Real Estate Trends

‘Taxi’ Star Judd Hirsch Buys $400K Greenwich Village Studio from His Former Assistant
March 10, 2015

‘Taxi’ Star Judd Hirsch Buys $400K Greenwich Village Studio from His Former Assistant

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Assistants have been known to fetch coffee or pick up dry cleaning for their bosses, but usually not sell them their apartments. Marlene Mancini, production assistant and acting teacher, however, has just sold her Greenwich Village studio to her former boss, actor Judd Hirsch, best known for his role as Alex Rieger on "Taxi," for $400,000 according to city records released today. Hirsch also owns a larger one-bedroom at 345 East 93rd Street, which he bought in 2013 for $500,000, so we're guessing his latest purchase is more of a downtown pied-à-terre. We're also guessing he'll have to bring a big bucket of spackle with him on move-in day, as Mancini has the walls completely covered in quirky frames.
Tour the studio
Owner of $100M Apartment at One57 Only Pays $17,268 in Property Taxes
March 9, 2015

Owner of $100M Apartment at One57 Only Pays $17,268 in Property Taxes

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Remember the $100 million apartment at One57, the most expensive ever in New York City? Well, the (presumably) billionaire buyer pays just $17,268 in annual property taxes on the unit, or 0.017 percent of its sale price, as if it were worth only $6.5 million, according to the New York Post. In contrast, the owner of a $1.02 million condo nearby at 224 East 52nd Street is paying $24,279, or 2.38 percent of its sale price. This is just one example of the fact that the owners of the city's ten most expensive apartments pay effective rates that are unbelievably lower than those paid on cheaper properties. How is this possible? It's in part due to the 421-a tax abatement, but more so due to the city's convoluted method of assessing market value for condos and co-ops.
More on the tax inequality here
The High and Low: Two Picture-Perfect Bow-Front Townhouses Go Head-to-Head

66 Morton Street, $17M (left); 280 Park Place, $3.5M (right)

March 9, 2015

The High and Low: Two Picture-Perfect Bow-Front Townhouses Go Head-to-Head

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A classic bow-fronted Prospect Heights townhouse (above, right) offers many of the things we love about this star-studded $17 million West Village home (above, left)–for a lot less. The big-ticket Manhattan beauty set records and made movies. But for $3.5 million, a new-to-market gem in one of Brooklyn's most coveted neighborhoods is just as charming, and even offers some perks the Manhattan home lacks.
Compare these four-story homes with very different prices
Race Drives Gentrification and Neighborhood Boundaries, Study Finds

Photo by brandon king cc

March 6, 2015

Race Drives Gentrification and Neighborhood Boundaries, Study Finds

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Focusing in on just race can be taboo when looking at gentrification, but a new study finds that an area's racial composition is actually the biggest predictor of how a changing neighborhood is perceived. CityLab recently dissected the study conducted by sociologist Jackelyn Hwang to find that the way that blacks and whites perceive and talk about change in their neighborhood is often wildly different. This gap in perception has wide-reaching effects for changing neighborhoods because not only does it polarize the individual groups, but it can also have a tremendous effect on where neighborhood boundaries are drawn and investment is distributed.
Find out more here
Be Chloe Sevigny’s Upstairs Neighbor; Live in Emma Stone’s Old Chelsea Townhouse for $22.5M
March 6, 2015

Be Chloe Sevigny’s Upstairs Neighbor; Live in Emma Stone’s Old Chelsea Townhouse for $22.5M

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Live upstairs from Chloe Sevigny in this sunny Prospect Park pad asking $3.295M. Bonus: You’ll also get to call Senator Chuck Schumer your neighbor. [CityRealty] Derek Jeter is leaving his West Village rental at 56 Bank Street. [NYP] Construction defects abound in the city’s new buildings. [NYT] Numbers to back up millennials’ increasing interest in home ownership. [NYT] A Chelsea […]

REVEALED: Massive Mixed-Use Development at Red Hook’s Revere Sugar Factory Site
March 6, 2015

REVEALED: Massive Mixed-Use Development at Red Hook’s Revere Sugar Factory Site

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The housing-design experts at Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP) have hashed out a feasibility study to redevelop the Revere Sugar Factory site in Red Hook with a 1.7 million-square-foot development to include more than 900 apartments, 250,000 square feet of retail, and 400,000 square feet of parking. The six-acre site at 280 Richards Street is owned by the Joesph Sitt-led, Thor Equities, who purchased the parcel back in 2005 to the tune of $40 million, according to the New York Observer. The vacant parcel juts out 700 feet into the Erie Basin, and sits between the Ikea parking lot and the Red Hook Stores building home to Fairway Supermarket (and Michelle Williams, of course). Though MAP's rendering date back to 2007, they have yet to be publicized, and we have the first look here.
More information on the project here
What $4 Million Bought This Week in NYC
March 6, 2015

