By Matt Chaban 10/16/12 9:00pm

Skyscraper Living

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Goldstein, Hill & West: How New York’s Most Anonymous Architects Have Taken Over the Skyline

The sun was setting over New York harbor, and behind it, the coast of New Jersey. From the 17th floor of 11 Broadway, through the not-floor-to-ceiling, turn-of-the-last-century office windows, the Statue of Liberty was plainly visible. She appeared to be waving through the late-summer haze. Milling about and sipping champagne were some of the city’s biggest developers and their employees, names emblazoned upon apartment towers from this end of Manhattan to the other and beyond.

Silverstein, Ratner, Extell, Elad, Milstein, Glenwood, Trump. All the big firms were there, along with many other machers and dealmakers. It could have been a convention of The No Nonsense Apartment Builders Association of the Greater Five Boroughs. Instead it was the third anniversary party for Goldstein, Hill & West and the unveiling of their new downtown offices.

The foyer is painted a slick graphite gray, with a globular chandelier overhead, but beyond that, the designer pretense fades away. There are no amoebic benches, no plywood bookcases, no 3D printer for producing models of unusually torqued and cantilevered buildings. Little hangs on the walls besides drafting templates and zoning handbooks. It is this simplicity of design, aesthetic and attitude that draws the city’s biggest developers to the firm. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/21/12 5:51pm

Dizzying Designs

8 Photos

Starchitect Switcheroo

Starchitect Switcheroo! Will the Upper West Side Get Any Pritzker-Worthy Buildings at Riverside Center?

Has the Upper West Side fallen for an eight-acre bait and switch?

At least one and possibly all five towers at the massive Riverside Center development will not be the work of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc. The French designer helped Extell Development and the Carlyle Group sell their swank plans‘ to the community and the City Planning Commission. The latter was so taken with the crystalline designs of Mr. de Portzamparc, who also designed the LVMH headquarters and Extell’s One57 tower, that restrictive zoning covenants were set to ensure the buildings would look as promised.

But now, Extell and Carlyle have turned over one of their tower sites to the Dermot Company, which has hired local firm SLCE to design the apartment building on the West End Avenue section of the site. While Dermot insists its project will be up to the standards promised during last year’s public review process, some, including the exacting City Planning chair Amanda Burden, worry the design doppelgangers will lead to lesser work. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/16/12 10:42am

Under Development

The entrance to the new tower. (DNAinfo)

Upper Best Side: A New Look and Some Affordable Housing for the First Tower at Riverside South

We already know that the DMZ between the Upper West Side and Hell’s Kitchen (call it Lower West End Avenue?) is a happening spot, with the Walentases, the Dursts, the Elghanyans, basically everybody building a slick new project over there. The biggest, of course, is Riverside Center, Gary Barnett’s massive reimagining of the final plots of the Riverside South complex.

Earlier this week, Extell returned to the local community board with plans for affordable housing in the project, according to DNAinfo, and therein he revealed the latest detailed designs for the Christian de Portzamparc-created project. Read More

By Matt Chaban 3/30/12 1:31pm

Manhattan Transfers

Living large. (City Realty)

The Latest Rushmore Celeb? Mati Bracha Buys $5 M. Penthouse

In February of last year, Ilan Bracha, the developer and star broker now heading up Keller Williams NY told The Observer, “We’ll be No. 1 in five years,” He was referring to his firm, but the Bracha family has now taken the top spot elsewhere—at Gary Barnett’s hugely successful Rushmore condominiums at the Riverside South development.

Mati Bracha, Ilan’s wife, just paid $5.28 million for penthouse 3A, according to city records. It was not immediately clear if Mr. Bracha would be moving in. Read More

By Elise Knutsen 1/24/12 1:17pm

Red Carpet Real Estate

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Where Cameron Diaz did the dishes.

A-Rod’s Apartment Hits a Homer at the Rushmore

Aside from his oft-discussed, revolving door of high-profile girlfriends, Alex Rodiguez is known for being a playboy on an entirely different field. No, not on the baseball diamond—that ninth inning strike out won’t be forgotten any time soon—but in the real estate market. After bowing out of his 15 Central Park West rental, Mr. Rodriguez bought a full-floor spread at the Rushmore for $5.5 million last spring.

The third baseman is in the process of taking a walk, but it appears he will score on the place after only 8 months. Read More