Real Estate | The New York Observer

Bob Mnuchin's Limestone Masterpiece

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:42:00 -0500

After three decades as a rainmaker at Goldman Sachs, Robert Mnuchin had enough money to focus on his true passion, art. With his L&M Gallery, Mr. Mnuchin has become one of the city's foremost collectors and dealers—his latest show was reviewed in this week's Observer, in fact—though it appears he and wife Adriana also have a ken for collecting and trading real estate.

Only three years ago did the couple buy a four-bedroom, full-floor spread...

It's Free to Look: The $100K Midtown Rental

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:58:28 -0500

Not every opulent, interesting or super expensive property in the city has to be for sale. In a city where two-thirds of us rent, there are some pretty crazy properties to lease, too, like this one in midtown.

The condo, which occupies a full floor in The Park Imperial on West 56th Street, is called a "mansion in the sky" on its Douglas Elliman listing, and certainly has all the trappings of one. The 8,000-square-footer features...

Boomism Immortal

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:03:46 -0500

On Feb. 8, the city's biggest building-sales brokerage, Massey Knakal, blasted a press release announcing the sale of a narrow, four-story, red-brick building along First Avenue, a block southwest of Stuyvesant Town. The walk-up rested snugly between a larger building cloaked in mesh and fronted by scaffolding and a similar-sized, white building. A chicken joint called Senor Pollo occupied its entire ground-floor retail space; there were three market-rate, floor-through apartments upstairs.

The Massey Knakal release...

Juicy! 5 Napkin Burger Comes to Union Square

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:50:50 -0500

It was only a matter of time before the high-end burger craze hit Union Square. Sorry Shake Shack, because 5 Napkin Burger is opening on the corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue.

The burger chain has opened three other New York locations since 2003. It does face some stiff compeition from Goodburger, at Broadway and 17th Street, which has to its name both a glowing Times review ,not to mention, this Chowhound gem: "Goodburger...

The Late LimeWire Liquidates Its Luscious Office Trappings via Tumblr

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:06:29 -0500

New York's LimeWire was housed in a gorgeous Soho office at the time the company gave up the ghost in December after too many run-ins with music labels and the law.

The former LimeWire space was sunny with dark wood floors, and whoever decorated it had excellent taste in furniture. Lucky for any New Yorkers or New York startups who are in the market for tables and chairs, pieces of the decor are being sold...

$42 M.-Plus in Apartment Building Financing

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:53:57 -0500

Meridian Capital Group has negotiated $42.7 million in financing for several buildings spanning the five boroughs.

Two six-story apartment buildings on West 107th Street in Manhattan, totaling 31 apartment units and four retail spaces, have received a $3.5 million loan. The loan features a 4.05 percent rate and is interest only for the five-year term. The transaction was negotiated by Avi Weinstock and Josh Rhine.

A 113-unit, six-story apartment building on 147th Street...

On the Market: Token Lib Alan Colmes Swaps; Let 'Melo House Hunting Begin; the Homes of Pop Lit Stars

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:33:56 -0500

Gehry's 8 Spruce fanciest rent-stabilized building ever [DNAinfo]

Weiss: This is the year of the apartment building [Post]

Inside Obama's old Harlem pad [News]

Alan Colmes moves from Silk Building to 2 Fifth Avenue [Curbed]

Mondrian Soho opens funky digs on Chinatown border [DNAinfo]

Yet immigrants still flock to the 'hood for work [Times]

'Melo could mellow out in these NYC homes [News]

The secrets of a closing attorney [Brick Underground]

An architectural tour of Brooklyn's awesome Vanderbilt Avenue [Forgotten NY]

Hip hotels...

The Other Controversy at Ground Zero: Church vs. State Over Tiny Site

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:27:51 -0500

A bitterly cold wind tore across the 50th floor of One World Trade Center on Dec. 5, yet the crews in hard hats kept their pace, driving the most important building in the city skyward a floor a week, putting to rest years of complaints about indecision and inaction at the world's most famous construction site.

Hundreds of feet below, on the other side of the 16-acre site, nearly 1,000 Greek Orthodox congregants had...

An Urgent Ode to the Urban in Edward Glaeser’s 'Triumph of the City'

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:48:34 -0500

It's been said that Parisians romanticize the French countryside and the rural French deify Paris as fervently as New Yorkers dismiss the rest of America and real Americans disavow New York. Edward Glaeser, who was raised in Manhattan and is now an economist at Harvard, has made turning our provincials on to the metropole a patriotic project. Since the early 1990s, he's published reams of technical papers modeling urban histories and futures. Now comes...

Bill Banning Smoking in Parks Signed Into Law

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:37:50 -0500

Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a bill today that bans smoking in outdoor public spaces like parks and beaches, continuing the agressive pursuit of public health that has been a hallmark of his administration.

"Frederic Law Olmstead hailed public parks as the 'lungs of the City' - a haven where one could escape the overcrowded, noisy, and polluted streets," Bloomberg said at the signing. "We need to ensure that our public spaces provide just...

New High-Tech Building Permits Will Link to Database of Building Information

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:07:28 -0500

In the city's latest attempt to make public records accessible to New Yorkers, permits posted on city buildings will now include scannable codes that link to information about the construction project.

A free application will allow smartphones to read the Quick Response codes affixed to all Department of Buildings permits. The application will then display available data on who owns the property, the scope of the project and whether the city has recorded complaints or...

Spinheads in High Gear! First Cycle Studio to LIC

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:59:04 -0500

Condo sales might be super sluggish in Long Island City, but maybe the first indoor cycling studio will get things moving.

Crank Cycling Studio will occupy 800 square feet for 10 years at "The View" at 4630 Center Boulevard, which is distinguished from every other new building in the neighborhood only by its waterfront location. The studio will be open seven days a week, and is scheduled to launch this spring featuring 26 state-of-the-art...

More Second Best: New York to Finish Behind San Fran in Office-Rent Growth

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:22:27 -0500

According to CB Richard Ellis, New York is projected to have the country's second highest office rent growth in 2011, behind San Francisco.

CBRE noted that office rents were expected to grow for the first time in three years nationwide, though only modestly and that growth would be "limited to key markets," before a more rapid recovery in 2012. Rents in New York are expected to inrease by 7 percent, while rents in San Francisco...

It's Free to Look: Drama! In the Flatiron

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:01:15 -0500

This prewar loft on 18th Street is "grandly proportioned," "perfection," "discrete," "gracious," and "sophisticated," depending on what part of the listing you're reading over at Douglas Elliman, but despite the dramatic nature of the listing, this Flatiron apartment really is a looker.

The loft features three beds, three-and-a-half baths, custom lighting and electronics, media room/study, large kitchen, and marble bathrooms. The building itself features a 24-hour attended lobby and two lofts per floor.

SLIDESHOW: The Flatiron...

Another Piece of the Sapir Empire Sold Off

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 11:57:38 -0500

The Sapir Organization has sold one of its last remaining Manhattan properties for $11.5 million.

The taxi driver turned billionaire bought the glassy, eight-story building at Fifth Avenue and 35th Street in 1992, according to public records (the purchase price is not available). The company's portfolio is now down to seven properties, according to its Web site.

The retail and office building is wedged between classy limestone neighbors and in prime retail territory The retail space...