Architecture And Design

Historic Bronx General Post Office is for sale again after food market plans dissolve

Via Wikimedia

November 1, 2018

Historic Bronx General Post Office is for sale again after food market plans dissolve

The historic Bronx General Post Office on the Grand Concourse is once again for sale, Welcome2TheBronx reports. The familiar neighborhood landmark was purchased from the postal service in 2014 by developer Young Woo & Associates and the Bristol Group for $19 million, as 6sqft previously reported. After suggesting a new life for the 80+-year-old building as "a crossroads for community, commerce and culture" including a food market that could become a dining/drinking/shopping destination, the developer has put the building up for sale for an undisclosed price.
Find out more

View from Domino Park, photo by Daniel Levin

October 31, 2018

Waterfront Access Map makes it easier for New Yorkers to get to the shoreline

By Emily Nonko

Fresh off the news that the city will invest over $250 million to connect and green 32 miles of Manhattan waterfront, it's become easier for New Yorkers to access the existing waterfront spaces open to the public. The Department of City Planning has just released the Waterfront Access Map, a tool to help you find one of the 200 open spaces situated along the city’s 520 miles of shoreline. It was released to mark the 25th anniversary of a 1993 zoning change that mandated public access to the city’s shoreline whenever a waterfront property is redeveloped.
Check out the map

Architecture And Design

October 31, 2018

Vornado releases new renderings of $200M Penn Plaza redevelopment

By Michelle Cohen

REIT Vornado Realty Trust expects to be starting work on the first phase of renovation at Pennsylvania Plaza before the end of this year according to CEO Steve Roth, The Real Deal reports. The $200 million "megacampus" redevelopment project plan for the 2.5 million-square-foot building at One Penn Plaza–including a double-height lobby–is expected to be completed in two years. In 2016 Vornado released renderings for Two Penn Plaza by starchitect Bjarke Ingels. New renderings were released Wednesday on the company's website.
See more renderings, this way

Architecture And Design

October 31, 2018

See how NYC’s top architecture firms carved their Halloween pumpkins

By Michelle Cohen

As one of the highlights of this year's Archtober celebration of the built environment, Pumpkitecture 2018 saw 20 of NYC's top architecture firms once again go gourd to gourd to compete for the Pritzkerpumpkin. Find out who squashed the competition, and see some of this year’s most creative entries, ahead.
And the winner is

October 30, 2018

The triplex penthouse at Zaha Hadid’s High Line condo relists for $50M

By Devin Gannon

One of New York City's most illustrious penthouses has once again hit the market for $50 million, the same price it was listed for more than two years prior. The grand triplex apartment, Penthouse 37, is located in late starchitect Zaha Hadid's condo building in Chelsea, 520 West 28th Street. Measuring over 6,800 square feet, the apartment's three levels are connected by a sculptural staircase, the architectural centerpiece of this stunning home. The roof level includes a 2,000-square-foot terrace which offers views of the Chelsea skyline and the High Line.
Inside the crown jewel

Rendering via Studio Gang

October 30, 2018

Museum of Natural History expansion plans stalled by restraining order and lawsuit

By Michelle Cohen

As 6sqft previously reported, last October the architects at Studio Gang tweaked their proposal for the American Museum of Natural History expansion to preserve more public parkland–and the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously approved the plans. Now, Curbed reports, those expansion plans have been put on hold after a temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued against the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation by New York State Supreme Court justice Lynn Kotler. The TRO follows a lawsuit filed by a community group that has been opposed to the expansion, saying it will destroy the park, cause trees to be removed and endanger the safety and environment surrounding the construction area.
How big a setback is this?

