Financial District

The eccentric 1980s atrium at the Financial District office tower 60 Wall Street is getting a 21st-century makeover. As part of a major renovation, owner Paramount Group is ditching the indoor palm trees and man-made rock displays and creating a public space they feel is more attractive in a post-pandemic era. With designs from Kohn Pedersen Fox, the updated atrium of the 47-story tower will boast a new skylight and a 100-foot-tall, block-long interior green wall.
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Real Estate Trends

Plan for 900-foot tower with 1,325 rentals at 5 World Trade Center moves forward

Photo by bilderkombinat berlin on Flickr

February 12, 2021

Plan for 900-foot tower with 1,325 rentals at 5 World Trade Center moves forward

Plans to build a 900-foot mixed-use tower with 1,325 units of housing at 5 World Trade Center are moving forward. The boards of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation voted on Thursday to approve the recommendation of the selection committee for the proposal from Brookfield Properties, Silverstein Properties, Omni New York, and Dabar Development Partners. The site is the former location of the Deutsche Bank building which was damaged in the September 11 terrorist attacks and later demolished. The developer will now enter negotiations for a lease for the residential tower, expected to measure 1.56 million gross square feet.
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Three mixed-use buildings on historic Stone Street in FiDi ask $20.8M

All photos courtesy of Anthony Puopolo for Douglas Elliman

February 8, 2021

Three mixed-use buildings on historic Stone Street in FiDi ask $20.8M

Here's an opportunity to influence the future of one of New York City's oldest streets. Goldman Properties is selling three of its mixed-use buildings located on Stone Street in the Financial District for $20.75 million. As the city's first paved street in New York, Stone Street's history dates back to the middle of the 1600s and today remains a car-free cobblestone-lined walkway with an outdoor dining scene that predates the pandemic. The portfolio includes three buildings with a total of ten free-market two-bedroom and three-bedroom loft rentals and three operating restaurants.
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See the shiny, amorphous tower imagined for Lower Manhattan

All renderings by Hayri Atak Architectural Design

January 26, 2021

See the shiny, amorphous tower imagined for Lower Manhattan

Turkish firm Hayri Atak Architectural Design has proposed something extremely unique for the downtown skyline. Called the Sarcostyle Tower, the shining structure is a large rectangle with sinuous, carved-out sides. Conceptually placed amidst the historic landmarks and mid-century office towers of lower Manhattan, the 689-foot building was inspired by human anatomy and cells. An actual sarcostyle is a muscle fiber, so it makes sense that the firm decided upon this name for theior biologically inspired project.
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Architecture And Design

The first presidential inauguration was held in New York City in 1789

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

January 20, 2021

The first presidential inauguration was held in New York City in 1789

By 6sqft

One of the nation's most significant Inauguration Days has finally come, and while we're all looking forward, we also thought it was pertinent to take a look back. On Thursday, April 30, 1789, the first United States Congress met, and the first president was sworn in (the presidential term had already started on March 4 of that year, but logistical delays had kept the votes from being counted or certified). With a quorum finally in place, George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States, alongside Vice President John Adams, on the balcony of the Federal Hall in what is now the Financial District.
The whole history here

History

Before Times Square: Celebrating New Year’s in old New York

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. (1878). New-Year’S-Day In New Amsterdam. Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections

December 30, 2020

Before Times Square: Celebrating New Year’s in old New York

By Lucie Levine

Every year on December 31, the eyes of the world turn to Times Square. New Yorkers and revelers worldwide have been ringing in the New Year from 42nd Street since 1904 when Adolf Ochs christened the opening of the New York Times building on what was then Longacre Square with a New Year's celebration complete with midnight fireworks. In 1907, Ochs began dropping a ball from the flagpole of the Times Tower, and a tradition for the ages was set in motion. But long before Ochs and his proclivity for pyrotechnics, New Yorkers had been ringing in the New Year with traditions both dignified and debauched. From the George Washington and the old Dutch custom of “Calling,” to the rancorous tooting of tin horns, one thing is clear, New York has always gone to town for the New Year.
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$2.5M full-floor FiDi condo has two outdoor spaces and World Trade Center views

