Real Estate Trends

May 1, 2015

New Condo Project Rising at 629 Grand Street in Williamsburg

Just four blocks from the Lorimer Street station on the L train, a new condo project is rising at 629 Grand Street. The property is a conversion of an existing mixed-use building, having been extended both horizontally and vertically. It will feature seven units–one two-bedroom/two-bath residence and six one-bedroom/one-bath homes. There's also a ground-floor commercial unit that will house a vintage clothing store (how very Williamsburg).
More info here

Norman Foster’s 551W21 under construction

April 30, 2015

A Record $11.9B Has Gone into Building New Condos, but Few Apartments Actually Produced

By Diane Pham

The NYC luxury real estate market is as hot as ever and developers are scrambling to get in on the action. The Daily News reports that a record breaking $11.9 billion was poured into new developments last year, a 73 percent jump over the last 12 months, and up $5 billion over the previous record (source: New York Building Congress). While this rise may seem like great news in a city facing a serious housing crisis, the bounty going towards new construction isn't doing much to remedy it. The paper adds that though spending is way up, the bulk of the cash is being funneled "into delivering only a few massive high-end pads with luxe finishes targeted at the global elite."
Find out more here

April 30, 2015

$100M Homes on the Rise All Over the World; Will NYC Look as Good with a Dimmer Skyline?

By Diane Pham

New York is not alone, a record number of properties around the world are commanding prices topping $100 million. [Bloomberg] The city’s first crowd-funded condo project has just launched sales. [NYDN] LES community activists are calling Extell’s new tower planned for 250 South Street “racist.” [DNA Info] New York’s plan to save energy may mean a […]

Real Estate Trends

April 30, 2015

Actress Christina Ricci Nabs a $2M Fort Greene Townhouse Neighboring the BQE

By Annie Doge

Some people find the sound of moving traffic soothing, which must be the camp actress Christina Ricci falls into. According to the Post, Ricci has just scooped up a $2 million townhouse located at 67 Adelphi Street, right next door to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Although not sited within the lovely and leafy quarters Fort Greene is best known for, the 2,205-square-foot home does have its charms: there are four sunny bedrooms, three bathrooms and a deck off the kitchen that leads to a large garden.
Have a peek inside here

April 30, 2015

Hell’s Kitchen, Once the ‘Wild West,’ Now Undergoing Rapid Gentrification

By Dana Schulz

There's yet to be an exact agreed-upon theory as to where the name Hell's Kitchen came from, but most historians agree that it had something to do with the poor tenement conditions and general filth of the neighborhood in the 19th century. Its reputation didn't get any better in the 20th century, though. After the repeal of prohibition, the area became overrun with organized crime, and until the 1980s it was known as a home base for several gangs. Today, Hell's Kitchen is no longer the "Wild West," but rather a rapidly gentrifying community ripe for new development. A neighborhood profile today in the Times looks at the transformation of the neighborhood, also called Clinton or Midtown West, which is generally defined as the area from Eighth Avenue to the Hudson River between 34th to 59th Streets. Summed up, "New buildings are going up, and older ones are being converted to high-end residences. The development of Hudson Yards and the High Line just to its south and the addition of the Time Warner Center on its northeast border have spurred growth. Prices have gone up but are still generally lower than in surrounding neighborhoods."
Find out more ahead

Central Park Sunshine Task Force Meets to Speak Out Against Supertall Shadows

Rendering showing the location, size and massing of projects currently being developed along Central Park South, via MAS “Accidental Skyline” report

April 29, 2015

Central Park Sunshine Task Force Meets to Speak Out Against Supertall Shadows

By Dana Schulz

There are a dozen supertalls (1,000 feet or higher) in the construction or planning stages in Manhattan, many of which are sprouting up along the billionaires' row hotbed south of Central Park. The trend has incensed many New Yorkers because of the shadows these giant towers will cast on the park. Last month, Councilman Mark Levine introduced legislation to create a task force that will examine, as he put it, “the looming threat of shadows falling on our parks from the rising number of skyscrapers.” A similar group of concerned parties, the Central Park Sunshine Task Force of Community Board 5, met last night to discuss the issue. As Curbed reports, in the standing-room-only town hall meeting at the New York Public Library the group covered issues including zoning laws, transparency in the building process, construction safety, matters of light and air, overdevelopment, and even the "'phallic' nature of the buildings themselves."
More on the meeting here

April 29, 2015

Feng Shui Affordable Housing Coming to Flushing; Bronx Man Squatting in a Barn Won’t Budge for Developers

By Diane Pham

Downtown Brooklyn’s Marriott Hotel will get a major makeover that includes a Navy Yard-inspired lounge and a bar stocked with local craft brews. [DNA Info] Inside the restoration of the gothic-style Bush Terminal International Exhibit Building on 42nd Street. [NYT] Garland Roberts, an Army veteran and a longtime activist, has been squatting in a condemned barn […]

Real Estate Trends

April 29, 2015

POLL: Will Bjarke Ingels Take Over the Design for 2 World Trade Center?

