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Kim Velsey

By Kim Velsey 5/17 5:52pm

Stratospheric Sales

Oh, One57! We know just how you feel.

Doesn’t Anyone Love One57?

Poor, lonely, luxury condo tower! Unlike the co-ops lining Central Park to the East and the West, whose residents really love them, it seems like One57′s new residents are only interested in it for its money. Or, more precisely, how their money might become even more money if they buy apartments there.

As the condo’s top-floor units go into contract, New Yorker’s real estate community has been speculating on who the super-secretive billionaires buying there are. Tantalizingly, Extell confirmed two contracts for more than $90 million, but for months and months and months, there’s been no indication of who the buyers might be. So imagine the collective glee when The Wall Street Journal revealed that one of the buyers was billionaire hedge funder William Ackman. Sort of. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/17 10:35am

Elsewhere

On the Market: One57 Penthouse Buyer Revealed; In Favor Of Demolishing the Folk Art Museum; Union Square Condo Prohibits Smoking

A-Train service to the Rockaways to be restored by month’s end. [Crain's]
Buying vs. renting in Brooklyn’s tight real estate market. [DNAinfo]
Tear the Folk Art Museum down! cries critic. [TRD]
Rent-hiked tenants groups hate Anthony Weiner for decontrolling units. [Post]
Jersey City Heights creates arts district, hopes to draw creative types. [WSJ]
Only fair-market tenants allowed to use Tribeca condo’s gym. [Tribeca Citizen]
Garodnick questions sunrise provision in Midtown East rezoning. [Crain's]
Flowerbox apartment wants more in resale attempt. [Curbed]
Inside Eli Zabar’s UES townhouse. [NYT]
City plans to sell off councilwoman Inez Dickens’ real estate debts. [Daily News]
Elderly woman is the last to leave Fourth Avenue development site. [DNAinfo]
Bill Ackman leads a group set to buy One57 penthouse for more than $90 M. [WSJ]
Union Square’s Zeckendorf Towers becomes largest no smoking building in US. [Post]
Critics slam plan to swap Flushing Meadows greenspace for old airport. [Daily News]

By Kim Velsey 5/16 3:12pm

Red Carpet Real Estate

The exact same staircase used in Apple stores.

Sinatra’s Storied Penthouse Snagged By Chinese Scion

Frank Sinatra’s old duplex at 530 East 72nd Street finally got under someone’s skin. And this despite a “meticulous” renovation in recent years that included the installation of the exact same staircase as the one in the Apple stores and some other rather hideous unique design choices.

The New York Post reports that the “glittering grotto in the sky”—as Andy Warhol once referred to the Sinatra-era party pad—is in contract to the daughter of a Chinese technology tycoon. Maybe she found the Apple staircase homey? Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/16 9:37am

Elsewhere

On the Market: Crowdfunding Real Estate Developments; Gowanus Gets a Bridal Boutique; City Must Continue to House Sandy Refugees

Here comes the bride! Gowanus to get its first bridal boutique. [DNAinfo]
Greenpoint residents love the mysterious rooster who wakes them up at dawn. [Bk Paper]
Crowdfunding real estate projects spreads to Brooklyn. [NYT]
Judge orders city to continue housing residents displaced by Sandy. [WSJ]
Finishing up a nine-unit apartment building in Bed-Stuy. [Brownstoner]
Shuttered seaport bars open wine and beer pop-up. [DNAinfo]
Developers put a fence through middle of magical children’s garden on LES. [Curbed]
Will generation Y and their downtown-living ways change the housing game? [WSJ]
Rockaway co-op claims that rush to repair beach damaged the property. [Daily News]
Stuy-town’s mid-lease rent hike infuriates tenants. [Crain's]
Architect Ismael Leyva lists Central Park West apartment for $7.75 million. [TRD]

By Kim Velsey 5/15 4:14pm

Brooklyn Vs. Queens

We hear a lot of people are thinking about moving there. (flickr, whiskeygonebad)

Brownstoner Queen’s New Editor Is Not Moving To Queens, But He’s Thinking About It

A few weeks ago, word got out that Brownstoner, the real estate blog that has not only chronicled, but embodied so many of the things that have transformed Brooklyn in the last decade (founder Jonathan Butler also started Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg), would be launching a new site: Brownstoner Queens.

“Certainly from the real estate market’s perspective, momentum has been building,” Mr. Butler told the Daily News when Brownstoner announced the new site. “As Brooklyn becomes more out of reach, more and more people will be looking at Queens.”