Photo courtesy of Douglas Elliman

November 25, 2020

$2.5M full-floor FiDi condo has two outdoor spaces and World Trade Center views

A spacious full-floor loft with two outdoor terraces in the Financial District is asking $2.48 million. The two-bedroom, two-bath condo is located at 119 Fulton Street and has perfectly-framed Freedom Tower views. The apartment features a newly renovated kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances, custom built-ins, keyed elevator access, and outdoor spaces on either end of the unit.
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Distinctive Homes

David Adjaye and Aston Martin collaborate on residences and luxury car at 130 William in FiDi

All residence images courtesy of Aston Martin

November 12, 2020

David Adjaye and Aston Martin collaborate on residences and luxury car at 130 William in FiDi

Five apartments for sale at Sir David Adjaye's first New York City tower have been custom-designed by luxury carmaker Aston Martin. Located on the 59th and 60th floors of 130 William, a 66-story condo in the Financial District, the exclusive units come with a special edition Aston Martin DBX, an SUV designed in collaboration with Adjaye. The five condos include two penthouses, one priced at $11.5 million and the second at $10.5 million, and three loggia residences, priced at $3.985 million, $5.985 million, and $10 million.
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Inside the stunning, abandoned City Hall subway station

Photo © James and Karla Murray

August 25, 2020

Inside the stunning, abandoned City Hall subway station

When the New York City subway opened on October 27th, 1904, it was the magnificent City Hall station that served as the backdrop for the festivities, with its arched Guastavino-tiled ceiling and skylights. But by 1945, the newer, longer subway cars could no longer fit on the station's curved tracks, so it was closed. Today, the New York City Transit Museum occasionally offers tours of the abandoned station, which is how photographers James and Karla Murray were able to capture these beautiful photos. Ahead, see more of the station and learn all about its history.
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After Cuomo provides health personnel, 9/11 Tribute in Light is back on

Image by David Z from Pixabay

August 17, 2020

After Cuomo provides health personnel, 9/11 Tribute in Light is back on

It takes nearly 40 stagehands and electricians more than a week to produce the annual Tribute in Light display that marks the 9/11 anniversary each year, according to the New York Times. And because they must work in close contact, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum decided last week to cancel this year's memorial. Upon hearing the news, Governor Cuomo, however, stepped in and said he'd provide the medical personnel necessary to make the event happen safely.
More details here

Events & Things To Do

Photo of The Greens courtesy of The Howard Hughes Corporation

August 4, 2020

You can lounge and dine at a rooftop ‘lawn’ at the South Street Seaport

Social distancing guidelines have definitely gotten restaurants to be extra creative, like The Rooftop at Pier 17 which has just opened a new dining experience where guests can book one of 28 "mini-lawns." Called The Greens, the experience has transformed the South Street Seaport rooftop venue into private cabana-style plots, each of which can accommodate eight guests.
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After original church was destroyed on 9/11, construction restarts at new St. Nicholas Shrine

All photos courtesy of Governor Andrew Cuomo/Flickr

August 3, 2020

After original church was destroyed on 9/11, construction restarts at new St. Nicholas Shrine

It's been nearly 20 years since St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine was lost in the attacks on 9/11, but today, Governor Cuomo announced the restart of construction on the new Santiago Calatrava-designed church. Work originally began in 2015, but stalled in late 2017 when the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ran out of funding.
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New Developments

13 things you didn’t know about the Woolworth Building

The Woolworth Building, then and now. L: Image courtesy of Library of Congress via Wiki cc; r: Image Norbert Nagel via Wiki cc.

June 29, 2020

13 things you didn’t know about the Woolworth Building

When the neo-Gothic Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway was erected in 1913 as the world’s tallest building, it cost a total of $13.5 million to construct. Though many have surpassed it in height, the instantly-recognizable Lower Manhattan landmark has remained one of the world’s most iconic buildings, admired for its terra cotta facade and detailed ornamentation–and its representation of the ambitious era in which it arose. Developer and five-and-dime store entrepreneur Frank Winfield Woolworth dreamed of an unforgettable skyscraper; the building’s architect, Cass Gilbert, designed and delivered just that, even as Woolworth's vision grew progressively loftier. The Woolworth Building has remained an anchor of New York City life with its storied past and still-impressive 792-foot height.
Find the city's history in the Woolworth Building