October 30, 2018

Historic building at Brooklyn Navy Yard to be restored as modern manufacturing space

By Devin Gannon

A former boat repair facility at the Brooklyn Navy Yard will get restored as a modern manufacturing space, the last adaptive reuse project at the 300-acre site. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) last month closed on $42 million in financing to restore Building 127, which was built in 1904 by the U.S. Navy for ship construction. S9 Architecture is handling the "historically sensitive" gut renovation, which will bring 95,000 square feet of modern industrial space to the Yard by 2020.
More here

October 29, 2018

The former Swedish American Athletic Club in Park Slope is now a $6M townhouse

By Michelle Cohen

Situated on an elegant Park Slope corner lot where Sixth Avenue meets Garfield Place, the house at 267 Sixth Avenue has a rare and unusual history. Built in the 1870s, the building is the former home of the Swedish American Athletic Club. In its current incarnation, the 7,200 square-foot house is comprised of a 5,400-square foot owner's triplex over a 1,800-square foot three-bedroom rental apartment–asking $5.999 million. In its athletic club days, the building featured a 90-foot ballroom, a billiard room, a bowling alley and a lounge with a 15-foot cocktail bar. The bar remains intact and the bowling alley (not pictured, unfortunately) lives partially unaltered on the home's lowest level.
Take the grand tour

Image credit: Binyan Studios

October 29, 2018

FXCollaborative reveals new renderings of slender Fidi condo tower

By Michelle Cohen

Trinity Place Holding’s new residential tower rising at 77 Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan has just released a teaser site and new renderings showing the 500-foot-tall building in all its future glory. With architecture by FXCollaborative and interiors by Deborah Berke Partners, the tower is four stories in to its 42-story height; sales are scheduled to begin in spring of 2019.
More details and renderings, this way

October 25, 2018

Transformed from a wreck into pricey condos, Crown Heights’ oldest house is renting for $9.25K/month

By Michelle Cohen

The historic Elkins House at 1375 Dean Street, an 1850s wood-frame home in Crown Heights, is officially the neighborhood's oldest house–and you can rent one of its duplex units from January to April of 2019 for $9,250 a month. The landmarked wood-frame building has been completely renovated with 2,033 square feet of living space including five bedrooms (two with private balconies) and a private top-floor deck. The home's newly-converted condos were last seen on the market last spring, with two duplex units–including this one–asking $2.3 and $2.7 million.
Take a tour

For less than $600K, you can own this Gilded Age NJ mansion with NYC skyline views

By Dana Schulz

Here in NYC, if you want skyline views, you're going to have to cough up some serious dough. But just 45 minutes away, in South Orange, New Jersey, you can get that, plus an entire historic mansion sitting on more than two acres, for less than $600,000 (h/t CIRCA). That is if the bidding doesn't get too out of control. This 11,000-square-foot Georgian-style home is headed to auction on November 18th and the minimum bid is set at $575,000. The winner will be living in Gilded Age glamour, as the 1924 home retains five ornate fireplaces, coffered ceilings, marble Corinthian columns, and an entire ballroom.
See inside

October 24, 2018

At $4.8M, this historic Upper West Side townhouse costs less than a Midtown condo

By Michelle Cohen

With its crimson brick facade, stepped gables, and graceful archways, this four-story 1886 townhouse at 383 West End Avenue is one in a row of eight. It's a legal two-family dwelling (so there's rental income potential) currently being used as a single-family home. The building's stained glass transoms, original fireplaces, and winding staircase reflect the artistry and Victorian stylings of designer Frederick B. White. Currently asking $4.795 million, it's a house in one of the city's most beloved neighborhoods with plenty of room for living, and it rings in at far less than the average luxury condominium, where you probably wouldn't even get a sunken garden and a magical third-floor terrace.
Gorgeous townhouse tour, this way

Updated looks for COOKFOX’s Domino Sugar building, Williamsburg’s will-be tallest

A previous rendering (left) and new rendering (right) of 1 South First via DBOX for Two Trees Management

October 19, 2018

Updated looks for COOKFOX’s Domino Sugar building, Williamsburg’s will-be tallest

By Devin Gannon

Fully above ground, the second tower to rise at the massive Domino Sugar site has a pair of new renderings. Designed by COOKFOX Architects, 1 South First (previously 260 Kent Avenue) is a 42-story mixed-use tower on the Williamsburg waterfront development, which was formerly home to the sugar manufacturing facility. When 1 South First opens next fall, it will join already opened 325 Kent Avenue and Domino Park, all developed by Two Trees Management.
See them here

To kick off Halloween weekend, watch NYC architects face off in a pumpkin-carving contest

