This Week’s 5 Most Expensive Listings

Here’s our look at the five most expensive residential listings to hit StreetEasy in the past seven days — the crème de la crème of the Manhattan market this week.

21 East 66th Street #7FLR

Address 21 East 66th Street #7FLR
Price $14,350,000
Type/Size Condo: three bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms
This week’s most expensive listing is a full-floor unit at 21 East 66th Street, a home which is described as, “befitting for royalty or the like.” The listing photos provided focus very specifically on the apartment’s finishes so we can’t judge for ourselves quite how lavish the spread actually is – but we can say the tiling is superb.

251 East 61st Street

Address 251 East 61st Street
Price $14,250,000
Type/Size Townhouse: five bedrooms and five bathrooms
The second most expensive listing this week is a two-fer; one 5,000-square-foot townhouse plus a 1,148 square foot finished coach house. The two are connected by a private underground passageway. Besides two houses the spread comes with a wine room, a roof deck and an elevator.

1175 Park Avenue 12FLR-1/2A

Address 1175 Park Avenue 12FLR-1/2A
Price $9,950,000
Type/Size Co-op: five bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms
At 1175 Park Avenue is this 12 room residence. Spread across over 4,400 square feet, it comes with a private elevator landing, a formal dining room, a children’s play room, a private maid’s quarters, and a paneled library with a 24-karat gold leaf ceiling.

120 East End Avenue #10B

Address 120 East End Avenue #10B
Price $9,500,000
Type/Size Co-op: four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms
This 4,100 square foot corner spread has been “exquisitely renovated,” according to the listing. It comes with East River views, marble mantelpieces, an eat-in kitchen, and a library. But we like the wooden herringbone floors most of all.

20 West 53rd Street #29A

Address 20 West 53rd Street #29A
Price $9,350,000
Type/Size Condo: three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms
Set inside the Baccarat Hotel & Residences, this 2,303-square-foot spread benefits most those swanky hotel amenities. But beyond the bar, restaurant, spa and fitness center, this apartment has floor-to-ceiling windows, Central Park views, and a customized walk-in closet.

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201 East 21st Street, Unit 10B

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201 East 21st Street, Unit 10B

GRAMERCY PARK, MANHATTAN

2 Bed  |  1 Bath

Offered At $1,075,000

 

Welcome home to this stylish and gut-renovated Junior 4 apartment that has been recently featured in home décor magazines! It offers a great layout, ample storage space and thoughtful updates, all located in one of Gramercy’s most sought-after buildings!

This converted two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment features large west and south facing windows in nearly every room. The oversized rooms and flexible floorplan are ready to meet your needs while the renovated open kitchen is perfect for any chef or for entertaining. Other kitchen features include top of the line stainless steel GE appliances, single piece Carrera marble countertops and backsplash and Restoration Hardware and Moen fixtures to complete the look. You'll find abundant storage space throughout the apartment with five large closets outfitted by California Closets, built-ins lining the living room plus a wall of bookshelves in the home office/second bedroom. The gracious foyer flows into the oversized living room to provide an immense space ready to accommodate living and dining spaces. The converted second bedroom is suitable for use as a home office, nursery or can be converted back to a formal dining area. The large master bedroom provides plenty of room and boasts a massive walk in closet complete with a center island. The beautifully renovated bathroom features Carrera marble and Restoration Hardware fixtures giving it a simple yet modern look and feel.

The Quaker Ridge is known for its stellar financials and low maintenance, not to mentions its prime location just steps from Gramercy Park. The co-op includes a full-time doorman, live-in superintendent, new laundry facilities, bike storage and a residents-only parking garage with direct access to the building. The building allows co-purchasing and pets, but does not permit guarantors or pied-à-terres.

Seen HERE In NY Cottages & Gardens

Here’s Why We Celebrate Labor Day

But the Labor Day holiday has a storied past, one of violence and celebration, that’s embedded deep in the history of the American labor movement. And while it has spread around the world in different forms, Labor Day has distinctly American roots.

Here’s a quick primer on the meaning and history of the holiday.

When did Labor Day begin?

The modern holiday is widely traced back to an organized parade in New York City in 1882. Union leaders had called for what they had labelled a “monster labor festival” on Tuesday, Sept. 5, according to Linda Stinson, a former historian for the Department of Labor (the idea for a general labor festival may have originated in Canada, which today also celebrates “Labour Day” on the first Monday in September). Initially that morning, few people showed up, and organizers worried that workers had been reluctant to surrender a day’s pay to join the rally. But soon the crowds began flowing in from across the city, and by the end of the day some 10,000 people had marched in the parade and joined festivities afterward in what the press dubbed “a day of the people.”

When did it become an official holiday?

The practice of holding annual festivities to celebrate workers spread across the country, but Labor Day didn’t become a national holiday for more than a decade. Oregon became the first state to declare it a holiday in 1887, and states like New York, Massachusetts and Colorado soon followed suit. Under President Grover Cleveland, and amid growing awareness of the labor movement, the first Monday in September became a national holiday in 1896.

Why is it on the first Monday in September anyway?

Labor union leaders had pushed for a September date for the New York demonstration, which coincided with a conference in the city of the Knights of Labor, one of the largest and most influential of the unions. The first two New York City Labor Days took place on the 5th of September, but in 1884, the third annual New York City Labor Day holiday was scheduled for the first Monday in September, and that date stuck.

The September rally would soon clash with International Worker’s Day on May 1, which arose out of what is known as the Haymarket Affair. On May 4, 1886, protesters in Chicago gathered to demand an 8-hour workday. Toward the end of the day, a peaceful demonstration devolved into violence when a bomb was hurled toward the police, killing one officer instantly and injuring others. The police responded by firing into the crowd, killing a still undetermined number of people. The incident enraged labor activists but also fueled fears in America that the labor movement had become radicalized, prompting a crackdown on labors groups: the bomb thrower was never identified, but four people were hanged for their alleged involvement.

In the wake of the Haymarket Affair, Union leaders and socialists declared May 1 as International Workers’ Day, and the day was and continues to be unofficially observed in the U.S. It’s also that date that most other countries officially or unofficially observe as a holiday in honor of workers. But when President Grover Cleveland moved to create a national labor holiday, he chose to avoid the thorny history of that May date.

So what’s the difference between Labor Day and May Day (International Workers’ Day) in the U.S.?

Jonathan Cutler, associate professor of sociology at Wesleyan, described Labor Day as a “government alternative” to May Day in an informative interview with NPR about the Haymarket Affair. May Day may have helped promote the creation of a national holiday, but Labor Day is associated with a different significance. “May Day has always been linked to the demand for less work and more pay; Labor Day celebrates the ‘dignity’ of work,” Cutler said in the interview.

We have Monday off, but does the labor community still actually celebrate the holiday?

Yep. To this day there is still a major parade in New York City (and other cities across the country, large and small), and the #UnionStrong will probably make a big showing on Twitter. It’s true that union membershiphas been declining for years, but many of the challenges that faced workers more than a century ago are still being overcome today, whether by thegrowing movement for higher wages in the fast food industry or by overworked tech and finance employees calling for better hours.

“If there is anyone who needs to attend to the spirit of Haymarket, it is the American white-collar professional who works 10 hour days, including many weekends, and who has fewer paid vacation days than other white-collar professionals around the world,” Cutler said in the interview with NPR.

So, are white clothes really out?

