All articles by Ondel Hylton

Ondel is 6sqft's Market News Editor and the Digital Content Manager for CityRealty. He’s a lifelong New Yorker and comprehensive assessor of the city’s dynamic urban landscape. Ondel is an alumnus of Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture, and is a LEED accredited professional. Beginning his career as a Junior Architect at DaSILVA Architects, Ondel moved to the public sector as an Analyst Architect for the New York City Office of Management and Budget. Aside from CityRealty and 6sqft, he is a volunteer at the Skyscraper Museum, a docent for the Municipal Arts Society, and leads architectural tours around the city.

May 20, 2016

REVEALED: First Look at Downtown Brooklyn’s New Office Tower at 540 Fulton Street

By Ondel Hylton

Downtown Brooklyn and its Fulton Street Mall lost a bit of its soul late last year with the demolition of an ornate 1891 Romanesque-Reviaval gem at 540 Fulton Street. Prior to being cleared, the two-story structure held a jumble of small retailers that included a jewelry exchange, Metro King Sushi & Teriyaki and a Lucille Roberts. When the building was finished 125 years ago, it rose three floors with its first tenant being F.W Woolworth's "five-and-dime store," their first Downtown Brooklyn location. Now with the slate wiped clean, what's envisioned to rise from the 18,531-square-foot lot near the corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension is a 19-story, 200,000-square-foot office block developed by the real estate investment and management firm Jenel Management. A new building application was filed with the Department of Building's last April, listing Marvel Architects as the applicant of record. The proposed building's podium will contain three levels of retail space from the cellar to the second level, and 17 floors of office space above.
find out more here

New Developments

May 20, 2016

Bed-Stuy’s The MYNT Offering One Month Free on New Leases

By Ondel Hylton

In the thriving Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, the recently finished rental building named The MYNT is offering one month free on 12-month leases for select apartments. Currently, two no-fee units are complying with the offer: Unit 4J is a three-bed, two-bath spanning 1,200 square feet is available for a net effective rent of $3,484/month, and two floors above, unit 6J is a two-bed/two-bath available for a net effective rent of $3,117/month.
find out more about the deal here

May 19, 2016

Madison Equities Files Permit for 1,115-Foot Supertall Condo in the Financial District

By Ondel Hylton

Madison Equities and Pizzarotti Group filed a new building application yesterday to construct a 1,115-foot supertall skyscraper at 45 Broad Street in the heart of the Financial District. When finished, reportedly in 2018 (good luck with that), the tower will be the second tallest building in lower Manhattan after 1 WTC, and the sixth tallest in the city. As detailed by the application, the tower will comprise 371,634 gross square-feet of floor area spread across 66 floors. Listed are 150 units, a bit less than the 245 condo-residences Pizzarotti CEO, Rance MacFarland said there would be earlier this year. Supposedly, the building will cater to "entry- and mid-level buyers" with relatively conservative prices of below $2,000 per square foot on average. To afford the maximum amount of residences with coveted views of the harbor and the skyline, apartments will begin on the 15th floor where they are configured at four-units per floor up to the 33rd level. Floors 35-51, 53,55 and 57 will have three units per floor and floors 52, 54, and 58 just two units. Floors 61 and 62 will host two duplex aeries and the uppermost residential floor, 62, will house a single full floor penthouse that will be the highest residence in hemisphere outside of Billionaires' Row. Amenities on the lower, view-deprived floors will include a 60-foot indoor lap pool, a gym, a garden, a pet spa, a game room, bike room and other entertainment areas.
find out more here

May 18, 2016

Only One Unit Remains at Long Island City’s Baker House, Now Offering Two Months Free Rent

By Ondel Hylton

Not all of Long Island City's new developments are gargantuan or fully encased in glass. One such anomaly is Ranger Properties' recently opened rental building called the Baker House. Replacing a building that housed the Bakers Union Local 3, the development rises a modest nine floors within the human-scaled confines of the Dutch Kills section of the neighborhood, the 47,000 square-foot building was designed by Fogarty Finger Architects and boasts a tasteful exterior of red brick, metal and staggered floor to ceiling glass windows. Inside are 48 light-bathed apartments ranging from studios to two-bedroom layouts. Remarkably, after debuting on the market just earlier this year, the leasing agents at Modern Spaces have all but one of the units accounted for. The sole remaining home is a 700 square-foot, one-bedrooms, one-bathroom on the eighth floor, priced at a net-effective rent of $2,529/month. All residences are outfitted with white oak hardwood floors, Carrara marble baths, and open kitchens with Pedini cabinets and Bosch appliances.
find out more here

