Real Estate Trends

"For the second year in a row, Manhattan real estate prices soared, setting new records. For the first time, the median price for an apartment—including both co-ops and condos—was above $1 million." This is according to CityRealty's newly released Year-End Manhattan Market Report, which puts the median price at $1.1 million, 13 percent higher than last year and 60 percent higher than 2005. Additionally, the average apartment sales price ($1.9 million), the average condo price ($2.6 million), and the average co-op price ($1.4 million) all broke 2014's records by $100,000.
See the report's infographic this way

Real Estate Trends

December 17, 2015

Andy Warhol’s Former Estate Sells for $50M; Redesigning the Sidewalk Shed

Backyard labyrinths are a thing now. [WSJ] Four alternative designs for the sidewalk shed. [Curbed] The Montauk estate once owned by Andy Warhol has sold for $50 million. The property was first listed for $85 million. [WSJ] The newest title-holder of the world’s most expensive home is a $310 million mansion that just sold outside Paris. […]

Real Estate Trends

December 17, 2015

Williamsberry’s Modern Mini-Me at 79 South Fifth Street Gets Glassed

Over in South Williamsburg, construction is moving apace on Mona Gora's noodle factory-to-nests condo conversion known as Williamsberry. While the building’s name has picked up a fair bit of ridicule, we think its ambiguity represents the neighborhood well; like that over-processed frozen yogurt flavor that's tangy to some, bitter to others, but too intriguing to stop tasting. The project is composed of an eight-story, former noodle factory building that is being transformed into 54 high-ceilinged residences topped by a rooftop solar farm. Alongside the conversion, the team is constructing a modern yet complementary six-story building at 79 South Fifth Street, which is also being designed by Workshop DA with interiors by Paris Forino.
Lots more details and renderings

SHoP Architects’ Controversial Seaport Tower Won’t Move Ahead

Rendering of the proposed 494-foot tower via SHoP Architects

December 16, 2015

SHoP Architects’ Controversial Seaport Tower Won’t Move Ahead

The long-plagued condo tower designed by SHoP Architects for the Fulton Fish Market site at the South Street Seaport has been nixed, according to statements made by the Howard Hughes Corporation at a community board meeting last night. DNAinfo, who first reported on the fate of the 494-foot tower, says that the developer will instead construct a "not tall" commercial building at what's now known as the New Market Building site.
More details

Real Estate Trends

December 16, 2015

Streit’s Matzo Factory Will be Turned Into Condos; Students Are Putting Their Dorms on Airbnb

The condos going up next to Katz’s Deli will cost $1M. [Curbed] Pier57 plan receives support from Governor Cuomo. [DNA Info] Five Greenpoint projects will benefit from a $4.25M ExxonMobile settlement. [DNA Info] Students have started renting out their door rooms on Airbnb to make extra cash. [Fast Co.] Streit’s Matzo Factory is being renovated into condos. [TRD] Images: A […]

Real Estate Trends

December 15, 2015

Pearl River Mart’s Closing Date; Greenpoint’s Gingerbread House

It looks like Soho’s beloved Pearl River Mart may close in February. [Vanishing NY] Why people are pissed at Tina Fey about the Natural History Museum’s expansion. [DNA Info] Meet the guy who owns the gigantic gingerbread Christmas house in Greenpoint. [DNA Info] Mapping 2015’s celebrity moves. [Curbed] Images: Pearl River Mart (L); Greenpoint gingerbread house […]

Real Estate Trends

December 15, 2015

REVEALED: Domino Sugar Factory’s Tiny New Neighbor at 349 Kent Avenue

In the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge and across from the massive Domino Sugar Factory redevelopment underway by Two Trees, a tiny corner site at 349 Kent Avenue and South 5th Street will give rise to a six-story, 10-unit residential building designed by Brooklyn-based Workshop DA. The 4,000 square-foot lot was purchased for $1.3 million by Eugene Bushinger's 351 Kent Realty LLC in early 2011 and in May, it was reported that building permits were filed for a 15,300 square-foot residential building. The pre-existing, two-story structure that once provided a welcome splash of color along the Brooklyn Greenway has since been demolished. Its worn, brick faced boasted a geometric and robot-infused mural painted by R. Nicholas Kuszyk (a.k.a. RRobotsollaboration) with How and Nosm in 2011.
find out more about the development here

December 14, 2015

Pizza Ovens and Real Estate; How Close Do You Live to a NYC Gang?