Yes and no.

This Week’s Celebrity Home Swaps

1) Academy Award-winning actress and everyone’s dream best friend, Jennifer Lawrence, is moving on up — in real estate, that is. She recently got $1.15 million in the sale of her Santa Monica two-story condo, which she bought in 2006 for $879,000 right before she got famous.

2) Legendary Hollywood producer Martin Bregman, known for “Scarface,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” and “The Adventures of Pluto Nash,” is listing his Park Avenue apartment. Bregman wants just under $10 million for the four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom pre-war, located at 417 Park Avenue.

3) Forget dieting; if you want to live like a swimsuit model, all you need is a spare $20,000-a-month. That’s how much Irina Shayk, the Russian Sports Illustrated model who is the girlfriend of Bradley Cooper, is charging in rent for her condo at 150 Charles.

4) Chat show queen Ellen DeGeneres, notorious for her house flipping, has actually now sold the same Hollywood Hills West home twice. Her latest deal, for $10 million, is for a two-acre compound she first sold in 2007 to Allison Milgard of Milgard Manufacturing for $10 million. She bought it back seven years later for under $8.8 million. Earlier this month, she sold it again in an off-market deal, this time for $9.9 million.

5) Gawker Media founder Nick Denton found a tenant for his 76 Crosby Street digs, but needs a bankruptcy judge to approve the lease. And fast. Denton won’t be able to pay the mortgage and condo fees on his $4.2 million Soho pad unless the tenant moves in right away.

6)  This summer candy mogul and fashion heiress Dylan Lauren celebrated 15 years in the sugar business. But the Dylan’s Candy Bar founder is also making unusual real estate moves, according to sources. A source told the New York Post that Lauren, the daughter of acclaimed fashion designer Ralph Lauren, recently rented a modest studio apartment in Trump Palace at 200 East 69th Street.

This Week’s 5 Most Expensive Listings

In the past seven days, five new listings priced at $10 million and above hit the market, according to StreetEasy. From that list, these are the crème de la crème, otherwise known as the five most expensive residential listings to hit the Manhattan market.

19 East 61st Street

Address 19 East 61st Street
Price $37,500,000
Type/Size Townhouse: six bedrooms and six-and-a-half bathrooms
This week’s most expensive listing is one of two townhouses that are a part of the recently renovated Carlton House Building – which started life as the Helmsey Carlton House hotel. The home’s listing doesn’t included any photos, but LLNYC got a good look at the house when it served as the Kips Bay Decorator Show House earlier this year.

20 West 53rd Street #47

Address 20 West 53rd Street #47
Price $23,800,000
Type/Size Condo: four bedrooms and four bathrooms
This 4,557-square-foot spread is the most expensive at the Baccarat Hotel and Residences right now (but not the most expensive that has sold in the building). It comes with floor-to-ceiling windows, stellar views, high ceilings, and all of the luxe amenities that come with living in the same building as the Baccarat Hotel. 

134 West 78th Street

Address 134 West 78th Street
Price $12,000,000
Type/Size Condo: four bedrooms and four bathrooms
Three seems to be the magic number this week; this is the third most expensive listing and by far the nicest place we’ve seen in a little while. Although currently a four unit co-op, the spread will be delivered vacant and we suspect that any future buyer will be very tempted to turn it back into it’s full townhouse glory (we would). 

132 East 65th Street #Ph3

Address 132 East 65th Street #Ph3
Price $11,900,000
Type/Size Condo: four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms
This Upper East Side apartment is in the fairly newly built Touraine building. Its interiors are designed by Stephen Alton, and it comes with a formal dining room, double crown moldings, custom lighting, and two private terraces.

31 West 21st Street #9FL

Address 31 West 21st Street #9FL
Price $10,500,000
Type/Size Condo: four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms
This Flatiron loft is another one of this week’s winning listings. The 4,776 square foot, full-floor spread comes with pre-war details, views of the Empire State Building, a home gym, and a very comfy looking sofa. 

This Week’s 5 Most Expensive Listings

Here’s our look at the five most expensive residential listings to hit StreetEasy in the past seven days — the crème de la crème of the Manhattan market this week.

1965 Broadway #Ph3bc

Address 1965 Broadway #Ph3bc
Price $29,995,000
Type/Size Condo: eight bedrooms and nine-and-a-half bathrooms
The honor of being dubbed “this week’s most expensive listing” goes to this Lincoln Square triplex. Described by it’s listing as a, “three-story townhouse in the sky”, this unit totals an impressive 10,100 square feet (8,100 interior and 2,000 exterior). It comes with three entrances, one for each level, two landscaped terraces, and a selection of very interesting ceilings.

123 Washington Street #PH56

Address 123 Washington Street #PH56
Price $22,520,000
Type/Size Condo: nine bedrooms and nine bathrooms
This isn’t the first time penthouse 56 at the W Hotel Downtown has made our list. But this time it’s been on the receiving end of a very serious price chop (it was originally asking $31.8 million). From the look of the floor plan this listing appears to be a full floor containing multiple apartments – we spotted six kitchens. But whatever it is, they all come with access to all of the W Hotel’s amenities, including a full catering kitchen, billiards table, cinema room, private fitness center, spa and valet parking.

158 Mercer Street #7BWAY

Address 158 Mercer Street #7BWAY
Price $14,500,000
Type/Size Condo: four bedrooms and three bathrooms
This pretty Soho loft is in the New Museum Building (which appears to have no connection to the actual New Museum just a few blocks away). The spread comes with four exposures, seventeen oversized windows; and while this unit is nice, it’s not as nice as the one Jon Bon Jovi sold a few stories up.

70 Vestry Street #4E

Address 70 Vestry Street #4E
Price $10,750,000
Type/Size Condo: three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms
70 Vestry dominated our Most Expensive list last week. This time around only one of their pads made the cut. This unit at the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building comes with river views, marble counters and wine storage plus access to all of the building’s swanky amenities which include a billiards room, a cafe and a squash court. Oh, and Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen will be your neighbors.

60 Riverside Boulevard #Ph3802

Address 60 Riverside Boulevard #Ph3802
Price $9,500,000
Type/Size Condo: four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms
This 3,096-square-foot spread at The Aldyn on Riverside Boulevard was designed by Christopher Coleman. It comes with floor-to-ceiling windows, river views, a ton of storage and a lot of bright colors. Plus access to the buildings amenities which include a rock climbing wall and a bowling alley.

Brexit’s Residential Boon

U.S. homebuyers are seeing new opportunities with interest rates at near-record lows

August 01, 2016 
By Kenneth Harney

When mortgage interest rates slide close to all-time lows — as they have since the Brexit vote — should one sit on the fence? Or pursue the financial opportunities that didn’t exist when rates were half a percentage point higher or more?

In July, according to Freddie Mac, 30-year fixed rates dropped to an average of 3.41 percent, just above the historic low of 3.31 percent set in November 2012. Fifteen-year fixed rates, popular with homeowners seeking to become mortgage-free faster, dropped to a stunning 2.74 percent. Five-year Treasury-indexed
“5-1” hybrid adjustables, which carry a fixed rate for the first 60 months then morph into one-year adjustables, hit 2.68 percent.

For potential first-time buyers or homeowners considering whether to refinance, or thinking about trading up or downsizing, rates this low could be worthy of attention.