$18.3M sustainable playground breaks ground at the Battery

The “bluffs” zone includes five granite slides and boulder scrambles; renderings courtesy of BKSK Architects & Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners

March 13, 2020

$18.3M sustainable playground breaks ground at the Battery

As the threat of climate change grows, parks in New York City are working to become more resilient. Officials on Thursday broke ground on an $18.3 million waterfront playground at the Battery in the Financial District. The Battery Playscape, as it's being called, is expected to be one of the city's largest sustainable parks. It will triple the size of the current playground and will feature a rainwater runoff system and a wide variety of durable plants.
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Developer scraps Bjarke Ingels-designed 2 WTC for revamped Norman Foster tower

Previous rendering of 2 World Center via DBOX, courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group

January 16, 2020

Developer scraps Bjarke Ingels-designed 2 WTC for revamped Norman Foster tower

By Alexandra Alexa

It looks like Norman Foster's design for 2 World Trade Center might rise after all. First unveiled in 2006, the original Foster + Partners proposal was scrapped in 2015 for Bjarke Ingels' stacked tower, which was deemed more suitable to prospective media tenants. After leases with Fox and News Corp. fell through in 2016, the future of the tenant-less tower has remained uncertain. Absent any takers, developer Larry Silverstein is now pivoting back to the Foster vision, the New York Post reports. The old design is being "significantly modified to be more reflective of contemporary needs and taste," Silverstein said.
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Construction of World Trade Center’s St. Nicholas Shrine will resume

The site in December 2018, Photo by Tdorante10 via Wikimedia Commons

January 3, 2020

Construction of World Trade Center’s St. Nicholas Shrine will resume

By Alexandra Alexa

It's been more than two years since reconstruction work on the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at the World Trade Center stopped due to lack of funding, but the project is finally set to resume. On Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans to form a new non-profit organization with an independent 13-member board—the Friends of St. Nicholas—who will oversee the remaining construction. The expected opening is slated for 2022.
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New Developments

Photo credit: Travis Mark courtesy of Compass

December 18, 2019

$3.2M FiDi loft stands out behind a historic Palladian window

Asking $3.15 million, this floor-through loft in a beautiful old Lower Manhattan building has the look of a timeless residence in a changing city. More ornate than most and definitely a standout on its block, 42 Ann Street is a landmarked 19th-century commercial building with only seven condominium units within. Spanning 2,700 square feet, the two-bedroom condo has been recently renovated with artfully-designed spaces and luxurious fixtures and finishes.
Tour this timeless condo conversion

Distinctive Homes

Rent this fancy and fully furnished Financial District condo for $5K/month

Photo credit: DDreps, courtesy of Compass

December 5, 2019

Rent this fancy and fully furnished Financial District condo for $5K/month

The 99 John Deco Lofts at 99 John Street in the heart of lower Manhattan's Financial District is one of those FiDi condos where everything is sleek, contemporary and new, and there are so many amenities you hardly have to leave the premises. All of that luxury comes at a price–in this case $4,995 a month–but there's no need to commit to buying. There's also no need to buy (or bring) furniture; it's included with the chic and lofty one-bedroom rental pad. There's plenty of closet space throughout, so whatever you bring can find a home as well.
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Distinctive Homes

November 11, 2019

The 9/11 Tribute Museum might be closing its doors

By Alexandra Alexa

Google Street View of the 9/11 Tribute Museum in October 2017; Map data © Google The 9/11 Tribute Museum—perhaps “overshadowed” by the better-known Memorial Museum just a few blocks away—might be closing its 92 Greenwich Street location, as Crain’s reports. Real estate investment firm Thor Equities has placed the museum's three-story space on the market for $30 million. It’s not yet clear whether the museum will close down completely or be able to relocate.
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Events & Things To Do

Win tickets to a 6sqft and Untapped Cities’ tour of Woods Bagot’s architecture studio

Photo by James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft

November 8, 2019

Win tickets to a 6sqft and Untapped Cities’ tour of Woods Bagot’s architecture studio

