: an eye-catching form with lots of greenspace.
Find out more here

Real Estate Wire: Historic Home up for Sale for the First Time in 40 Years; Richard Meier Beauty Asks $10.5M

January 14, 2015

Real Estate Wire: Historic Home up for Sale for the First Time in 40 Years; Richard Meier Beauty Asks $10.5M

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has emerged: A two-floor home in the former Lodging House/Children’s Aid Society in the East Village is for sale. The home hasn’t been available for sale in nearly 40 years. [EV Grieve] A lofty full-floor apartment in Richard Meier’s 165 Charles Street hits the market for $10.5 M. [Curbed] Work has resumed on the B2 […]

Real Estate Trends

Affordable Brooklyn Fading: Last Chance to Buy a Home Under $1M in Areas Like Bed-Stuy and Bushwick

January 14, 2015

Affordable Brooklyn Fading: Last Chance to Buy a Home Under $1M in Areas Like Bed-Stuy and Bushwick

If you've been looking to buy a home in Brooklyn, you'd better do it now–because townhouses under $1 million are going fast as investors and house hunters turn to the likes of Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and Crown Heights for cheap buys after being priced out of other areas in the borough. The news, which comes via DNA Info, isn't all that surprising, as we reported just yesterday that $3 million-plus townhouses are becoming the norm in already-gentrified neighborhoods like Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope. But those mulling over whether or not to close on a home in an up-and-coming neighborhood had better make the move, because affordable townhouse listings are increasingly becoming few and far between.
Find out more here

Real Estate Trends

“Who’s Buying New York?” WNYC’s Week-Long Series Spotlighting the Wealthy Changing the City

January 13, 2015

“Who’s Buying New York?” WNYC’s Week-Long Series Spotlighting the Wealthy Changing the City

As industry buffs release their year-end reports full of charts and stats, WNYC is taking a different approach, getting an insider's look with the actual people wheeling and dealing real estate across the city. Launched Monday, "Who's Buying New York?" is a week-long series that takes a look at the current real estate boom taking New York by storm. The podcast series investigates the financial muscle behind the supertalls changing our skyline, who's buying those units in those buildings, and what this all means for the rest of us. Reporters also chat with some high-earning Chinese investors buying apartments in New York they never plan on living in, and they take a look at all the extra moves property owners take to hide their identities.
Find out where to listen to the podcasts here

Real Estate Trends

Real Estate Wire: 2014 Was the Tallest Year for Skyscrapers; Karim Rashid Design Blasted Again

January 13, 2015

Real Estate Wire: 2014 Was the Tallest Year for Skyscrapers; Karim Rashid Design Blasted Again

Karim Rashid just can’t seem to win. The city has—again—asked the architect to redesign his East Harlem building’s balconies due to building code violations. [DNA Info] 2014 was the tallest year for skyscrapers. [Archinect] Renderings of “The Ark”—a privately-owned animal handling cargo terminal–coming to JFK. [Curbed] Gloomy 380 Madison is getting a makeover with sky-high green space […]

Real Estate Trends

Paying $3 Million-Plus for a Brooklyn Townhouse Is Now the Norm

January 13, 2015

Paying $3 Million-Plus for a Brooklyn Townhouse Is Now the Norm

Brooklyn's real estate market is hot, but the market for historic townhouses is searing. Today, the NY Post cites Ideal Properties' latest report which reveals that $3 million-plus townhouse sales in Brownstone Brooklyn and North Brooklyn increased 579 percent in the last five years, and accounted for 9.5 percent of the 1,035 townhouses sold just last year. Record-breaking sales in the last quarter gave the segment its biggest boost, and rising inventory is expected to swell this number even further over the coming year.
Find out more here

Real Estate Trends

Four Architects Reimagine Times Square as a Place You Actually Want to Visit

January 12, 2015

Four Architects Reimagine Times Square as a Place You Actually Want to Visit

While beloved by tourists, Times Square is easily the most hated destination for those who actually live in New York City. And it's no wonder: Shoulder to shoulder traffic, blinding lights, costumed (and un-costumed) characters, honking cars, and not a tree in sight—Times Square is pretty much your worst nightmare come to life. But could this congested consumerist hellscape one day become a place "Real New Yorkers" want to visit? Last year, the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility and vision42 held a competition asking designers and architects to rethink 42nd Street—from the East River to the Hudson River—as a "pedestrian-friendly, auto-free, sustainable boulevard." 200 submissions were received, and the institute has just announced the four finalists.
See the four finalists here