Consider these illustrations of what a half percentage point cut in rate can mean, provided by Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association. For buyers purchasing a home costing $239,700 with a 5 percent down payment, a drop in rate from 4 percent to 3.5 percent will save nearly $100 a month in principal and interest. Those buying a house with the current median-sized purchase loan amount of $299,900 will save about $1,500 a year in principal and interest, or $125 a month.

For those living in metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, San Diego, Chicago or Miami, where median prices are much higher, the savings on a refinanced mortgage that flow from just a half a percentage point decrease in rate can run substantially higher.

There’s another impact of falling rates: They lower the amount of qualifying income needed to get a loan. A buyer seeking to purchase a first home for $241,000 this spring, at a rate of 4 percent with a 20 percent down payment, may have had the application declined because his or her income came close to what the lender required but didn’t quite hit the mark. However, at a 3.5 percent rate, a buyer doesn’t need as much income to qualify. According to Danielle Hall, managing director of housing research for the National Association of Realtors, a half percentage point drop in rate reduces the minimum qualifying income to buy a house by roughly $1,000 per $100,000 in home price with a 20 percent down payment. On a $241,000 house, a rate cut from 4 percent to 3.5 percent would lower the qualifying income by $2,626.

Savings like that matter not only to first-time buyers with modest incomes but also to the owners of moderately priced houses and condos who are seeking to sell to those previously locked-out purchasers. A successful sale may then allow the sellers to buy another house — a nice win-win.

Not surprisingly, the rate declines are triggering boomlets in new mortgage applications, which rose by 14.2 percent last month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The association’s refinancing index jumped even more — 21 percent — and the purchase loan index was 23 percent higher than the same week in 2015. Mike Eastman, vice president and senior loan officer at Washington First Mortgage in Fairfax, Virginia, told me “the phones are ringing” both for home-purchase loans and refinancings. He described what an applicant with a high credit score in a $600,000 house in Virginia could save by opting for a “5-1” hybrid: $171 a month, or $10,260 less in principal and interest during the first 60 months. That’s real money, he said, and “people should look at these (hybrids)” because they carry low rates and can be useful in a variety of financial-planning situations.

How long are mortgage rates likely to remain at or near these levels? Nobody knows. But Sean Becketti, chief economist for Freddie Mac, says post-Brexit capital markets are “skittish” and “we don’t expect any meaningful, sustained increases in the near term.”

So take a hard look. Competent loan officers have computer software that can quickly give buyers and owners the answers they’re after: How much of a rate decrease justifies doing a refinance? How long will it take to recoup the transaction costs via the monthly savings? Does a buyer’s income finally qualify them to buy the house they want?

Kenneth Harney is a syndicated columnist.

‘Late Night’ Host Seth Meyers Nabs a Greenwich Village Co-op for $7.5M

Funnyman Seth Meyers has just scored himself a sprawling duplex spread in Greenwich Village. According to city records released this afternoon, the comedian and his wife Alexi dropped $7.519M on the 3,200-square-foot co-op at 32 Washington Square West, a prewar construction that sits at the northwest corner of the beloved Washington Square Park. According to the listing, the apartment boasts five bedrooms, 4.5 baths, excellent light through its 26 windows, four exposures, two wood burning fireplaces, a chefs kitchen, a supersized living/dining room setup, and much much more. Incidentally, this apartment is no stranger to hosting A-list celebs. The home was previously owned by actress Mary Louise Parker—she sold the spacious pad for $7.75 million in 2013.

The home’s interior is highlighted by beamed ceilings, luxurious Venetian plaster walls and moldings, and richly stained oak floors. Oversized windows infuse the duplex’s 10 rooms with plenty of light.

An efficient, eat-in chefs kitchen has been outfitted with a Wolf range, Sub Zero appliances, and a large walk-in pantry.

A second sitting area with fireplace can be found on the top floor just off the master bedroom. Two more of the five bedrooms can also be found on this floor.

Meyers and his wife will also enjoy a kind of quiet that doesn’t come often (nor cheap) in NYC. The co-op occupies two floors of the demure 15-story building, in which there are only two apartments per floor. The building also offers a full-time doorman and elevator operator.

Andrew Cuomo Wants To Be New York’s Next Master Builder

TRD Special Report: A year into his second term, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a man with a limited legacy. Well before fiascoes like the Moreland Commission, there were triumphs: He signed same-sex marriage into law just months after taking office, and in 2013, inked what he calls the “toughest” gun control law in the country.

But when it comes to being a gubernatorial icon, nothing says “remember me” like giant infrastructure projects. On their paths to the White House, Franklin Roosevelt and Nelson Rockefeller constantly touted their records of public works that transformed New York. Cuomo, who likely shares their presidential ambitions, has some catching up to do.

Which is perhaps why, in the days leading up to his sixth State of the State address, the governor evoked the names of Rockefeller and Robert Moses. The parallels were in reference to his Built to Lead program, a proposed $100 billion investment in the state’s infrastructure that includes overhauls of LaGuardia Airport, Penn Station and the Jacob K. Javits Center.

“It is a development initiative that would make Gov. Rockefeller jealous,” Cuomosaid of the program.

These are not exactly modest comparisons. Rockefeller created the predecessor to the Empire State Development Corporation, and Moses, though controversial, is a colossus of urban infrastructure. But they make clear that Cuomo is willing to bet that big development projects will serve as his springboard to higher office. If they are actually completed, that is.

Rendering of the Jacob Javits Center

“These [developments] would be the most visible and the most tangible memorials to his term in office,” said David Birdsell, dean of the Baruch College of Public Affairs. “But the projects need to be received well. Clearly, you don’t want to become the rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike.”

The ‘get shit done’ guv
In his 2011 inaugural address, Cuomo laid out the parameters of his office.

“A governor’s inherent power is limited. A governor’s potential power is limitless,” he said. “The potential power of the governor is to mobilize the people of the State of New York. And that is the real power.”

The highlight of his tenure, so far, is the New NY Bridge, a $4 billion replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge. His administration said that after “more than a decade of discussion and delay,” Cuomo swooped into office and “pushed the project forward from dysfunction to construction in less than one year.” The eight-lane bridge is slated for completion in 2018 and, in many ways, is a case study for Cuomo’s governing style.

“Clearly, you don’t want to become the rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike.” — David Birdsell, dean of the Baruch College of Public Affairs

“This is a governor who says he wants to get stuff done. His shtick is ‘I get shit done,’” said Philip Plotch, an urban planner who served as the director of the World Trade Center redevelopment and special projects for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

Cuomo’s approach to the project did indeed have echoes of Moses, according to Plotch, but perhaps not for the reasons the governor would have hoped: He was able to get the project off the ground, Plotch said, by eliminating previously-included mass transit components, scaling back the project and minimizing public participation. Speed trumped all else. The governor, Plotch said, was more interested in “public relations” than “public input,” and made major project decisions behind closed doors. Representatives for the governor contested this, pointing to roughly 600 community meetings held on the project. Plotch said that public meetings held during Cuomo’s administration were held to sell the plan rather than solicit input.

He also noted that Cuomo secured a $1.5 billion Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) federal loan for the project, allowing him to have the glory of bridge-building while leaving the headache of repayment to his successor.

“So you get to go to the ribbon-cutting, you can name the bridge after your dad if you want, and you don’t have to pay back the loan for five years,” Plotch said.