May 17, 2016

Glenwood’s Newest Lincoln Center-Adjacent Tower Starts Leasing With Discounted Rents

By Ondel Hylton

When we last checked in on Glenwood Management's latest rental development at 175 West 60th Street, the 48-story, 533-foot tall building had just topped-out and launched its affordable housing lottery offering apartments priced as low as $566/month. Now, the team has jump-started leasing on the building's 205 market-rate residences. Dubbed The Encore—likely due to its proximity to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the tower being Glenwood's second foray on Fordham University's Lincoln Square campus superblock (Hawthorn Park was the first)—the building is centrally positioned at the meeting of Midtown West and Upper West Side. According to Glenwood, occupancy for the upscale rentals will begin on July 1, and early lease-signors, for a limited time, can capture net-effective rents of $3,483/month for alcove studios, $4,790/month for one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms starting at $7,297/month.
more details this way

May 16, 2016

Downtown Brooklyn’s Newly-Launched City Tower Offering One Month Free Rent

By Ondel Hylton

City Tower, the second phase of Downtown Brooklyn's 1.8 million-square-foot, mixed-use mega-development, has debuted, ushering in 439 brand new market-rate rentals to the heart of the borough. For a limited time, the building is offering new renters one month for free based on a 13-month lease. The 38-story tower's current availabilities include four studios starting at $2,423/month, five one-bedrooms at $2,838/month, and three two-bedrooms at $4,154/month. The building was developed and is being managed by the long-established Brodsky Organization and was designed by the acclaimed eco-conscious architects at COOKFOX. Perched twenty floors above 700,000 square feet of retail, entertainment and dining spaces, many of City Tower's residences provide spectacular views of the harbor and Manhattan skyline.
Get the full scoop on the building this way

May 13, 2016

Morris Adjmi’s Tribeca Condo Building at 83 Walker Street Gets Its Inverted Facade

By Ondel Hylton

After a unanimously approval by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in June 2011, the Morris Adjmi-designed condo building at 83 Walker Street has fully risen and is nearly completely adorned with its creamy, concrete facade. The nine-story, 19,000-square-foot building is being developed by Brooklyn-based Abra Construction Corp. and will house a duplex unit at the ground and cellar levels and eight full-floor residences above. Its narrow 24-foot-wide lot is within the fast-changing eastern extents of Tribeca (formerly Chinatown) and sits within the Tribeca East Historic District. The realized project is slightly higher than zoning allows and had to seek approval from the City Planning Commission in addition to the LPC.
The story behind that inverted facade

May 12, 2016

Leasing Begins at Downtown Brooklyn’s One Duffield, No-Fee Units Begin at $2,400/Month

By Ondel Hylton

Within the human-scaled oasis between the Manhattan Bridge and the BQE, a 57,000-square-foot church conversion has wrapped up construction, releasing 84 brand-new no-fee rental apartments to the Downtown Brooklyn market. Named One Duffield, for its address at the corner of Gold and Duffield streets, the five-story building uses some of the structural bones of a prior two-story church and completely re-imagines its aesthetic into a varied composition of brown and orange brick, metal siding, and large square windows. Nataliya Donskoy of ND Architecture and Design P.C. is the designer of the building and "The Bridge Building LLC" is listed as the developer in permits.
Get pricing and see inside

May 10, 2016

Housing Lottery Kicks Off For 140 New Apartments in the Bronx, Starting at $788

By Ondel Hylton

The Bronx is the state's fastest growing county, and its development boom continues to add hundreds of units to the city's depleted affordable housing stock. Now today, an affordable housing lottery has officially kicked off at 655 Morris Avenue that will bring 140 below-market rate units to the revitalized Melrose/Concourse Village section of the borough. Rising 15 stories from a long-vacant lot, the 217,579-square-foot development will contain a mix of apartment sizes: seven studios are priced from $788 per month; 62 one-bedrooms from $847; 65 two-bedrooms from $1,025; and 6 three-bedroom units from $1,182. The apartments are created through the city's LAMP program and are able to be rented out at affordable rents because of the low-cost financing offered to the developers. The program is reserved for households earning 60 percent of the annual median income (AMI) of the NYC region, therefore individuals can have a maximum income of $38,100 and households of six up to $105,600.
See if you qualify