Architecture And Design

Real Estate Wire: A Trippy Checkered East Village Apartment; Top Year-End Condo Sales of 2014

January 12, 2015

Real Estate Wire: A Trippy Checkered East Village Apartment; Top Year-End Condo Sales of 2014

Every room in this $440K East Village apartment has black and white checkered floors. [CityRealty] The biggest sales that rounded out 2014, plus other real estate highlights. [CityRealty (opens to a pdf)] Another reason to love winter: Rent concessions. Winter is a good time to sign a new lease since many landlords will throw in […]

Real Estate Trends

Real Estate Wire: Nearly a Quarter of NYC Apartments Aren’t Primary Residences; How Expensive Is Your Neighborhood?

January 9, 2015

Real Estate Wire: Nearly a Quarter of NYC Apartments Aren’t Primary Residences; How Expensive Is Your Neighborhood?

Nearly one quarter of the apartments in New York City are not used as primary residences. Instead they serve as either as pieds-à-terre or investment properties that are rented out to tenants. [NYT] How pricey is your neighborhood? This map will give you an idea of how things stack up. [TRD] Jared Kushner’s Kushner Companies […]

Real Estate Trends

Rents in Brooklyn Still Up Even with a Boom in New Listings

January 8, 2015

Rents in Brooklyn Still Up Even with a Boom in New Listings

MNS has just released the December rental reports covering Manhattan and Brooklyn. Far from surprisingly, rents were up in both boroughs, each seeing a solid increase year over year. But one finding that definitely stood out was Brooklyn's 9 percent uptick in new listings between November and December 2014. Whether rents will reflect the new inventory the coming months has yet to be seen; November on December figures slow only the slightest decrease with average rents falling from $2,677 to $2,666 (a 0.39 percent drop). Bigger picture figures show that since December 2013, rent prices have increased 3.08 percent rising from $2,587 to $2,667 in December 2014. Brooklyn neighborhoods that did especially well last year included Boerum Hill, which saw an average rent increase of 15.7 percent from $2,668 in December 2013 to $3,088 in December 2014; and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, which saw a 9.5 percent increase since December 2013—a continuing trend for the nabe. So, is Brooklyn still having its moment?
More details on Brooklyn and the Manhattan dispatch this way

Real Estate Trends

Popular Articles

Real Estate Wire: Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis List Home for $4M; Jared Kushner Wants $66M for Top Puck Penthouse

January 8, 2015

Real Estate Wire: Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis List Home for $4M; Jared Kushner Wants $66M for Top Puck Penthouse

With a new baby in tow, Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis are looking for a new home and putting their Meatpacking District home on the market for just under $4M. [NYP] Jared Kushner is looking to set a downtown record with his $66M listing for the uppermost penthouse at the Puck Penthouses. [WSJ] The upcoming World Trade Center […]

Real Estate Trends

January 8, 2015

Tour All Five NYC Boroughs in Five Minutes with This Amazing Drone Video

We thought Google’s new 3-D maps of NYC were cool, but this incredible aerial video of the city’s five boroughs blows Google Earth out of the water. Sky Tech One Aerial Photography created a spectacular montage of footage with the help of a drone, and what’s captured is truly something else. Spanning Lower Manhattan to Yankee Stadium […]

Uncategorized

158-Year-Old Legally-Embattled Building on Leonard Street Finally Sells for $11.2 Million

Image via Tribeca Trib

January 7, 2015

158-Year-Old Legally-Embattled Building on Leonard Street Finally Sells for $11.2 Million