Cluster-housing program for the homeless will receive $200M from the de Blasio administration. [Crain’s] Who knew an 1800s pizza oven could be the main selling point for signing a lease on a space. [NYP] DUMBO’S 51 Jay Street tops out. [6sqft inbox] How close do you live to the gangs and street crews of NYC? This map will tell you. […]

Real Estate Trends

Famed Tiny Transforming ‘Life Edited’ Apartment Sells for $790K

By Annie Doge

Early last year eco-entrepreneur Graham Hill placed what might be the world's most famous tiny apartment at 150 Sullivan Street (it's been featured in the Times, it's won awards, and it even has its own TED Talk) on the market for just under $1 million. While some people balked at the asking price that gave way to a price per square foot of $2,369, Hill has managed to make a sale—albeit for a much discounted $790,000. The lucky new owner will have plenty to muse over in this micro-dwelling, which packs the functional equivalent of eight rooms into just 420 square feet.
more this way

December 14, 2015

Staten Island Ferris Wheel Projected to Bring in More Revenue Than the Empire State Building

Despite controversy, several delays, and a $30 million crowdfunding attempt, the New York Wheel is projecting major first-year revenue. According to The Real Deal, developers of the 630-foot Staten Island ferris wheel expect to bring in a staggering $127.85 million in 2017, a figure that will make it more lucrative than the Empire State Building's observation deck, which raked in $111.5 million last year. Of the total revenue, $96 million is projected to come from admission fees (which come in at $35 a person, as compared to the Empire State Building's $32); $10 million from sponsorships; and $8.7 million from gift shop sales. And if you're impressed by these numbers, annual revenue will likely grow to $166.52 million by 2021!
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

December 11, 2015

This $23 Million Soho Loft Comes With Designer Furniture and a Motorized Headboard

By Michelle Cohen

This enormous and undeniably awe-inspiring condominium at 50 Wooster Street seems pretty straightforward: A huge Soho loft with a sleek and expensive-looking contemporary renovation. And you have a choice! You can rent this gleaming 4,800 square-foot downtown pleasure palace for $40k a month, or just buy it for a mere $23.3 million.
Find out more

December 11, 2015

Demolition Begins on 500-Foot UES Condo Replacing the Art & Design Building

Demolition has begun at the Lenox Hill site of a forthcoming 30-story condominium being developed by Orlando-based Inverlad Development and Steve Mills’ Third Palm Capital. The future 45-unit, 481-foot tower will replace the five-story Art & Design Building at 1059 Third Avenue and utilizes development rights from an adjacent apartment building at 1065 Third Avenue, which will also host an entryway for the Lexington/63rd Street station of the Second Avenue Subway. The developers paid an entity associated with the Battaglia family $31.5 million for the property in 2012. Building permits were approved in late October, granting the team the go-ahead to build a narrow, slab-shaped tower designed by Manuel Glas. According to DOB filings, the first three floors will contain office space and a healthcare facility, and above are 32 residential units. The amenity floor on level 12 will feature a fitness center, spa, swimming pool, tenants' lounge, and an outdoor terrace. Above level 13, seventeen full-floor residences will possess commanding views of the burgeoning Billionaires' Row skyline, East River and Central Park.
More details ahead

December 11, 2015

This Boerum Hill Duplex Comes With a Private Patio and 600-Foot Jogging Track

By Emily Nonko

When a residential building is called the Skytrack Condominium, you know the roof deck is going to be awesome. This building, at 120 Boerum Place in Boerum Hill, was originally a manufacturing building back when the neighborhood was filled with boarding houses for ironworkers working on Manhattan’s bridges and skyscrapers. The building went condo in 1983 and maintained many of the old industrial interior details, including a “skytrack” that wraps around the roof of the building. The track, which runs around the perimeter of the building's roof deck, is now used as a walking or jogging path by residents. While residents share the roof deck distinguished by the "skytrack" feature, this condo up for sale comes with even more outdoor space. A private deck off the master bedroom—with its very own skytrack (!)—is a nice perk of the lofty duplex going for $1.575M.
See it here

December 10, 2015

Amoeba-Like Floorplans for Herzog & de Meuron’s 160 Leroy Revealed

When you work in the real estate field, looking at floorplans can get a bit monotonous–rectangular box, square rooms, maybe a patio if you're lucky. But every once in a while, you'll see some schematics that cause pause, like these amoeba-shaped floorplans at Herzog & de Meuron's 160 Leroy (h/t Curbed). The 15-story, glassy West Village building has 49 condos, ranging from a $2.6 million one-bedroom unit to a $25 million penthouse. Depending where they're located along the undulating facade, the interior layouts can be long and windy or compact and curving.
See them all