Affordable Housing

May 7, 2016

Leasing Begins at Neo-Brutalist Rental Tower in Midtown East

By Ondel Hylton

Leasing has begun at Midtown East's newest rental building at 235 East 44th Street. Developed by CMSJ Development, the 70,000-square-foot, ground-up building contains 67 units across its 19 floors. For current availabilities, monthly prices start at $3,300 for studios, $4,500 for one-bedrooms, $6,105 for two-bedrooms, and $8,100 for three-bedrooms. Designed by Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects, it's is situated mid-block along a dense urban canyon just two blocks east of Grand Central Terminal and one block west of the United Nations. Its street-facing exterior is finished in GKV's trademark aesthetic of exposed cast-in-place concrete, reminiscent of the Brutalist movement of the 1950s and '60s. The tower's glass walls and concrete floor slabs undulate in opposite directions, softening the raw materials and adding fluidity to the building's form.
Interior apartment details this way

Five-Star ‘Lazar Hotel’ Coming to Midtown, Will Meld Modern With Late-1700s Baroque

By Ondel Hylton

West 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues is home to some of the city's most elite hotels, such as the Royalton, Sofitel and Algonquin, and also to esteemed institutions like the Harvard Club, Penn Club and New York Yacht Club. Near the stretch's Fifth Avenue corner, a new 20-story, 96-key hotel tower is in the works at 7 West 44th Street, and it will be festooned in Baroque stylings, Juliet balconies, twisted columns, cast-iron railings, and a grand lobby staircase.
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May 5, 2016

Live in Extell’s Hudson Yards Skyscraper 555Ten for $910/Month

By Ondel Hylton

Last September, 6sqft reported the topping out of Extell Development's 610-foot-tall, mixed-use tower quietly rising at 555 Tenth Avenue and 41st Street. Now fully sheathed in glass, the development team kicked off its housing lottery for the building's 120 below-market rate units, priced from $910 per month for studios up to to $1,315 for three-bedrooms. Designed by SLCE Architects, the 53-story, 725,000-square-foot structure rises one block west of the Port Authority Bus Terminal and two avenues west of the 42nd Street A/C/E train station with its connection to Times Square. The building is within the emerging Hudson Yards area, which over the next decade will usher in thousands of residential units and millions of square feet of new office space. Across from the tower, an additional 7-train subway station may be constructed to meet the increasing number of residents in the area.
Find out if you qualify here

May 4, 2016

Related Launches Hudson Yards Living Website With New Renderings

By Ondel Hylton

On the heels of the news that Hudson Yards will add $18.9 billion to the city's GDP and the reconfirmation that the developers will build an iconic $200 million sculpture at the center of the plan's plaza, Related quietly launched a new Hudson Yards Living website, providing general information for prospective residents and a few new images of the $20 billion master plan.
More details and renderings this way

May 4, 2016

Affordable Luxury Hits the Upper East Side Market at 389 East 89th Street

By Ondel Hylton

At First Avenue and 89th Street on the Upper East Side, 31 floors of spacious, light-filled homes have been reintroduced to the market. In a building previously known as the Post Toscana, 199 rental apartments have been upgraded and enlarged into 156 one- to three-bedroom residences fashioned by acclaimed interior designer Paris Forino. Now dubbed 389 E 89, the tower is the latest in a flurry of top-shelf rental buildings re-branded as affordable condos with high-end finishes.
All the info ahead

May 3, 2016

Extell Files to Demolish Two More Fifth Avenue Buildings For Its Mega-Midtown Assemblage

By Ondel Hylton

Back in January, 6sqft reported that the busybodies at Extell Development filed permits to demolish a string of six tumble-turned walk-up buildings between 3 and 13 West 46th Street in Midtown. Now, as expected, the Gary Barnett-led firm has filed permits to demolish the Warren & Wetmore-designed corner building at 562 Fifth Avenue and a somewhat incongruous Tudor-style building at 564 Fifth Avenue. While none of the condemned buildings are extraordinary in design, 562 Fifth Avenue is perhaps a more tasteful affair than much of the schlock going up these days. Designed by the same architects as Grand Central Terminal, the slivery 13-story commercial building was once known as the I. Miller Building and features intricately ornamented spandrel areas, a pedimented roofline, and an unoriginal albeit charming Fifth Avenue storefront.
More on Extell's plans and the history of the soon-to-be-razed buildings