It's been a rough year for an even rougher 158-year-old structure located at 17 Leonard Street. Since 2013, there's been an ongoing dispute over damage in the building that caused an evacuation ordered by the Department of Buildings. Owner Christopher Rolf has been feuding with his next-door neighbor, Steven Schnall, who is constructing a seven-story condo building with a two-story penthouse next door at 15 Leonard. The dispute concerns the cause of several giant cracks that Rolf alleged appeared once Schnall started construction. Rolf claimed Schnall's project was the reason for the damage, while Schnall insisted that the old structure was already in shambles long before he even broke ground. The drama has dragged on for over a year, but a recent sale points to the end of the saga at 17 Leonard—at least for Rolf. According to public records, Rolf has finally parted ways with the property, striking a deal with an undisclosed buyer (listed simply as "17 Leonard Properties, LLC") for $11.165 million.
More details here

Real Estate Wire: Curious Wedge-Shaped Building Sprouts in South Williamsburg; The Upper East Side Redrawn

January 7, 2015

Real Estate Wire: Curious Wedge-Shaped Building Sprouts in South Williamsburg; The Upper East Side Redrawn

A funny wedge-shaped two-family building has popped up on a tiny triangle in South Williamsburg on Heyward Street. [Brownstoner] The borders of the Upper East Side redrawn so no block is excluded. [Curbed] The Bnai Zion Foundation is looking to sell its long-time U.S. headquarters in Murray Hill for $21M. [TRD] The buyer of Kiefer Sutherland’s […]

Real Estate Trends

Dean/Wolf Architects’ Amazing Brooklyn Townhouse Has an Operable Tetris-Like Facade

January 6, 2015

Dean/Wolf Architects’ Amazing Brooklyn Townhouse Has an Operable Tetris-Like Facade

Fusing indoor and outdoor space is a rare occurrence in places like New York City, where outside real estate rarely constitutes anything more than a 2 foot x 5 foot fire escape. So when the residents of this Brooklyn Heights townhouse moved into their new pad, they knew that their spacious backyard would have to be the star of their home. As such, the Brooklynites called upon Dean / Wolf Architects to take on the task of breathing new life into their townhouse, and by the looks of things, they couldn't have chosen better. Instead of simply employing floor-to-ceiling windows to make the connection, the savvy architects designed an operable, puzzle-like rear facade that allows the home's inhabitants to seamlessly join the indoors and the out with just a few turns of the wrist.
More on the aptly named 'Operable Boundary Townhouse/Garden' here

Real Estate Wire: 90-Year-Old LES Matzo Maker to Shutter; 45 Park Place Gets Its Demo Permits

January 6, 2015

Real Estate Wire: 90-Year-Old LES Matzo Maker to Shutter; 45 Park Place Gets Its Demo Permits

Streit’s Matzo Factory, the last family-owned matzo factory in the U.S., is in contract for purchase by an unnamed developer. The properties, located in the Lower East Side, were listed for $25M. [Bowery Boogie] Soho Properties has received demolition permits for 45 Park Place, the site where a 665-foot tower luxury tower and an Islamic museum will rise. [CO] The […]

Real Estate Trends

January 5, 2015

New Study Reveals It’s More Important to Have a MetroCard Than a College Degree in NYC

A new study conducted by NYU's Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management shows just how much impact proximity to public transit–in this case to Manhattan–can have on one's earning power. The Rudin Center examined 177 NYC zip codes and found that those living closest to transit have the highest median income and the lowest unemployment rate. “In New York, mass transit is the path to economic mobility, not education,” Mitchell Moss, the center’s director, told the WSJ. “It’s far more important to have a MetroCard than a college degree.”
Find out the startling figures here

Real Estate Wire: Flip or Hold in 2015?; Patrick Stewart Loves Park Slope

January 5, 2015

Real Estate Wire: Flip or Hold in 2015?; Patrick Stewart Loves Park Slope

Should you flip or hold in 2015? [AOL Real Estate] “Ooh, I like this place.” Patrick Stewart muses about living in Park Slope. [NYDN] Super-luxury condos are struggling to attract buyers. [Crain’s] 7 reasons a brokers won’t sell your apartment. [Brick Underground] Citizens band to ‘Save the View Now’ at Brooklyn Bridge Park. [Brooklyn Eagle] […]

Real Estate Trends

New Yorker Spotlight: Dominatrix Turned Restaurateur Erin Norris on Her Red Hook Restaurant, Grindhaus

January 2, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Dominatrix Turned Restaurateur Erin Norris on Her Red Hook Restaurant, Grindhaus