By Dana Schulz

Earlier this week, we reported that Bjarke Ingels was in talks to take over Norman Foster‘s design of 2 World Trade Center, noting that “if News Corporation and 21st Century Fox decide to move into 2 World Trade Center, as previously reported, developer Larry Silverstein may drop Foster’s design in favor of a new one […]

April 29, 2015

18th Century Cottage in Columbia County Is Turned into a Modern Dutch-Style Family Home

By Ana Lisa Alperovich

Today's dose of simplicity comes via a house extension upstate in Columbia County. This striking copper home was designed by architects Messana O’Rorke, who reimagined an eighteenth century wood cottage and integrated it into their modern design. Although the original property was neglected for a couple of years, the firm managed to turn the shelter, now dubbed Ten Broeck Cottage, into a stunning place to live, work, and play.
Learn more about this modernized 1734 cottage

April 28, 2015

Five Luxury Towers Will Account for One-Third of New Development Sales over the Next Five Years

By Dana Schulz

It's projected that over the next five years, new development sales in Manhattan condos will total $27.6-$33.6+ billion, but this sky-high figure is heavily skewed by prices in just five buildings. These luxury towers will account for one-third of the total projection. Three of the buildings -- 432 Park, 220 Central Park South, and 550 Madison Avenue (the former Sony Building) -- are located on billionaires' row and are expected to bring in a whopping $8 billion. The Greenwich Lane and 10 Madison Square West will also likely bring in close to $1.5 billion each. Along with this boost from the upper end of the market comes a trend where fewer units are selling, but prices are shooting up.
More info and CityRealty's full infographic here

Real Estate Trends

The Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate of Brooklyn’s… Gravesend?

By Emily Nonko

When people talk about expensive Brooklyn real estate, the conversation often revolves around the well-kept townhouses in Brownstone Brooklyn, the waterfront condos of Williamsburg, the freestanding mansions of Prospect Park South. Gravesend is not a neighborhood that’s on most New Yorkers' minds. But this South Brooklyn enclave, bordered by Sheepshead Bay, Midwood, Bensonhurst and the waterfront, sees some of the highest home sales in all of Kings County. Here, it’s not uncommon for selling prices to break the $10 million mark. Two years ago, a home hit the market for $14 million. So what’s happening in Gravesend? Simply put, this is not your average New York City real estate market. This neighborhood is home to the largest Sephardic Jewish community in the United States, and real estate is dominated by proximity to synagogues and Jewish Community Centers. That pressure for proximity has driven real estate prices into the multi-millions.
Learn more about the unique Gravesend real estate market…

April 28, 2015

Go Inside the Historic Beekman; 520 Park’s $70 Million Penthouse

By Diane Pham

Take a video tour inside the Beekman as it undergoes restoration and conversion into a boutique hotel. [Architect’s Newspaper] An anti-Extell rally took place this morning to contest the very tall tower going up right by the Manhattan Bridge. [Bowery Boogie] No surprises here: Aby Rosen and preservationists are at odds over the renovations proposed […]

Real Estate Trends

April 27, 2015

2 World Trade Center May Ditch Norman Foster’s Design for a Bjarke Ingels Skyscraper

By Diane Pham

Norman Foster may lose out on yet another major project in Manhattan. The Journal writes that if News Corporation and 21st Century Fox decide to move into 2 World Trade Center, as previously reported, developer Larry Silverstein may drop Foster's design in favor of a new one by none other than starchitect of the moment, Bjarke Ingels of BIG.
Find out more here

April 27, 2015

Have a Beer with Friends on the Patio of This Former Brewery

By Aisha Carter

If you're looking for a fun loft with a unique layout and some old world touches, you are going to love this two-bedroom condo at the Gramercy Park Habitat. Like all the units in this seven-story building, this $1.85 million recently renovated loft has remnants of its former life as a brewery, including wood beam ceilings, exposed columns, and exposed brick walls.
More pics after the jump

April 27, 2015

Who Billionaires Enlist to Manage Their Money May Surprise You; Pittsburgh the Next Brooklyn?

By Diane Pham

Let’s all move to Pittsburgh! [Brooklyn Based] A Navy SEAL, a yacht captain, a photographer and an archivist are just a few of the people Google’s Sergey Brin has enlisted to manage his billions and his life. [Bloomberg] Is Wall Street robbing your pension fund? [The New Yorker] ODA Architect‘s Nassau Street tower will be topped with […]

Real Estate Trends

April 24, 2015

Soho’s MoMA Store May Shutter Because It Can’t Afford the Rent

By Diane Pham

Soho's rapidly rising rents have just taken another victim, this time the neighborhood institution potentially being booted is the area's beloved MoMA Design store at 81 Spring Street. Crain's reports that the owner of the three-level, 14,500-square-foot space wants an annual rent of $2.5 million—that's three times more than what the area was asking when MoMA took up residency over 13 years ago.
Find out more here