By 6sqft

When designing new workspace in the Financial District, architecture firm Woods Bagot knew they wanted to incorporate a sense of New York City grit. The studio's raw interiors, which look convincingly original, black and white palette, exposed pipes and cracked concrete floors help pull off this aesthetic, while the use of technology and communal space keep things modern. As part of a partnership between 6sqft and Untapped Cities, you can take a behind-the-scenes tour of Woods Bagot studios, the firm behind Union Crossing in the South Bronx and mixed-use tower The Amberly in Downtown Brooklyn. Led by architect Sorrel Anderson, the tour offers lovers of architecture and city planning a chance to learn about the studio's design, test out a virtual reality experience, and ask questions at the end of the evening. Below, enter our raffle for a chance to win two tickets to the tour.
Find out how to enter

The Pinnacle. Rendering: Williams New York.

November 1, 2019

New renderings show $79M penthouse in the Woolworth Building’s famous crown

The residential conversion of the Woolworth Building at 2 Park Place has brought with it a collection of unique condominium residences that take advantage of the iconic tower's architectural features. The jewel in the crown, so to speak, among these trophy properties is The Pinnacle, a 9,680-square-foot home perched 727 feet above New York City in the building's famous crown. This lofty residence spans floors 50 to 58, with a 408-square-foot private observatory terrace. Priced at $79 million–a considerable chop from its original price of $110 million when it first arrived on the market in 2017–the peerless penthouse is being offered as a white box, with award-winning architect David Hotson on board to develop the interior design.
See more possibilities for The Pinnacle

Distinctive Homes

Live in the ‘pavilion’ apartment at the historic Woolworth Building for $30M

Photo of Pavilion A by Travis Mark

October 21, 2019

Live in the ‘pavilion’ apartment at the historic Woolworth Building for $30M

More than 100 years after its construction, the Woolworth Building's transformation into a luxury residential tower is complete. Now, four years after condo sales first launched, there's an opportunity to live in one of the building's most unique residences. Developer Alchemy Properties has listed a 29th-floor five-bedroom, called Pavilion A, for $29.85 million, an asking price roughly $3 million less than when the apartment first listed in May. And while the unit's size and custom features make this apartment special, the setback duplex terrace, which lets you rub elbows with the historic building's stunning terra-cotta exterior, puts it in another league.
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Distinctive Homes

A man wearing a fez selling drinks in Little Syria in the early 1900s (Bain News Service, 1916), via Wiki Commons/Library of Congress

September 19, 2019

GIVEAWAY: Win a pair of tickets to MAS’ walking tour of the lost ‘Lower West Side’

By 6sqft

The Lower West Side is not a common neighborhood name used, mainly because much of what made this enclave notable has since been forgotten. As 6sqft previously explained, "encompassing the area west of Broadway from Liberty Street to Battery Place, it was originally home to Irish and German immigrants, followed by Little Syria, the nation’s first and largest Arabic settlement, from roughly the 1880s to 1940s." The neighborhood all but disappeared during the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and World Trade Center, but several vestiges and stories remain, which will be explored in a walking tour on October 6th with historian Joe Svehlak for the Municipal Art Society.
Enter to win a pair of tickets!

Events & Things To Do

Via Wikimedia

September 6, 2019

WTC Oculus skylight won’t open this year during 9/11 commemoration due to leak

The skylight atop the $3.9 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub Oculus won't open this year on September 11, according to the Port Authority. It was announced this week that the skylight–comprised of 224 panes of glass on 40 motorized panels designed by Spanish starchitect Santiago Calatrava–has a leaking problem and will remain closed for this year's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The skylight was intended to open and close, releasing a beam of light into the Oculus space at precisely 10:28 A.M. each year to mark the moment the north tower of the World Trade Center fell.
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Thousands of Lower Manhattan tenants may be owed six years’ worth of back rent

Via Flickr

August 12, 2019

Thousands of Lower Manhattan tenants may be owed six years’ worth of back rent

In June, the state's Court of Appeals found that apartments at two Lower Manhattan buildings had been unlawfully deregulated by landlords who had collected millions of dollars in benefits under a 1995 tax program. Now, as The City reports, thousands of former or current tenants in the area may be owed up to six years in back rent from landlords who received the tax breaks for years.
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Camp for free under the stars in The Battery

Photo courtesy of the Battery Conservancy

August 1, 2019

Camp for free under the stars in The Battery