What $4 Million Bought This Week in NYC

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We've all come across real estate listings or recent sales that have us thinking either "Oh! I could live there!" or "What were they thinking?" Well we're going to make it a little easier for you to cast your judgements on the decisions of the rich—and sometimes famous—by rounding up some of the week's most interesting sales for you to compare and contrast. From a Greenwich Village pad purchased by a prolific '90s sitcom director to a classic Upper East Side co-op with crown moulding, this week we'll take a look at what $4 million bought in Manhattan.
See them all here
REVEALED: Asking Prices, Floorplans for 520 Park Avenue, the Next Billionaire’s Row Blockbuster
March 5, 2015

REVEALED: Asking Prices, Floorplans for 520 Park Avenue, the Next Billionaire’s Row Blockbuster

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Developers of 520 Park Avenue have revealed apartment prices for all units in the building, which is poised to become one of the city’s most expensive condominium towers and include a $130 million penthouse. The building, which will rise in the high-priced corridor flanking Central Park that has been dubbed “Billionaire’s Row,” is expected to gross $1.2 billion in apartment sales, according to initial offering prices detailed in documents filed with the Attorney General’s office. The $1.2 billion in total sales—which will make the building one of the most expensive in Manhattan history—is all the more impressive considering that current plans call for only 31 units, most of which will be full-floor residences.
Click here for full pricing information and floor plans
220 Central Park South Penthouse Could Set a New Record with $175 Million Price Tag
March 5, 2015

220 Central Park South Penthouse Could Set a New Record with $175 Million Price Tag

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It's a good day for Robert A.M. Stern, whose buildings seem to be bringing billionaires to their knees. The Real Deal has just caught wind of the offering plan for Stern's 220 Central Park South tower being developed by Vornado. According to the papers filed with the Attorney General and sources close to the development, the penthouse may ask $150 million to $175 million, bringing the building's total sellout to a staggering $2.4 billion. The $175 million price tag would by far blow the Sony Building's $150 million penthouse out of the water, and most certainly One57's record $100 million sale which currently holds the title for the most expensive unit ever sold in the city.
Find out more here, plus floor plans!
Woolworth Combo Apartment Wants $51M; Doggy Daycare and Spa Coming to the Abington House
March 5, 2015

Woolworth Combo Apartment Wants $51M; Doggy Daycare and Spa Coming to the Abington House

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A 29th-floor Woolworth Building apartment combo totaling 11,450 square feet is asking $51.4 million. [WSJ] Taking inventory in “the most powerful apartment building in the world”: Here are all the big shots that live in 15 Central Park West. [TRD] Related Companies plans on opening an onsite Dog City doggy daycare and spa in their ultra-luxe Abington House located right […]

James Burrows, Go-To ’90s Sitcom Director, Buys Handsome Greenwich Village Apartment for $4.2M
March 5, 2015

James Burrows, Go-To ’90s Sitcom Director, Buys Handsome Greenwich Village Apartment for $4.2M

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"Cheers," "Frasier," "Will & Grace," "Friends"... these are just some of the '90s sitcoms that director James E. Burrows has on his resume. The television maven and his wife, noted sitcom hairstylist Debbie Easton, have definitely met their fair share of celebrities, but it seems that now they're looking to trade in their Wilshire Boulevard address for a more low-key lifestyle in Greenwich Village...though they are moving to prestigious 1 Fifth Avenue. The couple picked up a one-bedroom apartment at the storied building for $4.2 million, according to city records released today. It's definitely not up to par with Will and Grace's elegant home or Monica and Rachel's kitschy apartment, but it's charming in its own right.
READ MORE
How Brokers Benefit from Racial Tipping Points; Buying the Worst House in the Best Neighborhood
March 4, 2015

How Brokers Benefit from Racial Tipping Points; Buying the Worst House in the Best Neighborhood

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When does it make business sense for a broker to trigger white flight? Or: How do brokerage fees anticipate a neighborhood’s racial transition? A new paper investigates. [CityLab] A new eight-unit condo building at 150 Richardson Street in East Williamsburg will launch sales next week. [6sqft inbox] Real Estate crowdfunding could top $2.5B in this year. [Finance and commerce] […]

Where Will Mayor de Blasio Land on the 421-a Tax Abatement Debate?

Mayor de Blasio via @KevinCase via photopin cc; affordable housing buildings via gkjarvis flickr

March 2, 2015

Where Will Mayor de Blasio Land on the 421-a Tax Abatement Debate?