Bjarke Ingels Group’s pumpkin tower from 2017; photo by Daniel Cole for Center for Architecture

October 19, 2018

To kick off Halloween weekend, watch NYC architects face off in a pumpkin-carving contest

By Devin Gannon

Don't expect to see typical Jack-o'-lanterns at the Center for Architecture's pumpkin-carving event this Halloween. On Oct. 26, 20 New York City-based architecture firms will face off at Pumpkitecture!, the center's third annual competition, which tests the ability of architects to create amazing designs across any medium (ie: a round, orange gourd). Attendees can watch the architects live-carve inventive structures and vote for the People's Pumpkin.
More on the gourds

October 18, 2018

Style icon Beatrix Ost’s $4M Hotel Des Artistes duplex is just as fabulous as you’d imagine

By Annie Doge

Designed as an artist's cooperative apartment building and the largest "studio" building in the city, the Hotel Des Artistes at 1 West 67th Street on the Upper West Side is one of NYC's most famous and illustrious buildings. As one of a constellation of style stars in Ari Seth Cohen's "Advanced Style" universe, former model, artist and muse to fashionistas of all ages Beatrix Ost is beloved for her perfect balance of creativity, confidence and cool. In a rare confluence of New York City fabulousness, the apartment Ost has shared with her husband, Ludwig Kuttner, since 2006 is on the market for $4 million–and the offbeat but ridiculously stylish space is every bit what we'd expect.
Take the tour

October 18, 2018

‘Real Housewife’ Jill Zarin prepares to downsize, lists Upper East Side condo for $3.3M

By Annie Doge

After her late husband, Bobby Zarin, passed away earlier this year, original "Real Housewives of New York" cast member Jill Zarin has put her Upper East Side condo on the market for $3.3 million, after living there for 18 years. Since her daughter is also out of the house, she told Forbes, "it's time for a change of scenery," which likely be warmer weather since she added, "Since I love tennis, I want to spend more time in a climate that is suited for it." Likely in anticipation of selling, Jill renovated the three-bedroom apartment at 401 East 60th Street less than a year ago, working with designers at Schoeller + Darling on a contemporary makeover.
Check it out

October 17, 2018

PHOTOS: See how the Statue of Liberty’s new museum is shaping up

By Devin Gannon

With the construction of the new Statue of Liberty Museum in its final stages, 6sqft on Tuesday toured the 26,000-square-foot site and its landscaped rooftop. This is the first ground-up building overseen by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, the nonprofit which has raised $100 million in private funds for the project. Designed by FXCollaborative with exhibits created by ESI Design, the angular-shaped museum will feature three immersive gallery spaces with one wing showcasing the Statue of Liberty's original torch and the iconic monument framed behind it through floor-to-ceiling glass.
See its progress

October 17, 2018

1940s Upper East Side Modernist mansion gets a price chop to $35M

By Michelle Cohen

Known as the Sherman Fairchild Mansion, the modern-fronted townhouse at 17 East 65th Street is one of those New York City sights that might cause you to do a double-take in the middle of an otherwise sedate Upper East Side sidewalk. The current façade of this five-story home was designed by William Hamby and George Nelson in 1940 for aviation pioneer/inventor Sherman Fairchild. Well-known architect Michael Graves was commissioned to design yet another facade for the home in 1979, but that version was never built. The 25-foot-wide, 9,440 square-foot modern townhouse has been on and off the market since 2014, beginning last year at $40 million. Now, this unique townhouse has engineered yet another re-debut with a discount, asking $35M.
Have another look inside

October 16, 2018

This $8.8M Park Slope limestone beauty was in ‘Boardwalk Empire’ and ‘The Age of Innocence’

By Michelle Cohen

Even in a neighborhood of grand and spectacular homes, 108 8th Avenue is a standout. The Park Slope townhouse has the scale and level of stunning historic detail that is, as the listing boasts, rarely found in a private home. It is also quietly possessed of 21st-century luxuries like central air and meticulously tended outdoor spaces, making it an even rarer gem that's now on the market for the first time in decades, asking $$8.8 million. Built in 1900, this limestone-clad mansion has a wealth of historic details like filigreed mahogany woodwork, original wood floors, delicately carved mantels and stained glass from world-renowned artists. Martin Scorcese's "The Age of Innocence" and HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" have made use of this opulent home to capture the essence of gracious living from a bygone era.
Take the grand tour

