Real Estate Trends

Smart adaptive reuse or an alarmingly bad design? A Bed-Stuy church conversion sees the historic structure all boxed up. [Brownstoner] Is the city’s booming real estate market a reflection of the city’s strong economy or a bubble driven by speculative investment? Greg David investigates. [Crain’s] A new hotel designed by Peter Poon will replace a […]

Real Estate Trends

July 16, 2014

Citigroup’s Former Chairman Sanford Weill Sells His Maid’s Quarters for $5.34M

It's great being Sandy Weill, and apparently it's also pretty good being his hired help. According to city records, the former Citigroup chairman just sold off his servants quarters, a lovely little sixth floor pad at celeb favorite, 15 Central Park West. The sale of 6H rang in at an impressive $5.337M — more than five times what Weill paid for it back in 2007. But Weill is no stranger to making big bucks on his real estate deals. Back in 2011 he sold his apartment in the same luxury tower for a record-breaking $88M to Katerina Rybolovleva, the young daughter of Russian billionaire Dmitriy Rybolovlev.
More details here

Real Estate Trends

July 16, 2014

Winamp Creator Picks Up an Ultra Cozy Tompkins Place Pad in Cobble Hill

Justin Frankel, developer of the popular early 2000s music-ripping program Winamp, just purchased a cozy Cobble Hill duplex for $2.35 million, according to city records. The Tompkins Place pad has three bedrooms and 1.5 baths and is located on what some consider to be the best block in Cobble Hill, with plenty of shopping and dining right around the corner.
Let's take a look inside

July 16, 2014

Mayor Bill De Blasio Proposes to Transform Downtown Brooklyn

Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to make a proposal on Wednesday that will launch an initiative to transform Downtown Brooklyn into a community that will rival some of its brownstone counterparts. The area has undoubtedly grown significantly over the last decade with new restaurants and cultural institutions that have attracted an influx of residents. However locals feel that the area still feels a bit disconnected. De Blasio’s plan aims to create a greater sense of community in the neighborhood.
Find out more about the proposal here

Real Estate Trends

July 15, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Downtown Brooklyn is a Shining Example of Good Development; One of Greenwich’s Oldest Homes Could be Razed

Vornado Realty Trust and Crown Acquisitions have just paid $700M for 24,700 square feet of retail space plus air rights at the St. Regis Hotel and a neighboring townhouse. Insiders suspect they’re looking to get in on booming retail sales which could lead to higher future rents. [TRD] Michael Stern’s JDS Development Group, together with […]

Real Estate Trends

July 15, 2014

Nautica Founder Gets $27 Million for His Impressive Flatiron Townhouse

$27 million is nothing to sneeze at, even if you are David Chu, the founder of international clothing company Nautica. Chu purchased the townhouse at 25 East 22nd Street in 2004 for $9.3 million. He then embarked on a gut renovation, replacing the limestone façade, adding fifth and sixth floors and an elevator, and creating a swanky mixed-use building that housed his corporate headquarters and a one-bedroom pied-à-terre. The home went on the market in May 2013 for $29.99 million, and has now sold to buyer Hannah Charitable LLC for $26.8 million.
Have a look at the interior of this elegant townhouse

July 15, 2014

Jeffrey Gates and Richard Moran Acquire the Rest of Laurie Tisch’s Brentmore Penthouse for $22.5M

Jeffrey Gates, of Gates Capital Management, and his partner Richard Michael Moran have just acquired the rest of Laurie Tisch's penthouse at the Brentmore, according to city records. Three years ago the pair traded up from apartment 6W to 9N, when Laurie Tisch sold off her pad in pieces. Retired investor Michael Stubbs and his wife Veronica, who lived in the neighboring apartment 10/11N purchased Tisch’s remaining unit 10W. Now it appears that Gates and Moran may have added the Stubbs’s newly renovated apartment combo to their estate for $22.5 million.
Take a look inside the newly acquired property here

July 15, 2014

Real Estate Wire: New York City’s Tallest Skyscrapers; The Scary Outdoor Spaces of Craigslist Apartments

New York City’s tallest skyscrapers [TRD] Rentals on North 10th Street in Williamsburg hit the market, starting at $2,385 a month [Brownstoner] A residential tower might rise on a controversial Park Place site [Curbed] Tour the former Sisters of Mercy Convent in Clinton Hill [Brownstoner] The horrifying outdoor spaces of Craigslist apartments [Curbed] Medgar Evers […]