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Developers have been rushing to break ground on projects before June, when the controversial 421-a tax abatement is set to expire, as it provides incentives to developers for up to 25 years when they reserve at least 20 percent of a building’s units for low- and moderate-income tenants. However, those against the 40-year-old program criticize it for using working people's tax dollars to build swimming pools and pet hotels for the world's billionaires; after all, the construction of One57, where a penthouse recently sold for $100 million, was built using subsidies from the program. But on what side of the debate does Mayor de Blasio, whose goal is to implement "the largest affordable housing program that any city, any state has attempted in a ten-year time span in the history of the republic," fall? Though many of his supporters oppose 421-a, in order to reach his goal of building 80,000 new affordable housing units–especially in places like East New York where a rezoning would be necessary to allow for denser construction that mandates the inclusion of permanently affordable apartments–de Blasio says he needs the program, according to Capital New York.
More on the 421-a debate here
Revealed: AB Architekten’s 29 Clay Street to Bring Manhattan Modernism to Greenpoint
February 27, 2015

Revealed: AB Architekten’s 29 Clay Street to Bring Manhattan Modernism to Greenpoint

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A proposed 12-story residential building near the mouth of Newtown Creek in Greenpoint may bring some avante-garde design to a neighborhood better known for its low-slung factories, unpretentious row-houses, hearty Polish community, and an immense wastewater treatment plant. Coming from the office of AB Architekten, led by Alexander Blakely, a 70,000-square-foot proposal at 19-29 Clay Street is envisioned to rise directly across from the long-promised Box Street Park, and it may be the first of a multitude of high-rises set to radically transform the neighborhood's waterfront.
More information on the proposed project
City Council Proposes New Law That Would Allow Tenants to Sue Landlords for Using Airbnb

Via Airbnb

February 27, 2015

City Council Proposes New Law That Would Allow Tenants to Sue Landlords for Using Airbnb

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One week ago we learned of the landmark ruling to evict a rent-stabilized tenant from his ultra-luxe 450 West 42nd Street building for listing the unit on Airbnb for nearly triple what he was paying, a show of just how serious the city is about the issue. Now they're getting even more aggressive, as two City Council members want to pass a new law that would let tenants sue their landlords for renting out neighboring apartments as illegal hotels through Airbnb.
More details ahead
Rents Rising Faster Than Inflation; Tour the Brooklyn Kings Theatre
February 25, 2015

Rents Rising Faster Than Inflation; Tour the Brooklyn Kings Theatre

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NYC rents have been rising faster than inflation over the last three years. [NYT] East New Yorkers are trying to stop some of the “new frontier” developments big-wigs are looking to bring to the neighborhood at the center of the de Blasio administration’s affordable housing plan. [Village Voice] A worker at Barclays Center installing the arena’s green […]

Is 212 Fifth Avenue the Ultimate Manhattan Address?
February 25, 2015

Is 212 Fifth Avenue the Ultimate Manhattan Address?

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That's what developers of a new condominium at 212 Fifth Avenue are hoping. The prestige of Fifth Avenue is world-famous (it also adds a 5- to 10-percent premium to the price of an apartment), and as anyone who was around back in the days of analog phone exchanges knows, 212 is synonymous with Manhattan. Reporting on the "New York-iest address," the Daily News mentions how even "Seinfeld"'s Elaine steals her dead neighbor's 212 phone number after she gets changed to a 646 area code. "The bearer of a 212 phone number looks like a longtime New Yorker. It's the ultimate luxury accessory," the paper says.
Is all the fuss justified?
Spectacular ‘Working Girl’ Townhouse on Star-Studded West Village Street Sells for $17 Million
February 25, 2015

Spectacular ‘Working Girl’ Townhouse on Star-Studded West Village Street Sells for $17 Million

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The West Village home that's captured the hearts of film buffs, film makers, preservationists, pinners, real estate oglers—need we go on?—across the globe has just sold for a sweet $17 million, according to city records filed today. Although it was previously reported that the home needed work, buyers were certainly not deterred. A bow-fronted facade, dramatic staircase, 40-foot garden, and spectacular storied details surely kept the bidding war going strong for this 66 Morton Street beauty which was originally listed for just $13 million last October.
have a look inside this way
NYU Expansion Plan Opponents Will Get Final Day in Court

A rendering of the expansion plan

February 24, 2015

NYU Expansion Plan Opponents Will Get Final Day in Court

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In October, the appellate court overturned a previous decision by the New York Supreme Court that prohibited NYU's $6 billion, 1.9 million-square-foot Greenwich Village expansion plan, but community groups vowed to appeal the decision. And they most certainly kept their word. In a press release sent today by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), we've learned that the New York State Court of Appeals agreed to hear an appeal by GVSHP, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, Community Board 2, actor Mark Ruffalo, and other local concerned parties.
More info here
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