Still, some applaud Cuomo’s approach. Ken Patton, a former dean at New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and former administrator at the New York Economic Development Corporation, said continuing to ignore the bridge’s sorry state would have been “shortsighted and morally bankrupt.”

“So you get to go to the ribbon-cutting, you can name the bridge after your dad if you want, and you don’t have to pay back the loan for five years.” — Phillip Plotch, urban planner

“I think where there’s a will there’s a way, and I think if he needs to bend the rules or double down, he does,” Patton added.

In 2014, Cuomo took heat for trying to use $511 million from a revolving Environmental Protection Agency fund for the bridge project. The agency eventually agreed to contribute just $1.3 million. As of right now, bridge costs, thanks in part to a proposed $1.1 billion bond from the state Thruway Authority, are covered through the remainder of 2016 and possibly through the first quarter of 2017, according to administration officials. Martin Robins, the founder of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center and one of the creators of NJ Transit, said that though funding questions remain, Cuomo has secured “sound” low-interest public financing and got agencies to work together when his predecessors could not.

“Some people think it was brilliant and some people think it was reckless,” Robins said of Cuomo’s approach. “He broke an intergovernmental knot that had developed, it was a Gordian knot between the Metro-North, DOT and Thruway Authority.’’

Like the New NY Bridge, many of the projects Cuomo is focusing on have been several decades in the making and have failed to launch for myriad reasons. Efforts to red­esign Penn Station began in the 1990s but were stalled by faulty design specifications. Laments over LaGuardia Airport’s logistical shortcomings fell on deaf ears. And, for several years, many called for an expansion of the Javits Center but Cuomo, in 2012, suggested a plan to tear it down and build a new one — a plan that eventually fell through.

Rendering of LaGuardia Airport

But in the past year, Cuomo has restarted the redevelopment of Penn Station, unveiled a $4 billion redesign for LaGuardia and proposed a 1.2 million-square-foot expansion to the Javits Center, expected to cost $1 billion. These projects may not have gotten their start with Cuomo, but in one way or another, he has taken them over. Critics say he is simply parlaying his white-knight role in these long-stalled developments into a presidential run. But admirers point to sheer force of position: As governor, Cuomo has the necessary agency to prioritize these projects, and to cajole or bully the involved parties to get them done.

“It’s the old ‘If you don’t have governor power, things don’t happen,’” said Richard Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress. “What Gov. Cuomo has realized is that he’s the only person in the state of New York that can make some of these things happen.”

Tunnel vision

In the late 1990s, the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Moynihan proposed converting the James A. Farley Post Office into a train hall for Amtrak. In 2005, Related Cos. and Vornado Realty Trust won an RFP to develop the Moynihan Station project. Since then, the project has seen four different designs, one of which included moving Madison Square Garden into the post office. Sources who have followed the project’s history closely told The Real Deal that previous administrations let the project languish even as the developers invested millions. This lack of government interest caused MSG to pull out and instead renew at its current location, these sources said. What followed was years of an unsuccessful search for a new tenant for the post office. Then the market collapsed.

“I think where there’s a will there’s a way, and I think if he needs to bend the rules or double down, he does.” — Ken Patton, former administrator at the New York Economic Development Corporation

“I think the project came pretty close in 2007 and 2008 when it was Vornado and Related creating a plan for both sides of Eighth Avenue,” said Juliette Michaelson, executive vice president of the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit urban planning think-tank whose board includes executives from both developers. “That was such a massive project. It was tens of billions of dollars and millions of square feet, and it collapsed.”

In January, Cuomo booted Related and Vornado off the project by issuing a joint request for proposals (RFP) for the $3 billion redevelopment of both Penn Station and the Farley Building, dubbed the Empire State Complex. The separation may be temporary: Related has indicated that it plans to pursue a bid for this iteration. Though Vornado has remained quiet about its future role, the company has worked hard to amass a huge stake in the area in the form of 8 million square feet of office space.

The new RFP includes five possible design options for the redevelopment of Penn Station, one of which includes removing MSG’s Paramount Theater to create an entrance at Eighth Avenue. Representatives for MSG declined to discuss the history of the project but said that they “fully support the governor’s plan.”

According to representatives with the Empire State Development Corporation, one of the lead agencies on the project, past efforts to expand Penn Station were hamstrung by the projects being approached in isolation, rather than as one interconnected complex. Cuomo is also trying to implement a different delivery system to speed up the project. In his 2016 budget proposal, he suggested allowing ESD to use design-build, a method where the landlord signs a single contract with a team that handles both design and construction. Only five state agencies currently have the authority to use the method, which is often touted as a time and money saver. Design-build was used for the new Tappan Zee Bridge and by some estimates has shaved 18 months off the construction time and roughly 15 percent off the cost.

Michael Evans, president of the ESD subsidiary Moynihan Station Development Corporation, and Joseph Chan, executive vice president of real estate development at ESD, credited the governor’s focus on getting buy-in from Amtrak and other entities.

“As staff we can toil away at any project,” Chan said, “but when the principal gets involved and says this is important, it delivers a level of hope to the stakeholders that this is going to get done.” Representatives for Vornado and Related declined to comment.

Executives at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, an architecture firm which has been involved with the Moynihan Station project since the 1990s but officially came on board in 2010, said it had limited access to the post office until 2007, when the state acquired the building.

Rendering of the Farley Building redevelopment

“This [version of the project] is realizable. The other one wasn’t funded, it didn’t have the political traction to move forward,” said Roger Duffy, design partner at SOM. “Lots of people are focused on the symbology of things, and I think that misses the entire primary point of a transportation facility. This is certainly beautiful and appropriate in terms of history and scale, but it also works. People need to understand how much better this is than the current condition.”

The plan has its share of detractors, however. David Gunn, who was president of Amtrak from 2002 to 2005, wasn’t initially aware of the governor’s plans to reboot the project when reached by phone. But he reiterated his previous criticism of the redevelopment, saying that moving Amtrak’s train hall across Eighth Avenue would burden passengers with a longer commute. (Gunn said that most passengers arrive by subway; ESD officials contend that most come by cab). Commuters aren’t interested in shopping at a retail mall in Moynihan, Gunn said — they just want to get from A to B as quickly as possible.

“It is not an improvement for the passenger,” he said. “It’s an improvement for the real estate developers and the politicians. Cuomo probably doesn’t have a clue, or he doesn’t care.” Cuomo has certainly been accused of being buddy-buddy with developers before, and his strong financial ties to the real estate industry — developers and brokers were among the top contributors to his reelection campaign — ensure it’s a topic that often comes up.

Ultimately, better design or not, a $3 billion question remains: The governor hasn’t detailed how these projects will be financed. Richard Ravitch, who served as lieutenant governor under Gov. David Paterson and earlier chaired both the New York State Urban Development Corporation and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said that these infrastructure projects aren’t really priorities until there is a clear source of funding.

“This isn’t just ‘throw something against the wall and see what sticks.’ These are all projects that are going to get done.” — Bill Mulrow, Cuomo aide

“These projects are all commendable,” Ravitch said. “I think the question that the political system hasn’t answered is ‘how the hell are we going to pay for it?’ I think until we get an answer to this question, all these projects are purely aspirational.”

Cuomo’s camp maintains the governor has laid out clear funding plans for these projects. For Empire Station Complex, Cuomo said the developers will invest $1 billion, while federal and state government agencies will foot $325 million. The rest will be paid for by yet-undetermined private investment in exchange for future revenue from retail and commercial rents at the complex.