Real Estate Trends

July 14, 2014

Checking in on the Progress at One World Trade Center in Photos

As many of you architecture buffs know, One WTC now rises a symbolic 1,776 feet, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third tallest in the entire world. Designed by renowned architect David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it also has a LEED Gold certification and is the most environmentally sustainable project of its size. After a temporary real estate slump, the 104-story, glass and steel building is now 56% leased, with big-time tenants like Conde Naste, Morgan Stanley, Legends Hospitality, and BMB Group. Eight years after construction began, One World Trade is at an exciting juncture with its tenants expected to move in by the end of the year, already beginning to build out their office spaces. The original crew of 10,000 has been reduced to 600, and we're checking in on what these remaining workers are up to.
Check out some amazing photos of the progress at One WTC

Upper East Side Hopes to Create High Line-esque Park Over Garbage Transfer Site

What is it they say about one man’s trash being another man’s treasure? Well, after failed attempts to stop construction of the Upper East Side's inevitable new garbage dump, community groups have chosen the next best route: give the dump a makeover. That’s so Upper East Side, isn’t it? The idea, according to the NY Daily News, is to transform the garbage-transfer station into a community park. The plan, a collaboration with Sam Schwartz Engineering, would relocate a quarter-mile long garbage truck ramp to the side of the Asphalt Green complex. The ramp would be covered by a green High Line-esque walkway.
Find out more about the plan here

Real Estate Trends

July 11, 2014

Real Esate Wire: Ace Hotel Definitely Coming to Brooklyn; Harlem Penthouse Renting for $10.5K a Month

By Jon Dioffa

Is Jared Kushner plotting to turn 20 apartments into one giant West Village mansion? [Curbed] ACE Hotel is indeed coming to Downtown Brooklyn. Permits were just filed for a site along Bond Street. [Brownstoner] Harlem rents are up and a landlord is looking to rent a penthouse at 1080 Amsterdam Ave. for $10,500 a month. [NYDN] […]

Real Estate Trends

July 11, 2014

$10.6 Million Sale on Fifth Avenue Features City Views Like Artwork

The opulent former estate of New York socialite Monica E. Hollander has sold for over $100K over asking, according to city records. The 980 Fifth Avenue co-op was on the market for roughly 6 months before a couple scooped up the gem. Warburg Realty’s Wendy Greenbaum held the listing and we’re guessing she used the apartment’s two most famous neighbors--Central Park and the New York City skyline—as a huge selling point.
Take a look inside, here

July 10, 2014

Real Estate Wire: The 10 Biggest Projects Filed in June; A Bed-Stuy Laundromat Sells for $4.3M

Asian insurance funds are set to increase their spending on overseas real estate by $75 billion, and NYC could get a chunk of that. [TRD] 10 biggest NYC real estate projects filed in June. [TRD] A look inside the penthouses at 443 Greenwich, Tribeca’s priciest new conversion. [Curbed] Architect Enrique Norton of Ten Arquitectos is […]

Real Estate Trends

July 10, 2014

One of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance Sells Greenwich Village Pad for $2.6 Million

HSBC investment banker and one of the 25 most powerful women in finance, Katia Bouazza, has just sold her Greenwich Village pad for $2.6 million, according to city records. Who would have thought the Co-head of Global Capital Markets for the Americas could have such great taste?
Take a look inside this gorgeous loft here

July 10, 2014

Funky Apartment in Flipper-Favorite 166 Perry Street Sells for $2.5 Million

166 Perry Street, the futuristic, Asymptote-designed condo with a vertical undulating façade, has become notorious for its failed flipping attempts. But the curse might be lifted at the eight-story West Village residence thanks to the recent $2.5 million sale of apartment 1B, a 2BR/2.5BA duplex that has been outfitted with modern touches and funky details. The 2,526-square-foot unit initially sold in 2010, a year after the building's completion, for $1.756 million. When the pad went on the market this time around in January 2013, it was listed for $3.995 million. Though today's owner had to lower the asking price, she still made a profit of nearly $1 million.
Check out the colorful digs here

July 10, 2014

Brooklyn Rents on the Rise With Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy Leading the Charge; Manhattan Rents Relatively Stable

