All articles by Jon Dioffa

Morpholio’s AVA squeezes every interior design tool into one app
April 11, 2017

Morpholio’s AVA squeezes every interior design tool into one app

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Interior designers who have been looking for a way to streamline their creative and production processes will appreciate Morpholio's newest app feature, AVA. Short for Automated Visual Assembly, AVA makes it easier for users to create not just presentation boards but also to produce cut sheets and specs for drawings, and product lists for purchasing. As professional designers know, projects are imbued with many moving parts that are difficult to manage piecemeal. AVA puts all of these pieces in one program, allowing designers to do everything they need within one application, reducing the opportunity for error. Plus, it's presentation ready, meaning there's no need to spend hours laying out images and assembling the details for client review.
find out more
Emmy Rossum bids farewell to her beautiful Sutton Place pied-à-terre
March 1, 2017

Emmy Rossum bids farewell to her beautiful Sutton Place pied-à-terre

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Actress Emmy Rossum's perfectly outfitted pied à terre has a new owner. LLNYC reports that a buyer has just scooped up the "Shameless" star's one-bedroom charmer at 455 East 57th Street for $1.1 million. Rossum quietly listed the home last November, just a month after she invited Elle Decor over to photograph the space. The full spread shares Rossum's journey of turning the "pied-à-teardown" into an elegant escape with the help of Brooklyn interior designer Antonino Buzzetta. According to Elle, Rossum asked Buzzetta for something "chic, European, the look of a modern girl who has inherited her grandmother's stuff." "I wanted it to have a young energy, but with old-fashioned touches," she said.
see more inside here
‘The Daily Show’ host Trevor Noah buys a $10M Stella Tower penthouse
February 27, 2017

‘The Daily Show’ host Trevor Noah buys a $10M Stella Tower penthouse

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It looks like Trevor Noah's $15,000 rental at Stella Tower was just a space for him to kill time while waiting to move upstairs into a $10 million penthouse. The Journal reports that Noah closed today on the top-floor duplex apartment that spans the 17th and 18th floors of the 1927 Ralph Walker-designed skyscraper. In all, the star's new spacious abode measures 3,600 square feet and comes encircled by a large, 930-square-foot terrace with sweeping views of the city.
see more inside
Starchitect César Pelli Buys $17.5M San Remo Apartment from John Leguizamo’s Mother-in-Law
July 30, 2015

Starchitect César Pelli Buys $17.5M San Remo Apartment from John Leguizamo’s Mother-in-Law

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Starchitect César Pelli and his wife Diana Balmori have bought a $17.5 million apartment at the San Remo, according to city records released today. And the seller of the 4,900-square-foot, 12-room residence is Rona Maurer, John Leguizamo's mother-in-law who was recently involved in a lawsuit claiming she was covering up the sale of the home to keep her stepdaughter from getting any of the profits. The corner unit has all the details one would hope for from the Upper West Side's most prestigious co-op, including 65 feet of Central Park views, soaring ceilings, herringbone floors, three entertaining rooms, and a marble entry gallery.
More photos this way
Real Estate Wire: KPF’s New Supertall Tower for Midtown Site Sensitive?; Crown Heights and East New York Having “A Moment”
July 7, 2014

Real Estate Wire: KPF’s New Supertall Tower for Midtown Site Sensitive?; Crown Heights and East New York Having “A Moment”

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Today’s real estate news highlights: Conversions, condos, rising land prices, and, of course, more coffee shops. It looks like Crown Heights is “having a moment” as Brooklyn’s new “it” neighborhood. [New York Times] Oh, it looks like East New York’s moment has arrived as well — though this change has a bit more substance. Under the […]

Real Estate Wire: The Priciest Celebrity Homes in NYC; Developer Larry Silverstein’s Mega-Sized New Cause
July 2, 2014

Real Estate Wire: The Priciest Celebrity Homes in NYC; Developer Larry Silverstein’s Mega-Sized New Cause

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Today's real estate news highlights: JDS is gearing up to build two luxury residential towers on the East Side on a $390M formerly owned by ConEd. [The Real Deal] What goes around comes back around right back into your real estate portfolio. Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group is buying the Park Avenue Tower, which it briefly owned in 2007. The property was flipped and sold it to Harry Macklowe for $625M. Blackstone just bought it back for $750M. [The Real Deal] The most expensive celebrity homes in NYC. Who has the most covetable pad in Manhattan? [Business Insider] Bushwick goes upscale with its gentrification. A 7-story building with valet parking may be coming to the nabe. [DNA Info] 'Jersey Boy' Bob Gaudio wants $6M for his San Remo apartment. Ohhhh what a deal? [Curbed] 50 West Street lists its units with condos starting at $1.615M [Curbed] For NY's tallest towers, the current rules require that they have mostly commercial space. Developer Larry Silverstein is championing for a change and wants that mix to favor far more lucrative residential space. [Crain's] The magazine everyone loves to hate continues to expand their media empire. Vice is investing $20M to renovate a 60,000-square-foot building on South Second Street and Kent Avenue, which will house its production facilities and a broadcasting station. [Crain's] Manhattan apartment inventory is at a low and the prices are up in the 2nd quarter. Read our brief after the break for all the details. Hugh Jackman in his luxurious 11,000 sq ft home (left); Larry Silverstein (right)
The 2nd quarter results here
Real Estate Wire: NYC Real Estate Is the New Swiss Bank Account; SHoP to Design Brooklyn’s Tallest Tower
June 30, 2014

Real Estate Wire: NYC Real Estate Is the New Swiss Bank Account; SHoP to Design Brooklyn’s Tallest Tower