Bill Mulrow, Cuomo’s top aide and a former senior executive at the Blackstone Group, said these projects would shape the state’s legacy, rather than just Cuomo’s. The governor isn’t in the business of proposing projects that won’t get done, he added, citing the example of the New NY Bridge.

“He’s focused on it, and we already demonstrated that we’re getting results with a project that had languished for decades,” Mulrow said. “This isn’t just ‘throw something against the wall and see what sticks.’ These are all projects that are going to get done.”

Higher ground

Some believe Cuomo’s ambitious development agenda is a ticket out of Albany. If a Democrat takes the White House in 2017, Cuomo will either run for re-election after his second term ends in 2018 or find another job and wait for his shot at the presidency, said Gerald Benjamin, an expert on city and state government at SUNY New Paltz. If a Republican wins, Cuomo may make a play for the office sooner. For now, he is systematically rolling out ambitious projects, taking financial risks and figuring out what it will take to get them done on the fly, Benjamin said. To fail to complete these projects would be somewhat damning for Cuomo, he said, but not necessarily a calamity.

“He’s trying to fill out his resume,” said Robert Shapiro, president of City Center Real Estate and an expert on air rights and assemblage. “If you got the proposal out there, you can say, ‘this is what I’m trying to do for the city and the state.’”

Shapiro isn’t confident the projects will be completed, saying they have an “eternal life.”

Pulling off these “big tough brawny projects” would surely give Cuomo bragging rights for the rest of his political career, Baruch’s Birdsell said. To his credit, Cuomo can also boast reversing a “remarkable scheme of failure” that dates back to his father’s administration: Late state budgets. Under Cuomo, the state has passed a balanced budget by deadline fives times in a row (though, last year’s was technically late by a few hours), which isn’t a small feat, Birdsell said. But when it comes to visible testaments to his mettle as a leader and his ability to cut through bureaucratic morass, these projects would get the most mileage — a fact that some say has shifted his focus.

This change was good news for the beleaguered ARC tunnel, the proposed new rail tunnel under the Hudson River. Following years of silence, Cuomo only recently embraced the project, now known as the Gateway Tunnel. As recently as August, the governor said he wouldn’t pay for it, insisting it wasn’t his state’s responsibility. But in November, the federal government agreed to pay for half of the $14 billion project, with New York and New Jersey splitting the difference.

‘We have been working to break the federal logjam and get the federal funding that this massive undertaking requires,” Cuomo said at the time.

“Our role, as we see it, is to hold the governor’s feet to the fire.” — Joe Sitt, head of Thor Equities

Robins, who worked as project director on the ARC tunnel from 1994 to 1995, noted a “remarkable transformation,” with Cuomo going “from being recalcitrant to becoming a partner to the plan.”

The governor apparently recalibrated his focus on LaGuardia as well. In late 2014, Cuomo and Vice President Joseph Biden announced a contest to redesign the airport. At the time, Joseph Sitt, head of Thor Equities and chair of the Global Gateway Alliance, a group that advocates for a major overhaul of the airport, criticized the governor for using the much-needed improvements as political capital — Cuomo was up for re-election.

The hope now, Sitt said, is that Cuomo views the success of the project as essential to his political future.

“We’ve tried so hard to make this a political issue for him,” Sitt said. “We’re hopeful that we’ve made it important enough in the eyes of the constituents, that yes, it will make a difference to his future and his future in politics. Our role, as we see it, is to hold the governor’s feet to the fire.”

For more than a decade, the alliance pushed for major improvements at the airport but their pleas were ignored, Sitt said. He added that though the governor may be using LaGuardia and other projects to pave his path to the White House, he is also delivering much-needed infrastructure updates to the state.

“I think he’s got higher hopes. He hopes to one day run for president,” he said. “At the same time, I think he sincerely wants to see these things get done.”

Book a Room At The Waldorf Astoria Soon, Final Checkout Will Be March 1

Want to book a room at the Waldorf Astoria New York next year? Plan that trip early in the year, the hotel's owner will not accept reservations beyond Feb. 28 and final checkout will be March 1—suggesting its owner will begin converting about 1,000 rooms to luxury condos shortly thereafter.

The blackout dates were shown on a booking website run by Hilton Worldwide Holdings, which operates numerous Waldorf Astoria hotels around the world. A spokesman for the property confirmed the reservation cutoff and that the landmarked building would close next spring, but would not elaborate on the residential conversion nor disclose plans to upgrade whatever hotel operation is left intact.

"We have not finalized any plans in terms of the scope, nature and details of the renovation project or the exact timing and duration of the hotel's closure," the spokesman said. "We are currently developing conceptual plans and will share additional details once those plans are finalized."

China-based Anbang purchased the Waldorf Astoria, located at 301 Park Ave., for $1.95 billion in late 2014 with vague plans to renovate it. Two months ago, Crain's reported that the insurer's strategy entailed converting roughly 1,000 of the hotel's 1,413 rooms to luxury condos.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian Want To Pay Their NYC Rent In Instagram Posts

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are trying to land a free $30 million apartment in Manhattan through Airbnb.

After Kardashian kin Kylie and Kendall Jennerrecently got a gratis villa rental in Turks and Caicos, and posed for endless bikini shots to maximize the publicity for the incredible Caribbean crib, the short-term rental giant is now trying to negotiate a luxury penthouse for Kimye in NYC for a few months this fall.

An Airbnb source told us: “The plan would be for Kimye to live there for a few months for free, and Kim will post on social media about the apartment, like her sisters did from Turks and ­Caicos. Airbnb would pick up the tab for the rent.”

We’re told West wants to be in Manhattan for New York Fashion Week, and to use the apartment as a base for his “Saint Pablo” Tour, which kicks off on Aug. 25 in Indianapolis.

While self-described genius West already has an apartment on Houston Street, a source close to the star told us, “It’s only a one-bedroom, and it is smaller than Kim’s closet in LA. He’s grown out of it, plus they need more space for the family.”

We’re told staffers for West have viewed stunning penthouses, all currently for sale, at 10 Sullivan St. in Soho ($29 million), 35 North Moore St. ($29.9 million) and 471 Washington St. ($24.5 million), plus a few other palatial downtown pads.

But the “modern-day Marie Antoinette” and her rapper hubby haven’t had immediate success. “Not many of these sellers want to rent to Kimye, as having their names, and Airbnb, attached to such a luxury property won’t help a sale,” a source said. “It isn’t attractive to high-end buyers. Plus, Airbnb is only offering a little more than $150,000 for the entire stay, when most of these places rent for [more than] $100K a month.”

Kardashian’s rep didn’t get back to us, and reps for West and Airbnb didn’t comment.

A source close to West added that his manager “Scooter Braun has people looking at places . . . Kanye wants to use New York as the hub for his tour. They have been talking to Airbnb, and hope to decide on an apartment soon.”

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A Blessed Pair: Two Manhattan Townhomes Owned by Nuns Sell for $18.8 Million

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Built in 1850, the houses were later combined to create a mega-mansion

BY GINA FARIDNIYA

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUGUST 18, 2016 | MANSION GLOBAL|

The Greek Revival-style townhomes, located at 236 and 238 East 15th St. in Gramercy, were acquired by the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the early 1940s. -COMPASS

Two Manhattan townhomes occupied by nuns sold for $18.8 million in a deal that closed Wednesday, Mansion Global has learned.