A former construction manager, music publicist, Bergdorf's window dresser, dominatrix and dungeon owner, Erin Norris has lived enough lives to make all of us feel like a bunch of old fogies. The founder of one of Red Hook's newest eateries, Grindhaus, the sassy blonde is the embodiment of the resilience, edginess and charm that defines New York City. Back in 2008, Erin set out with the goal of bringing a sausage parlor and beer hall to Red Hook, but as was the case for many in her 'hood, Hurricane Sandy had other plans. After a long (and expensive) rebuilding effort, Erin finally opened the doors to Grindhaus in 2013. Things may not have gone as planned, but even so, she managed to create something that went far beyond her dreams. Today, Grindhaus is one of the city's best restaurants, luring in the most discerning of food critics, from the palates over at Zagat to New York Times restaurant critic Peter Wells (who, by the way, even had her dish him seconds). But beyond food, Erin is all about her waterfront neighborhood and the colorful characters that make it one of the most inimitable places in all of NYC. We recently caught up with Erin to get an insider's look.
Read our interview with Erin here

Say Goodbye to Williamsburg’s Iconic Diner, New Six-Story Apartment Building Coming

Image by Avagara via Panoramio

December 24, 2014

Say Goodbye to Williamsburg’s Iconic Diner, New Six-Story Apartment Building Coming

Amongst Williamsburg's ever-growing, rapidly-rising new developments remains a neighborhood icon that has managed to stick around in the face of change. However, it looks like time has finally caught up to this tiny 1950s treasure, as Brownstoner reports that permits were filed today to replace the classic metal structure with a six-story, 10-unit apartment building. The replacement may not surprise too many given the transformation of the area, as well as the restaurants taking up space—from a diner in '52 to a beloved burger joint from '97 to 2010 to today providing a somewhat less fitting location for upscale La Esquina's satellite Mexican restaurant/cafe—but without a doubt it's still one that we're sad to see happen.
More details here

WE Design’s Brownstone Renovation Melds the Old with Mid-Century Modern Touches

December 23, 2014

WE Design’s Brownstone Renovation Melds the Old with Mid-Century Modern Touches

We've featured the work of WE Design before, but here's another one of their Brooklyn beauties that's captured our attention. In a gut renovation of a historic brownstone, the architects brought a 19th century home right into the 21st by juxtaposing the old and the new and making way for spaces that are all about modern living.
Have a look inside this stunning home

The NYC Subway Still Runs on 1930s Technology, Pen and Paper

December 22, 2014

The NYC Subway Still Runs on 1930s Technology, Pen and Paper

Most of our commutes are rife with subway delays, over-crowding and shutdowns, and while you can credit some of those to the sick passengers (and a handful of dizzy dieters), a lot of the blame falls on the fact that our subway still runs on an antiquated system built in the 1930s. Transit authorities are only now beginning to replace the eight-decade-old system, which still uses—wait for it—pencil and paper to track train progress. The update is a long overdue one, yes, but don't expect your commute to get any more comfortable in the near future. With 700 miles of track to cover, the time estimated to make the switch won't be much of a boon for us six million riders now boarding daily.
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Real Estate Wire: Those in Favor of One WTC’s Design; World’s Tallest Modular Tower Back on Track

December 22, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Those in Favor of One WTC’s Design; World’s Tallest Modular Tower Back on Track

Critics may hate One World Trade Center, but the public loves it. [NYP] The world’s tallest modular tower, the B2, is back on track as Forest City rehires its 150 workers to finish construction. [NY1] The historic Renaissance Theater and Casino in Harlem is slated for demolition, but preservationists are set on stopping the wrecking ball and the […]

Real Estate Trends

Real Estate Wire: Top 10 Residential Renderings of 2014; BIG-Designed Residential Coming to Harlem

December 19, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Top 10 Residential Renderings of 2014; BIG-Designed Residential Coming to Harlem

Architecture critic Carter B. Horsley shares his top 10 picks for best renderings of the year. Chuckle-worthy commentary included. [CityRealty] An 11-story, 235,000-square-foot Bjarke Ingels-designed residential project is coming to Harlem. But will BIG’s tower be as bold as their 57th Street project? [TRD] The $1.75B sale of the Crown Building at 730 5th Avenue sets a […]

Real Estate Trends

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