December 10, 2015

Using Public Subsidies to Build 2 WTC Gets OK’d; Vacancy Rate in Manhattan Rising

The vacancy rate in Manhattan is the highest it’s been since April 2009, but rents are still up. [Crain’s] How many people have been shot in your neighborhood this year? [Brownstoner] The Community Board 3’s land use committee wants the Economic Development Corp. to rescind its RFEI (Request for Expressions of Interest) for the abandoned underground […]

Real Estate Trends

December 10, 2015

‘Maximalist’ UES Townhouse of Designer Juan Pablo Molyneux Sells for Less Than Half Its First Ask

By Annie Doge

Back in 2012, Chilean interior designer Juan Pablo Molyneux placed his sprawling townhouse at 29 East 69th Street up for sale for a newsmaking $48 million. Unable to find an immediate buyer (or possibly anticipating seller's remorse), he took it off the market shortly after. But then earlier this year in January, he brought it back for a much lower $34 million. Now, it looks like Molyneux's day has come, and according to city records, he's finally parted ways with the gigantic spread—although for a relatively paltry $22.5 million.
go inside here

December 10, 2015

Affordable Housing Coalition Proposes $4B NY State Budget to Address Housing Crisis

According to a press release put out today, an affordable housing coalition of ten groups has proposed a five-year, $4 billion capital plan to address the housing crisis in New York. As Governor Cuomo and the state legislature begin the 2016 legislative session, the group hopes that the plan, proposed for 2017-2021, can combat the fact that "more than half of statewide renters pay over 30 percent of income on housing costs, and more than 80,000 people are homeless across the state." Specific to the city, the plan wants to close the NYCHA funding gap and increase senior housing.
More details this way

December 10, 2015

Revealed: Karl Fischer’s 12-Story East Harlem Residential Tower

Here's our first peek at a 12-story residential building designed by Karl Fischer Architects for the northwest corner of 110th Street and Park Avenue in East Harlem. The property was picked up last fall by Brooklyn-based Isaac Schwartz who has now placed the 7,000-square-foot property on the market for $13.9 million. According to the sales brochure prepared by Ariel Property Advisors, the lots 1516-1520 Park Avenue and 94 East 111th Street present a full block-front opportunity to construct a development up to 48,600 square feet. The property would be delivered with DOB-approved plans that call for the 12-story, 44-unit residential building shown above.
More details ahead

December 9, 2015

VIDEO: Watch Ironworkers Set Panels on Bjarke Ingels’ Via Tetrahedron

Earlier today, 6sqft announced that Via, aka BIG’s 57th Street tetrahedron, is the winner of the 2015 Building of the Year competition. What likely made the starchitect-designed rental building such a frontrunner is its unusual shape, rising 460 feet from its site. Since progress has been right on track, it's easy to forget that the unconventional form yields some unique design and construction challenges. In this video from from Ironworkers Local 580, who set a Gopro up on the crane, we can see the skill required to set the shimmering panels on the slope wall. We also get a very vertigo-inducing view of the building from its apex looking down.
Watch the full video

December 9, 2015

NYC’s Priciest Studio Apartments; Trans-Hudson Tunnel Moves Forward

Inside the sales gallery of Tadao Ando’s first NYC building in Nolita. [Curbed] The plan to build a new Hudson River tunnel is moving ahead thanks to a $300B transportation bill. [NYT] Don’t expect any deals on these diminutive apartments. [NYP] Queens’ most expensive developments by total sell out. [TRD] Images: A studio apartment at the Plaza via […]

Real Estate Trends

December 9, 2015

Landmarks Approves Collegiate School Redevelopment: 66 Condos and Garden Planned

The development team involved in the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Collegiate School academic buildings adjacent to West End Collegiate Church announced yesterday that their two-building scheme has been unanimously approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Situated in the West End Collegiate Historic District on the Upper West Side, the residential development at 260 West 78th Street and 378 West End Avenue is being developed by the Collegiate Churches of New York and designed by Rick Cook of COOKFOX Architects. Funds generated by the development will be used to support the Collegiate Church's charitable and housing programs, as well as maintain its landmarked Dutch-Flemish Renaissance Revival campus.
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December 8, 2015

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of 2015 Real Estate; Program for Senior Roommates Is a Win