The Greek Revival-style townhomes, located at 236 and 238 East 15th St. in Gramercy, were built in 1850. The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary acquired the property in the early 1940s, according to listing agent Lisa Kobiolke of Compass.

The townhomes were later combined to create one 52-foot-wide mansion with 18,720 square feet of living space. There are a total of 20 bedrooms and 20 bathrooms. The property includes a garden.

By the 1960s, the sisterhood’s ranks had dwindled, and it began renting rooms to young women and other congregations, as reported by the New York Times. By June, only one sister lived there, and so the order put the property up for sale. It listed at $19.75 million about two months ago.

The buyer intends to live in one of the townhomes with her family and transform the other into student housing to generate income, according to Ms. Kobiolke.

The homes were originally occupied by Lewis L. Squires, a local ship chandler, and Mahlon Day, a printer and seller of children’s books, before they were acquired by the sisterhood.

Some of the proceeds of the sale will pay for the sisters’ relocation to the Bronx, while the remainder will be donated to missions around the world, according to Ms. Kobiolke.

Write to Gina Faridniya at gina.faridniya@dowjones.com

 

This Week’s 5 Most Expensive Listings

In the past seven days, 10 new listings priced at $10 million and above hit the market, according to StreetEasy. From that list, these are the crème de la crème, otherwise known as the five most expensive residential listings to hit the Manhattan market.

 

70 Vestry #12N

Address 70 Vestry #12N
Price $29,500,000
Type/Size Condo: five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms
This week’s most expensive list should really be called, “The best of 70 Vestry.” Sales launched at the pre-construction Tribeca building just four days ago – unless you’re Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen, in which case you’re allowed to start shopping a little early. This unit, the most expensive at the building so far, comes with 4,647 square feet of internal space plus 1,892 square feet of outdoor space.

70 Vestry #9s

Address 70 Vestry #9s
Price $21,000,000
Type/Size Condo: four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms
Here’s the second most expensive unit so far to hit the market at 70 Vestry. This one’s a little smaller and a little cheaper than the residence above, but it still comes with two river-facing private terraces, Hudson River views and a pretty sizable master suite.

70 Vestry #11s

Address 70 Vestry #11s
Price $19,000,000
Type/Size Condo: five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms
And here’s another unit at the Robert A.M. Stern-designed 70 Vestry. Like its neighbors above, 11S comes with river views, plus a library, an oak-paneled eat-in-kitchen and access to all of the building’s swanky amenities which include a billiards room, a cafe and a squash court.

435 East 52nd Street #1415D

Address 435 East 52nd Street #1415D
Price $14,400,000
Type/Size Co-op: three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms
This week’s fourth most expensive listing this week is not at 70 Vestry, but at the ever-so-exclusive River House. The Art Deco tower was built in 1931 and has currently houses the likes of Henry Kissinger, Uma Thurman, Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and plenty more. No word on this owner, but we’re suitably impressed by it’s three levels and private elevator entrance.

70 Vestry #4B

Address 70 Vestry #4B
Price $11,950,000
Type/Size Condo: four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms
Last but not least is an apartment at – you guessed it – 70 Vestry. Unlike the other units featured here, this one doesn’t come with a terrace, but does come with a huge great room, a ton of closet space and an impressive master suite.

Where the Ladies of RHONY Live in NYC

I’ll admit, my obsession with Bravo and its “Bravolebrities” is a bit embarrassing — I passed Ramona Singer on Third Avenue once and nearly jumped out of my skin with excitement at seeing those trademark wide eyes in the flesh. But anyone who’s invested in just a few episodes of the Real Housewives of New Yorkunderstands that watching these ladies is like eating an Oreo — you know you shouldn’t, you know it’s not good for you, but you can’t stop after just one. Bravo is addictive. Just ask my (very macho) male roommate who, prior to living with me, was blissfully unaware of the Housewives franchise, and now has an opinion on whether or not Luann should have told Ramona she was dating Tom.

To me, one of the best parts of watching the Real Housewives of New York is trying to figure out where these ladies live. Yes, we know Sonja, Ramona and Luann are Uptown girls while Bethenny and Carole are Downtown Julie Brown — but where? In honor of the upcoming season finale, we did some serious sleuthing to bring you the answers. Get ready, because it’s turtle time.

Bethenny Frankel

Two-bedroom condo, Soho

Purchased 2015 | $4.25M

Dedicated Bravo fans will remember Bethenny’s epic apartment hunt that took place throughout Season 7, when she complained about being “the richest homeless person in Manhattan.” The Skinny Girl mogul left behind her four-bedroom, $4.995M condo in Tribeca (and neighbor Jay-Z) in favor of her current digs on Mercer Street, as reported by Curbed.

Sonja Morgan

Five-bedroom townhouse, Lenox Hill

Purchased 1998 | $9.1M

Lady Morgan’s five-story townhouse on East 63rd Street should probably be some sort of historical landmark. It is, after all, the place where the idea for a toaster oven cookbook was born. According to The Real Deal, the townhouse has been on and off the market since 2008, with prices fluctuating as much as Sonja’s lifestyle brand; from $12 million in 2009 to $7.2 million in 2015. For now, the townhouse is off the market and Sonja’s (unpaid) interns have plenty of space to “learn.”

Dorinda Medley

Two-bedroom condo, Carnegie Hill

Purchased 2006 | $1.2M

Dorinda Medley’s Upper East Side home was purchased in 2006, the same year StreetEasy was created, so its listing page is tragically devoid of photos — but fear not! BravoTV.com has us covered with an exclusive video tour, led by Dorinda and her daughter Hannah. Because we don’t have any listing photos to share (and because I can’t resist a good RHONY gif), I’ll throw this in for good measure:

Carole Radziwill

One-bedroom condo, Soho

Purchased 2002 | $975K

When Carole first joined the cast in Season 5, her King Street apartment had yet to be redesigned, and her tiny kitchen saw more takeout containers than experimentation with a watermelon radish.

Jules Wainstein

Three-bedroom condo, Flatiron

Purchase date unknown | Rumored $2.7M

While information on Jules’ home is missing from both StreetEasy and ACRIS, you can tour her apartment via BravoTV.com here. Though we don’t get to see daughter Rio’s bedroom, the apartment appears to be a three-bedroom condo that the Daily Mail reports to be worth $2.7 million. Daily Mail also reported that in addition to being in the midst of a bitter divorce, Jules is also facing legal trouble from Apthorp Condo on the Upper West Side for allegedly dodging more than $25,000 in condo fees. ACRIS data shows that the housewife purchased the one-bedroom condo in 2011 for $217,997.

Ramona Singer

Four-bedroom condo, Yorkville

Temporarily listed, 2015 | $4.95M

Ramona Singer’s ex-husband Mario put their apartment on the market for $4.95 million following their divorce, only to hand it back over to Ramona at no cost, according to ACRIS data. Whether this was an olive branch or a stipulation of the divorce settlement is unclear, but one thing we know for sure is that Ramona Singer Pinot Grigio is definitely still flowing at this Upper East Side apartment.