May 3, 2016

172 Madison Tops Out and Reveals Renderings for Incredible Penthouse with Two Pools

By Ondel Hylton

Within the Empire State Building's five o'clock shadow, an eruption of glossy residential high-rises are nipping at the dame's feet. Embracing a thoroughfare most familiar for its commercial connotations, the latest tower to ascend is a 33-story condo simply known by its address, 172 Madison Avenue. The 130,000-square-foot skyscraper is being developed by Tessler Developments and is among a half-dozen residential buildings planned for a central, yet undefined neighborhood that is almost Murray Hill, but not quite NoMad. Its topped off concrete frame rises nearly 450 feet above its East 33rd street corner, which was previously occupied by a ubiquitous clump of commercial, low-slung masonry structures. Now with its debut pegged for early next year, the symmetrically-massed tower designed by Karl Fischer Architects is being dressed in its sparkly coat of reflective glass that is accentuated by robust onyx-colored frames. And along with this debut, comes new renderings of the triplex penthouse dubbed the SkyHouse, which is a massive marble palace with two outdoor pools.
All the details and renderings ahead

May 2, 2016

New Renderings of West Chelsea’s SkyBox Development and Art Gallery

By Ondel Hylton

A unique mixed-use development in West Chelsea may be the paradigm of what new development in Manhattan could aspire to. Combining new construction and rehabilitation, and marrying ostentatious high-end condos with affordable rentals and an art museum/gallery, the project dubbed Chelsea SkyBox will satiate a wide spectrum of urbanites. The 250-foot tower will rise directly south of Annabelle Selldorf's metal-face condo 200 Eleventh Avenue (aka the "Sky garage") and will host ten full-floor apartments plus a spectacular five-story penthouse that developer Jonathan Leitersdorf told the Journal he will ultimately occupy. The project also will rehabilitate the corner SRO building next door known as the Chelsea Highline Hotel. The ground floors of both buildings will be shared, and there will be 15,000-square- feet of commercial space that will have 30-foot-high ceilings and accommodate an art museum and a private gallery to contain works by Picasso, Keith Haring, Kandinsky, and Anish Kapoor.
Lots more renderings ahead

April 30, 2016

The Upper West Side Readies For Two Synagogue-Replacing Condo Skyscrapers

By Ondel Hylton

The Upper West Side has proven to be one of the most difficult areas to build, with a growing amount of land area contained in historic districts and much of the remainder constrained by tight zoning regulations. Over the years, its protective residents have been involved in the city's most memorable development battles: fighting tooth and nail to reduce the scale of the Riverside South master plan; lessen shadows caused by the redevelopment of the New York Coliseum site (Time Warner Center); and more recently spearheading the downzoning of a 51-block swath of Broadway due to grievances caused by Extell's Ariel East and West towers. For the most part, the defensive strategy has allowed the neighborhood to retain much of its pre-war charms and human-scaled side streets. However, along its southern edge, where the buildings around Lincoln Center scale upwards to Midtown, zoning allowances are more generous. Two as-of-right towers are sure to ruffle some preservationists' feathers and are poised to be the neighborhood's biggest yet.
Get the scoop on the towers here

April 28, 2016

New Williamsburg Condos Tout Parisian Style and Industrial Craftsmanship

By Ondel Hylton

Near the corner of Union Avenue and Conselyea Street in East Williamsburg, a modestly sized six-floor condominium is underway. Addressed 476 Union Avenue, the project is designed and developed by the Meshberg Group, who purchased a four-story, walk-up building formerly at the lot for $2.4 million. Rising from the structural bones of the prior building, the 8,650-square-foot development will offer nine condos that the team proclaims are where "Parisian style meets industrial craftsmanship."
More details ahead