April 24, 2015

Brooklyn’s Historic Tracy Mansion to be Turned Into Condos; Sinatra’s Former Penthouse Sells for $5M

By Diane Pham

The historic Tracy Mansion will be carved into seven residential units. [TRD] Frank Sinatra’s former UES penthouse has sold for $5 million. [WSJ] Norman Foster’s new building at 100 East 53rd Street is on the rise. [A Fine Blog] Turns out 190 Bowery’s graffiti isn’t safe after all. The ground floor tenant will have the […]

Real Estate Trends

April 24, 2015

Lofty Greenwich Village Condo Offers Plenty of Space to Show Off Your Art

By Emily Nonko

This is not your artsy Greenwich Village apartment of the beatnik era. The condo at 29 East 10th Street, which takes up the entire second floor, is more along the lines of "luxury loft living." It has been renovated with custom lighting and exposed brickwork to accommodate the seller's impressive, sometimes kooky, art collection. And it seems like unique design is a trend of the building, which is a former 19th century feather factory. Last year an impressive condo hit the market here asking $14.995 million. This new apartment is asking significantly less, priced at $3.95 million.
See more of the interior photos here

April 23, 2015

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Take a Tour Inside the Brand New Whitney Museum!

By Diane Pham

May 1st will mark a new era for the Whitney when its brand new home along the High Line swings its doors open to the public for the first time. A project that has been decades in the making, the $422 million structure designed by Renzo Piano is a game changer for a museum that had long outgrown its Upper East Side space. Boasting a whopping 220,000 square feet of column-free spaces, this glass and steel behemoth is a dynamic assemblage of shapes and angles, and perfectly outfitted to host the Whitney Museum's 22,000 works and then some. Though the museum won't officially open for another few days, this morning 6sqft joined a trove of celebrants at the pre-opening preview of the new High Line-hugging masterpiece. Take an exclusive photo tour with us inside ahead.
All the photos here

April 23, 2015

Reality Star Bethenny Frankel Revealed as Buyer of $4.2M Soho Loft

By Annie Doge

If you've been following the roller coaster that is reality television star Bethenny Frankel's life, you know that she started out as a single, struggling entrepreneur on "Real Housewives of New York City." She then launched the Skinny Girl margarita, sold the brand to Jim Beam for a reported $120 million, got married and had a daughter, filed for divorced, and rejoined the Housewives. On the recent season of the show, she considers herself "the richest homeless person in Manhattan," as her ex-husband stayed in their $5 million Tribeca apartment at 195 Hudson Street. We think Frankel's use of the word "homeless" is a little ridiculous considering she was splitting her time between lavish Hamptons rentals and high-end Manhattan hotels, but the Daily News has revealed that the Skinny Girl is actually the owner of apartment 2D at 22 Mercer Street in Soho. A nomad no more, Frankel is waiting to move into the gorgeous loft, which she bought about seven months ago for $4.2 million, until renovations are complete. But judging by the photos of the home, we can't imagine there'd be that much to change.
Take a look around here

April 23, 2015

Billionaire Wins Deposit Back After Ditched Penthouse Purchase; LGA’s $4B Revamp Could Be Delayed Again

By Diane Pham

A billionaire who canceled his purchase of a $27.5M penthouse at 1107 Fifth Avenue—which also happens to be NYC’s first-ever penthouse—will get his $2.75M deposit refunded to him. Carlos Rodriguez Pastor didn’t want to share his terrace with neighbors in the building. [NYDN] If the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey doesn’t pick a winning […]

Real Estate Trends

April 22, 2015

Subway Rent Map Shows Manhattan Rental Prices Along Each Train Line

By Dana Schulz

The folks over at Thrillist have put together the fun new Manhattan Subway Rent Map, which shows "where you can't afford to live, by stop." The figures come from the median rent per bedroom near every Manhattan subway stop. For the most part, the trends are what you'd expect -- prices along the 4, 5, 6 line get incredibly lower above 96th Street; living near a 14th Street train station will cost you; and the A, C, E train carries pretty steep prices throughout Manhattan until you reach 125th Street. But what's interesting is that the 59th Street corridor reigns supreme, with prices across the board coming in around $2,800.
See the full map here

April 22, 2015

Living Green: Mapping NYC’s Newest LEED Rated Residential Constructions

By Diane Pham

Happy Earth Day, friends! As climate change weighs heavy on many of our minds, it’s relief to know that there are developers and architects working hard to create a healthier, more sustainable built environment. Eco-friendly residential design has been on the rise in NYC over the last decade, with buildings today boasting everything from solar panels to greywater […]

April 22, 2015

S. Bronx Next ‘It’ Area According to Experts; Liam Gallagher Slashes Price of His Essex House Pad

By Diane Pham

More and more hipsters are flocking to South Bronx. Real estate experts are eyeing it as the next big thing. [DNA Info] We’re not sure why leopard print walls would be a hard sell, but Oasis singer Liam Gallagher has cut the price his Central Park South pad to $3.1 million, down from $4 million. […]

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