Luann de Lesseps

Condo, Upper West Side

Purchase date and listing value unavailable

In a bizarre twist of events, I was unable to track down any specifics on the Countess’s former Upper West Side apartment. I was betting she’d be the easiest one to find given all of the digs from her castmates this season over her constantly “leaking” her own stories to the press. Since I couldn’t find anything in ACRIS with her or the Count’s name, I can only assume she’s been renting all these years… kidding, but what would a post about the Housewives be without a little pot-stirring? Apparently money can’t buy you class, but it can buy you privacy. The most I was able to dig up is that Luann is living in a three-bedroom home in Sag Harbor.

NYC’s Tallest Buildings

Nowhere to go but up: That’s long been the motto in New York, the city that never sleeps, the city that promises people if you can make it here you can make it anywhere. Big talk and hyperbole are part of the Big Apple deal. Never has it been more demonstrably true then it is now, as a blistering spate of super-tall skyscrapers are being built and redefining the New York City skyline.

In an examination of this high-rise era, The New York Times in June 2016 produced an entire special magazine dedicated to examining the “high-altitude archipelago” being expanded by developers who won tax abatements seeking to build luxury residences and office buildings catering not to New Yorkers, but to the world’s richest who want a place to live and invest. Right now, NYC has 21 buildings exceeding 800 feet — seven completed in the past 15 years, and three of those in the past 36 since months, the NY Times noted.

StreetEasy set the bar a little higher. We looked at commercial and residential NYC skyscrapers that top 1,000 feet, including existing buildings and newcomers that have financing or are already under construction. This list includes the iconic Chrysler and Empire State buildings as well as newcomers slated for the Hudson Yards mega-project and the rebirth at the World Trade Center.

1. One World Trade Center: 1,776 feet

This behemoth is the largest among several buildings being brought to the 16-acre “Ground Zero” site left in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers. The site already includes the National 9/11 Memorial, which honors victims of both the 1993 and 2001 attacks. If the height of this super-tall sounds patriotically familiar, that’s because it is. In the rebuilding of this commerce center in lower Manhattan, One World Trade was given added symbolism by referencing the Declaration of Independence through its epic 1,776-foot reach. The only catch is that the final 408-foot spire placed on top of the building back in 2013 was threatened to be called “phantom height,” aimed to give One World Trade the slight advantage over Chicago’s Willis Tower (1,451 feet). The floor-to-roof height of the building is 1,368 feet. However, the spire has been ruled an essential architectural detail of One World Trade, so its height has been certified. It is the highest in New York City, the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere. The interior contains 3.5 million square feet of space, including an observation deck.

2. Nordstrom Tower: 1,550 feet

(To be completed 2019)

Located at 217 West 57th Street, Nordstrom Tower (also known as Central Park Tower) is being developed by Extell. It was originally planned to be 1,775 feet including a spire, which would have put it exactly one foot below the record height at One World Trade Center. However, the commercial/residential super-tall is now slated to stand 1,550 feet, making it the second-tallest building in New York City and the U.S. It is being anchored by Nordstrom, the West Coast-based department store, and will boast $4.4 billion in condo residences on the upper floors. It will be the tallest residential tower in the U.S. at 130 floors.

3. 111 West 57th Street: 1,428 feet

(To be completed 2018)

Not just super-tall, but super slim, 111 West 57th Street will be an 82-story building from JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group and is being designed by SHoP Architects. In spring of 2016, the beginning stages of development were underway for this residential tower that feature 42 full-floor apartments starting on the 16th floor, with lower floors holding as many as five units. Retail outlets will occupy the first four floors with office space on the fifth floor. Of note, 111 West 57th is using the tallest freestanding crane (220 feet) ever in the history of New York City construction.

4. 432 Park Avenue: 1,395 feet

Until Central Park Tower and 111 West 57th Street are ready for occupants, 432 Park lays claim to being the highest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere. Built on the site of the former Drake Hotel and designed by Rafael Vinoly, the building is located on Park Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets. The 96-story tower contains 125 units, including a bevy of full-floor penthouses, some of which fetched over $80 million. All windows measure an expansive 10 feet by 10 feet — better to see some of the most amazing views of Central Park, the Hudson and East Rivers, Atlantic Ocean, and many iconic Manhattan buildings.

5. 30 Hudson Yards: 1,287 feet

(To be completed 2019)

In the Hudson Yards project by Related on 11th Avenue between 30th and 33rd streets, 30 Hudson Yards is the tallest of the Hudson Yards buildings and will be the second-tallest office building in NYC. The building will contain 2.5 million square feet of commercial space and includes an observation deck at 1,000 feet, complete with something called a “thrill device.” Hearty souls with no fear of heights can walk out onto a glass walkway that slants to induce greater sense of thrills, chills and possibly vertigo.

 

6. Empire State Building: 1,250 feet

The Empire State Building is the granddaddy of them all, even if it’s no longer the tallest! Built in 1931, this Art Deco dandy still ranks among the tallest after nearly 100 years of defining the NYC skyline. 

7. Bank of America Tower: 1,200 feet

Also known as “One Bryant Park,” this commercial tower was developed by the Durst Corporation and was completed in 2010. It is home to Bank of America and the Durst Corporation and runs 55 stories and contains 2.35 million square feet of interior space. Sit in Bryant Park any lunchtime and this tower dominates the view.

 

8. 3 World Trade Center: 1,079 feet

(To be completed 2018)

3 World Trade comes up a bit short against 1 World Trade, the No. 1 tallest building in NYC, U.S. and Western Hemisphere. Under construction since 2008, 3WTC entered a hiatus during the financial meltdown before finding an anchor tenant. Its original plans were for a building at 1,240 feet. The original building at 3 World Trade Center was a Marriott, destroyed in the attacks of 9/11.

9. 53W53: 1,050 feet

(To be completed 2018)

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, 53 West 53rd Street, also known as 53W53 and MoMA Tower, is due to be completed in 2018. This striking building will rise 82 stories and house 145 residences designed by interior architect Thierry Despont. The Museum of Modern Art will have three floors of gallery space in the new building.

 

 

10. Chrysler Building: 1,046 feet

This Art Deco dandy once held the distinction for a few months of being the highest building in the world, until 11 months later when the Empire State Building opened in 1931. Located at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, it was once the home of the Chrysler Corporation through the 1950s, and is now owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Council. It is tied with the NY Times Building at 1,046 feet tall.

11. New York Times Building: 1,046 feet

Renzo Piano designed this tower for the New York Times Company and its development partner, Forest City Ratner Companies. Finished in 2007, it is a significant addition to the NYC skyline at just over 1,000 feet. The 52-story glass and steel structure is made of floor-to-ceiling glass windows, exposed steel columns and accents of red and marigold.

Piano designed the building with a dramatic double-skin curtain wall with ceramic rods that act as a sun screen, and an inner wall of floor-to-ceiling water-white glass. Piano has opened the lobby space by spreading the elevator shafts so that one can see more than 350 feet through the space.

12. 3 Hudson Boulevard: 1,034 feet

(To be completed 2019)

Moinian Group

Foundation work is underway in this stand-alone project from the Moinian Group. Located just a block north of the Hudson Yards mega-project, but located in the Hudson Yards Special District, 3 Hudson Boulevard will rise up between 11th Avenue and Hudson Boulevard between West 34th and West 35th streets. The $2 billion tower will stand 66 stories and contain 1.8 million square feet in interior space.

13. 125 Greenwich Street: 1,017 feet

(To be completed 2018)

Shvo Group rendering

125 Greenwich Street is a mixed-use super-tall being built in the Financial Districtand slated for completion in 2018. Plans call for 91 stories and 275 condominiums at this location, otherwise known as 22 Thames. It is being developed by Michael Shvo, Vector Group and Bizzi & Partners based on Rafael Viñoly Architects’ design.