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Today’s real estate highlights in one digestible bite: Kim and Kanye leaving Cali? The pair were spotted penthouse shopping downtown. One of their stops included this stunner at 215 Sullivan Street. [NYP] Jeff Koons got the OK to build a mega-mansion at 11 and 13 E. 67th Street. Koons’ new pad will measure 19,325 square feet and Peter […]

Real Estate Wire: Mapping All of Downtown Brooklyn’s Apartments; Park Slopers Love Their Parking Garages
June 26, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Mapping All of Downtown Brooklyn’s Apartments; Park Slopers Love Their Parking Garages

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Today’s residential real estate news in one digestible bite: Park Slopers would rather have a parking garage than a new luxury condo in their ‘hood. The typically crunchy locals are saying the 800 Union Street garage is “essential to the neighborhood”. [NYDN] Stern’s 82-story downtown hotel and residential condo tower is one-third constructed; while the […]

Real Estate Wire: Lantern-Style High-Rise One Step Closer to Reality; Jonathan Safran Foer Wants $13M for His Brooklyn Home
June 25, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Lantern-Style High-Rise One Step Closer to Reality; Jonathan Safran Foer Wants $13M for His Brooklyn Home

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Today’s residential real estate news highlights in one digestible bite: Black House just closed on the $62M Hudson Yards site needed for Archilier Architecture’s lantern-like mixed-use tower. [TRD] A rare luxury residential building in Boerum Hill is on the sales block and could garner well over $50M. [NYP] Who says writers don’t make money? Author Jonathan […]

Real Estate Wire: Bed Stuy Getting 50 New Condos; Brooklyn’s Tallest Building Killing It in Sales
June 24, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Bed Stuy Getting 50 New Condos; Brooklyn’s Tallest Building Killing It in Sales

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We roundup today’s residential real estate news highlights for one digestible bite: Bed Stuy is getting a brand new 10-story mixed-use building complete with 50 apartments [Brownstoner] NYC gets a rent hike! Of 1%… The lowest ever recorded [New York Post] South Slope’s newest condo development just placed its units on the market. The cheapest […]

Al Franken Sells His UWS Co-op for Just Over $4 Million
May 2, 2014

Al Franken Sells His UWS Co-op for Just Over $4 Million

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US senator Alan Stuart "Al" Franken, and his wife Franni, have just sold their 2,600-square-foot co-op at 90 Riverside Drive for $4.05 million. According to the listing held by Warburg Realty, the home features four bedrooms, hardwood floors, three dishwashers, and sunny southern exposures in a turn-of-the-century landmarked town home. From pictures, it looks quite quaint and charming, despite its multi-million dollar locale. City records show that the politico and former SNL star handed the keys to his UWS digs over to James Stone, a managing director at New Mountain Finance, and Lisa Kiell, international director at Jones Lang La Salle.
Peek inside the former Franken pad here
White Glove Park Avenue Co-op Sells for $6.5 Million
April 30, 2014

White Glove Park Avenue Co-op Sells for $6.5 Million

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Vestar Capital founder and co-president Robert Rosner and his interior designer wife have snapped up a 14th floor condo at 1095 Park Avenue. The couple was previously in the former Stanhope Hotel, a 1926 Rosario Candela jewel box at 995 Fifth Avenue opposite the Metropolitan Museum of Art, that was converted into luxury condos. Their new abode features the same modern, streamlined aesthetic of their previous space — a style which Mrs. Rosner has once described as “a chic and sleek downtown sensibility in an iconic uptown setting.” Do you agree?
Get a closer look inside here
Everyday Foods Re-Branded as Luxury Products by Tiffany, Gucci and More
April 25, 2014

Everyday Foods Re-Branded as Luxury Products by Tiffany, Gucci and More

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If Gucci was to start canning pickles, would that make eating them more appetizing? A new series by artist Paddy Mergui is re-imagining everyday foods as luxury products. The collection, titled "Wheat is Wheat is Wheat", wraps over a dozen common foods in designer patterns and well-recognized packagings, playing on our susceptibility to big names and brand recognition. "[Design is] so under the radar that people think it's nice and that it's giving them self esteem," Mergui tells The Verge. "Actually, be aware that you're being manipulated by the visual aspects of packaging." From Apple's iMilk to Burberry ramen to Cartier coffee to a dozen Versace eggs, see all the products ahead.
More Images of the re-branded food ahead
Billionaire Philanthropist Jon Stryker Sells His CPW Penthouse for $42 Million
April 17, 2014

Billionaire Philanthropist Jon Stryker Sells His CPW Penthouse for $42 Million

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After nearly six months on the market, Jon Stryker's luxurious Central Park West penthouse has finally found its buyer. The penthouse changed hands this week for $42 million, falling $6 million short of the ask. Stryker originally purchased the historic Prasada triplex for $12.8 million in 2002, and he took to renovating the 5,600-square-foot space shortly after with the help of Shelton, Mindel & Associates (Stryker is a trained architect himself). Over the years, the updated design has garnered plenty of accolades, including a spread in Architectural Digest, and in 2010, it nabbed the coveted AIA award for 'Interior Architecture'.
A look inside the luxurious penthouse here
Shigeru Ban Named the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize Winner!
March 24, 2014

Shigeru Ban Named the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize Winner!

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Just moments ago, Japanese architect Shigeru Ban was announced at the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate. The 56-year old architect, who has offices in Tokyo, Paris, and NYC, is known for his elegant and innovative applications of unconventional materials such as paper and corrugated plastic in his structures, for both private international clients and in disaster relief efforts. Jump ahead to see some of his best works, including the Metal Shutter Houses, located right here in NYC.
More Shigeru here
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