But how, exactly, would the site’s super Brooklyn-y ethos translate to Queens? (A colleague quipped that it should be called vinylsider.) When we learned that Roland Li, who has written for this paper’s pink pages and The Wall Street Journal, would be editing the site, we called him up to chat about his plans for Brownstoner Queens and the borough of Queens versus the borough of Kings. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/15 9:49am

Elsewhere

On the Market: Cipriani Gets Newsstand Moved Down the Street; No Pets In Real Estate Photos; Does Everyone Hate Bike Share Racks?

Loving the idea of bike share, hating the racks. [NYT]
Meanwhile, Brooklynites stock up on aesthetically-appealing bikes. [Bk Paper]
Want to start co-working in Brooklyn? [DNAinfo]
Hedge funds are betting on Fannie and Freddie. [WSJ]
Cipriani Wall Street gets newsstand moved down the street. [Post]
Abingdon penthouse sells for $22 million. [TRD]
A look back at Brooklyn’s automobile industry. [Brownstoner]
Keep the pet out of the picture when you’re trying to sell a house. [WSJ]
Locals agitate to have Fort Greene “dust bowl” astro-turfed over. [DNAinfo]
One Hanson Place penthouse returns to the market for $3.6 million. [Curbed]
POPS! A new plaza opens by the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. [Crain's]
New York spends about $95,000 a year on body bags. [NYT]
Larry Silverstein gets another shot at super-luxury hotel-condo in Lower Manhattan. [WSJ]

By Kim Velsey 5/14 3:26pm

up in smoke

Smokers lose even more places to light up. (needoptic, flickr)

So Much For Enjoying the Nice Weather With a Cigarette

Poor smokers! Forced to shiver outside with chilly, chapped fingers all winter long, and then when the weather finally improves, New York announces that it will be expanding its state park smoking ban.

The ban on smoking in some areas of state parks had a rocky start (the state suspended it temporarily after smokers’ rights groups threatened to sue) and the legal challenge is, in fact, ongoing, But apparently, New York State is feeling very cocky, not only moving forward with the ban, but extending it to even more parks. Now smokers will only be able to suck fresh air into their damaged lungs when they visit one of the city’s parks. Or, the skin particle-laden air that passes for fresh in New York City. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/14 9:59am

Elsewhere

On the Market: Gowanus Canal To Become Less Sewagey; America Hates Its Hipsters; Revamping Midtown East Streetscapes

City seeks developers to rebuild Sandy-ravaged neighborhoods. [Crain's]
They’re also looking for developers to restore Staten Island wetlands. [DNAinfo]
Greenpoint architecture is super, super contextual these days. [NYT]
Don’t you wish that your house had a trellis room? [WSJ]
Jenny’s new block: J-Lo set to buy a $10 million mansion in the Hamptons. [Post]
City hires consultants to revamp Midtown East’s (soon-to-be-rezoned?) streets. [Curbed]
Soccer arena parkland is totally replaceable, says Bloomberg. [CapitalNY]
East River floating pool just needs half-a-mil for a mock-up. [DNAinfo]
Considering the tiny, beloved antique Carroll Street Bridge.  [NYT]
Check out what the Hudson Yards culture shed would look like inside. [WSJ]
Citi Bikes are not racing bikes or fixies and that’s not a bad thing. [Streetsblog]
Americans hate hipsters but still love PBR. [Post]
Privately-funded public parks: still controversial. [Atlantic Cities]
Gowanus Canal will become 34 percent less sewagey. Will still be super-fundy. [CapitalNY]

By Kim Velsey 5/11 4:30pm

Real estate kerfuffles

All fixed now! (Getty Images)

One57 Crane Boom Replaced Without Incident, Co-op Dwellers Allowed to Return to Their Homes

A new boom has successfully been hoisted onto the crane at One57, nearly seven months after the previous crane snapped during Hurricane Sandy and dangled ominously over West 57th Street for several days.

The maneuver’s completion—which involved swinging the boom over three buildings before hauling it up the side of the uber-luxury tower—was announced by Extell at just after 3 p.m. this afternoon. Residents of the two co-ops under the boom will now be allowed to return home after being forced to evacuate from their homes last night. It also means that construction will be able to move forward on the condo tower. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/10 8:18pm

Real estate kerfuffles

Not this again! (Getty)

Residents Evacuate Co-ops So That a New Crane Boom Can Rise At One57

Despite the rainy, windy weather that is set to hit New York tomorrow and a last-minute lawsuit filed to stop Extell from evacuating two co-op buildings adjacent to One57, plans to repair the crane broken during Hurricane Sandy are still moving forward Saturday morning.

Which means that the unfortunate residents of Alwyn Court, the landmarked building at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 58th Street, will either vacate the building voluntarily in the next few hours or face forcible eviction. The crane repair involves swinging a boom over Alwyn and two other buildings before hoisting it up the side of the unfinished tower. Read More