October 15, 2018

The Village’s beloved pink townhouse lists as an $11M fixer-upper

By Michelle Cohen

Often noted for its unusual studio window and bright coral hue, the five-story townhouse at 114 Waverly Place was built in 1826 as part of a row of nine houses constructed for Thomas R. Mercein, who was at the time city comptroller and president of New York Equitable Fire Insurance Company. A dramatic overhaul in 1920 designed by William Sanger for portrait painter Murray P. Bewley is responsible for the building's quirkier design elements, which are credited to a German Expressionist style known as Jugendstil, a mix of English Art Nouveau and Japanese applied arts. This unusual Village house is now on the market for $11 million–with a few caveats.
Check it out

How a Greenwich Village brownstone became known as the ‘House of Death’

Photo of 14 West 10th Street via Wikimedia; Photo of Mark Twain via Wikimedia

October 12, 2018

How a Greenwich Village brownstone became known as the ‘House of Death’

By Devin Gannon

Despite its picturesque exterior, the building at 14 West 10th Street in Greenwich Village has a not-so-cute history. Since being constructed in the 1850s near the start of the Civil War, 22 people have died in the home, referred to as the House of Death. And as the New York Post reported, some of their spirits allegedly have never left. Residents have reported sightings of the spirit of Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain, who lived at the building between 1900 and 1901, and other bone-chilling ghosts who have haunted the Greenwich Village block for over a century.
More on the haunted home here

October 12, 2018

Marvel Architects reveal condo conversion of 200-year-old Nolita school

By Devin Gannon

Marvel Architects has completed its school-to-condo conversion in Nolita, bringing seven condos and one private townhouse to the former site of the Old St. Patrick's School on Prince Street. The project restored the facade of the four-story building, which was built in 1826, as well as its dormer windows and arched doorways. Because the interiors of the building, dubbed the Residences at Prince, were not landmarked, the architects were able to add new modern elements like steel columns and white oak floors while retaining original brick walls and roof timbers.
See it here

October 11, 2018

$8M mansion is a ‘waterfront Mediterranean villa’ in Queens

By Michelle Cohen

On the gilded coast of Queens along the East River in Beechhurst, just north of Whitestone, this 10,000-square-foot manse is asking $7.988 million. At the end of a quiet waterfront street where you might find an angler's retreat, behold instead this Mediterranean-style villa complete with an elevator, a four-car garage, a Florida room, a 20-foot mahogany foyer, a magnificent crystal chandelier, a fabulous pool, a dock for a 60-foot boat and a full outdoor kitchen. All in a gated community, natch. Did we forget the gazebo?
Take a fascinating $8M tour

October 10, 2018

Get a peek at the new sculpture garden going up next to Zaha Hadid’s High Line condo

By Michelle Cohen

Back in May 6sqft reported on plans for the 15 new gallery spaces in the works next to the Zaha Hadid-designed condo at 520 West 28th Street along the High Line, with the Paul Kasmin Gallery to anchor the project, which will expand into a 5,000-square-foot space with a sculpture garden designed by Future Green on its roof. With the official opening of the new building and inaugural exhibitions of works by Walton Ford and Joel Shapiro come new photos of the gallery and of the sculpture garden being installed.
More photos this way

Architect Richard Meier steps down following sexual harassment allegations

Photo via Richard Meier & Partners Architects

October 9, 2018

Architect Richard Meier steps down following sexual harassment allegations

By Devin Gannon

Famed architect Richard Meier is stepping down from his eponymous architecture firm following sexual harassment allegations made earlier this year, his office announced on Tuesday. According to a press release from Richard Meier & Partners Architects, Meier will "step back from day-to-day activities and support the leadership transition of the firm he founded in 1963." In March, five women accused Meier of sexual harassment and said he groped them, exposed himself, and other similar inappropriate incidents, the New York Times first reported.
More here