April 27, 2016

Greenpoint’s 533 Leonard Condos Hit the Market Asking Above Neighborhood Average

By Ondel Hylton

Along the southern border of Greenpoint, near Williamsburg's McCarren Park, a once charming 19th-century school building at 533 Leonard Street is completing its adaptive reuse into 13 condominiums. Three two-bedroom units were just listed on the market this week asking an average price per square foot of $1,411, a bit above Greenpoint's current average condo asking price of $1,152 per square foot. The 21,000-square-foot development is a synthesis of the Italianate-style Horace Greeley School married with a modern addition and gut-renovated interiors handled by local architects MDIM.
Check out the available units

April 26, 2016

Trump’s Flubs: The Donald’s Failed Attempts to Erect the World’s Tallest Building in NYC

By Ondel Hylton

Presidential candidate Donald Trump's aggressive tone and occasional outlandish statements have dominated the conversation in the Republican primaries, and today is sure to be no different. Though his supporters feel that he's a shoo-in, his real estate track record hasn't always resulted in success. Take for example his fraught attempt to own the Empire State Building, which ended in lawsuits and public shaming, or his $80 million loss on the Plaza Hotel, which resulted from his near bankruptcy in the '90s. In addition to these public debacles, the developer-turned-showman-turned-politician has envisioned at least three of the world's tallest buildings in New York over the years, which makes sense for a man who glories in superlatives and for whom every project is a flamboyant gesture. In honor of the Donald's never-ending presence, 6sqft decided to take a look at these never-realized, sky-high proposals, which include the New York Stock Exchange Tower, Television City Tower, and 10 Columbus Circle.
Get the story behind all these failed attempts

April 22, 2016

Construction Update: Perch Harlem, NYC’s First Market-Rate Passive House, Shows Some Skin

By Ondel Hylton

Work on the city's first market-rate Passive House, Perch Harlem, is moving apace, and just in time for Earth Day, a bit of construction netting was taken down, giving passersby a glimpse of its super-insulated white exterior (good for heat deflection) and seamless rectangular windows. The seven-story structure rises midblock at 542 West 153rd Street and recently topped out in January. When finished later this year, its 34 units will boast superior workmanship, low energy bills and exceptional indoor air quality. The project's developers, the Synapse Development Group with Taurus Investment Holdings, purchased the 10,000-square-foot former parking lot back in 2013 and have been growing their Perch brand of buildings that strive to provide environmentally low-impact living and community-oriented design.
READ MORE

April 21, 2016

First Domino Sugar Refinery Tower at 325 Kent Avenue Now Rising Above Williamsburg

By Ondel Hylton

After breaking ground last spring, the first tower of Two Trees' three million-square-foot Domino Sugar Refinery Master Plan has finally lifted out of the ground. Addressed 325 Kent Avenue (Site E), the 400,000-square-foot building rises one block inland from the East River waterfront and the remaining five parcels of the master plan. The future 16-story, 189-foot-tall project covers three-quarters of its block bound by Kent and Wythe Avenues and South 3rd and 4th Streets. All in all, the two-winged tower will hold a whopping 522 rental units, making it the second largest residential building in Williamsburg after the also-in-construction 2 North 6th Street.
Find out more about the development

April 20, 2016

Thor/General Growth File Permits to Add New Office Space Atop Fifth Avenue’s Upcoming ‘Coach House’

By Ondel Hylton

Part of its overall marketing plan to reinvent itself, Coach has leased space at 685 Fifth Avenue for a new flagship location to be called "Coach House." As outlined in new DOB filings and renderings, the luxury retailer will occupy a three-story corner portion at the base of the building, amounting to 23,400 square feet. As part of the property's transformation, floor area from the lower levels will be removed and redistributed to the top of the 20-story building, providing five new floors of office space and raising the building's height from 227 feet to 292 feet.
Watch the marketing video for the project

New Developments

April 18, 2016

Construction Begins on Gene Kaufman-Designed Apartments Rising Over Bryant Park

By Ondel Hylton

At a narrow Midtown lot at 1050 Sixth Avenue, construction is moving forward on a slender 24-story residential tower penned by New York's most beloved architect, Gene Kaufman. Rising behind the landmarked Bryant Park Studios Building (aka The Beaux-Arts Building), Kaufman's oft substance-less style will likely stand in sharp contrast to the charming 1901 structure. Skyline Developers, the New York division of Jersey-based Garden Homes Development, are the developers. The Orin Wilf-led firm owns the adjacent art-deco office tower at 1040 Sixth Avenue, and their new venture here will replace two turn-of-the-century walk-up buildings.
More details ahead

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