This past week there has been a lot of talk about Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy finally having their "moment", and it looks like there are numbers in to back that up. MNS's June rental market report for Brooklyn and Manhattan reveal that both developers and renters are looking to move away from saturated areas like Williamsburg and DUMBO. By MNS's measure, average rents in Brooklyn increased from $2,556 to $2,741, or 6.2%, as compared with June of last year — very much driven by rent hikes in gentrifying areas. Manhattan rents on the other hand fell just slightly.
More on the Brooklyn and Manhattan rental markets here

Real Estate Trends

July 10, 2014

Kimora Lee Simmons Buys a Phat Apartment at the Marquand

Well, it only makes sense for the creator of Baby Phat to live in a phat crib. Investment banker Tim Leissner, otherwise known as Mr. Kimora Lee Simmons, just dropped $19 million on an 8th floor apartment at The Marquand, according to the NY Post. The 5BR/5.5BA unit has its own private elevator landing and wood burning fireplaces, and while we’re not sure what other features the actual apartment boasts, other apartments in the building have bay windows, a chef’s kitchen, and a media niche with a concealed A/V closet.
Take a look inside the Baby Phat crib here

July 9, 2014

Real Estate Wire: A Bushwick Factory to Get New Life as Condos; A Peek Inside Norman Foster’s 425 Park Ave. Design

Our wrap-up of today’s real estate news highlights: Williamsburg-based development firm ASH NYC is planning to turn a longtime Bushwick glass factory into 80 apartments with ground floor commercial space. [Wyckoff Heights] Freddie and Fannie are warding off any “vultures” eyeing Stuy Town. The two mortgage giants say that they won’t provide funds to buyers who […]

Real Estate Trends

July 9, 2014

Parkview Developers Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass Sell Southmoor House Penthouse for $11.9 Million

It appears that Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass of Parkview Developers have sold one of their Southmoor House penthouses. The 17-floor building serves as more than just home to the Out Hotel developers. It’s also headquarters for their company. And like true developers, they own a big chunk of the building, making them one of the co-op’s biggest shareholders. While the newly troubled pair seems quite committed to their own symmetrical pad—turning down a $15.5 million cash offer a few years back without batting an eyelash—that doesn’t stop them from making serious bank on some other units. And you won't hear us complaining, because that means we get to check out this 3BR/3BA penthouse.
Take a look inside this premier pad here

July 9, 2014

Rubbermaid VP Snatches Up Patrick Naggar-Designed Chelsea Penthouse for $7 Million

We're guessing this penthouse loft at 138 West 17th Street is going to get very organized when new owner Mark Tarchetti, Chief Development Officer and Executive Vice President of Newell Rubbermaid Inc., moves in. He may not need to bring in too many plastic bins, though, as internationally acclaimed architect/designer Patrick Naggar executed a stunning combination of high function and low maintenance in this 3BR/3BA, 3,200-square-foot Chelsea apartment. Naggar incorporated exotic materials and top-notch artisanry to create a sleek, modern home that feels luxurious and comfortable. Natural light and 360-degree unobstructed views abound thanks to 20 huge windows and five skylights.
Think the penthouse was worth the $7 million price tag? Check out more details right this way

July 8, 2014

Real Estate Wire: New Images of 432 Park Ave Under Construction; Battle of the Penthouses

To power up the vast $18 billion Related Companies project at Hudson Yards, the developers are looking to off-grid electrical systems. However, being green may also mean having to pay out more green. ConEd’s standby tariffs are canceling out any benefits for both big and small buildings alike. [Crain’s] The managers of the Empire State Building have asked a judge to dismiss a […]

Real Estate Trends

July 8, 2014

New Renderings of Two Trees’ BAM South Tower Highlight Views, Green Roofs and Space for Outdoor Markets

New images of the BAM South Tower at 286 Ashland Place have emerged and come courtesy of the project's landscape architect, Grain Collective. The renderings hint not only at the incredible views that will be afforded by the new tower, but the major rehaul of the public spaces along Fulton Street, Ashland Place and Lafayette Avenue. The new streetscaping plan will add much needed green space to the barren concrete quarter, with plenty of room for outdoor activities and events for patrons of BAM and BRIC, as well as local residents, to enjoy.
More of what's to come here

July 8, 2014

West Village Federal Rowhouse with Surprise Attic Space Sells for $6 Million