14. 35 Hudson Yards: 1,009 feet

(To be completed 2018)

35 Hudson Yards is the squarish building in the middle.

This Hudson Yards mixed-use tower will stand at 11th Avenue and West 33rd Street. Part of the Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group’s tower grouping, this will contain 137 condo units that start on the 31st floor, along with office space, stores and an Equinox hotel and fitness club. The cool cylindrical shape will rise 72 stories and is designed by David Childs and SOM. at 11th Avenue and West 33rd Street will rise to 1,009 feet and 72 stories. The mixed-use project designed by David Childs and SOM.

15. One57: 1,004 feet

Located at 157 West 57th Street, One57 is an elegant glass building was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc with interiors from Thomas Juul-Hansen. Residents have access to the Park Hyatt Hotel amenities in this Midtown gem.

$9 BILLION HEDGE FUND: There's one big problem with Netflix

Netflix has a problem: It's you.

That's according to Crispin Odey, one of London's biggest hedge fund managers.

Voracious consumers are watching Netflix's content more quickly than the online streaming service can replenish it, Odey said during his hedge fund's second-quarter phone call, a 53-minute recording of which was obtained by Business Insider.

Odey's observation is interesting since Netflix already produces a lot. This year alone, the company plans to release 600 hours of content, which would take 25 days to binge-watch straight through.

Odey's $9.3 billion hedge fund held a short position in Netflix as of hte July phone call, meaning that the firm would earn money if the stock price drops. 

Here are Odey's key points from his firm's call:

  • Investors need to see the potential for yield in Netflix.
  • Odey thinks that Netflix needs $17.5 billion of sales by 2020 and $8.7 billion of sales by this year.
  • Revenues in the past four quarters total $7 billion.

Here's the key quote (emphasis added):

"It's a great business but the fact is you watch their programs faster than they can make them...Their need to buy in basically new content...is so much faster than their subscriber growth. So in fact we would say, this is absolutely impossible for them to achieve. And what you can see is their cash flows, which are on a quarterly basis are negative, and remain negative, so we think actually it's a good short."

Netflix missed its earnings big time last month, as Business Insider previously reported. Its stock price plummeted the day the company announced its disappointing second-quarter results on July 18, though the shares have since regained most of the losses.

Netflix regains its stock price after disappointing earnings results in July. Google Finance

Odey wasn't the only fund manager set to gain on Netflix's bad news. Other short sellers made nearly half a billion just in trading in the after-hours of Netflix's stock drop. It's not clear how much Odey made off of Netflix's drop and whether the firm still holds its short position.

He gained the spotlight earlier this summer after making money off of the Brexit, but his firm has since nursed deep losses.

One of Odey's funds, the $476 million Swan fund, has dropped -24.7% this year through the end of June, according to an investor update viewed by Business Insider. Odey's European fund dropped -30% through July 14, according to Financial News.

 

This Week’s 5 Most Expensive Listings

In the past seven days, 11 new listings priced at $10 million and above hit the market, according to StreetEasy. From that list, these are the crème de la crème, otherwise known as the five most expensive residential listings to hit the Manhattan market.

535 West End Avenue #Hiflr

Address 535 West End Avenue #Hiflr
Price $22,750,000
Type/Size Condo: seven bedrooms and seven-and-a-half bathrooms
This week’s priciest listing is a full floor residence in a building just off West 86th Street. The sprawling 8,450-square-foot spread comes with, well, a lot: herringbone hardwood floors, a formal dining room, a family room, wine storage, a butler’s pantry, a ton of custom finishes, and a library with flawless arch windows.

157 West 57th Street #46C

Address 157 West 57th Street #46C
Price $19,700,000
Type/Size Condo: four bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms
Over on Billionaire’s Row this 3,466-square-foot apartment is up for grabs at One57. Like all the units in the tower, it comes with floor-to-ceiling windows so you really get the most out of those rolling views. And seeing as it’s located directly above the Park Hyatt hotel it of course comes with hotel amenities aplenty.

157 West 57th Street

Address 157 West 57th Street #45A
Price $19,150,000
Type/Size Condo: three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms
Another One57 unit makes the top five this week. This one is one floor below, a little smaller, and just a touch cheaper than its neighbor above. But other than that it comes with all the same perks, including the ultimate luxury amenity, a pet wash-room. We assume it probably looks pretty similar too, although there is a woeful lack of listing photos.

110 Central Park South #17AB

Address 110 Central Park South #17AB
Price $15,500,000
Type/Size Condop: four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms
According to its listing, this building, built in 1925, was completely renovated in 2005 and converted to a condop aka a co-op with condo rules. It comes with 70 feet of Central Park frontage, and from the look of the photos seems to successfully combine elements of both modern and classic interior design.

610 Park Avenue #2B2C

Address 610 Park Avenue #2B2C
Price $14,950,000
Type/Size Condo: three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms
This Park Avenue spread is pretty as a picture. Along with its landscaped terrace it comes with a full butlers pantry, a library, two walk-in closets, a library, a wood burning fireplace and best of all – a 132 bottle wine cooler.

99 John Street, Unit 1106

99 John Street, Unit 1106

Financial District, Manhattan, NY, 10038

1 Bed  |  1 Bath  |  Washer/Dryer  |  Terrace

Offered at $1,150,000

 

Outdoor lover's dream - don't miss this open, airy loft style one-bed with washer & dryer and private terrace!

Apartment features 10 foot beamed ceilings and wide oak farm flooring, has large windows facing north and west letting in an abundance of light and tons of closet space. The kitchen is outfitted with stainless steel appliances, soft close drawers and Caesar stone countertops. The large, 220 square foot private terrace faces both north and east with views of the East River making it a great extension to your already large living space.

99 John Deco Lofts was constructed in 1933 by the same architects as the Empire State Building and was converted to condominiums in 2008. The abundance of amenities include 24-hour doorman and concierge, valet services, landscaped rooftop with breathtaking bridge and water views, state of the art fitness center and a billiards lounge complete with patio and barbeques. The prime location is conveniently located near almost every subway line imaginable at the brand new Fulton Street transit hub, 24 hour Jubilee market next door, the new Fulton Street Grocery and nearby Seaport. 

2002 Fifth Avenue, Unit 5B

2002 5th Avenue, Unit 5B

Manhattan, NY, 10035

2 Bed  |  Home Office/Den  |  2 Bath  |  Private Storage

Offered at $1,100,000

 

Sunny and spacious two-bedroom CondOp with home office/den, and two full bathrooms and deeded private storage. Unit 5B is a south facing corner unit, with fantastic hardwood flooring throughout, open ;large marble kitchen and an abundance of closet and storage space. The private balcony overlooks Marcus Garvey Park and the tree lined block in the heart of Mt. St. Morris Historic District.

2002 Fifth Avenue is a beautiful doorman building, directly across from Marcus Garvey Park. In addition to the apartments private balcony the building has shared outdoor space. Marcus Garvey Park offers a tremendous amount of cultural, recreational and leisure activities. The New York Public Library is right next door. The thriving and lively neighborhood offers excellent dining, shopping, and transportation, close to the 2,3,4,5,6 and Metro North trains.

Your new home awaits.