Chelsea loft on offer from Halstead.

It’s Springtime in New York again—that short slice of heaven squeezed between the long cold winter and the long hot summer—and the real estate market appears to be sprouting green shoots in celebration.  For real this time. The kind of growth that the professionals seem to think can really last. That’s certainly the take that Diane Ramirez, president and co-founder of Halstead Property, shared in a recent interview. And she has some solid evidence to back that up, unmistakable trends she has spotted that indicate a kind of vigor in the market that is sustainable. The market, she posits, has become unfrozen, people are feeling less stuck, and rather than sitting tight with what they’ve got, they’re upsizing, downsizing, and just generally moving on with their lives. “That,” she insightfully says, “is what real estate is all about.”

And it is just that movement, that loosening up, that could point to a way out of the Manhattan market’s biggest quandary, the shortage of inventory. Sure, there are some developments in the pipeline, but people moving in and out create a more dynamic market. In the meantime, Halstead, the inventor of the storefront real estate office in Manhattan, continues to grow its own green shoots, with new offices sprouting up in Washington Heights and another planned for Southampton.

We chatted with Ms. Ramirez, a 35-year veteran of the business and grandmother of five who has herself dabbled in development, about the state of the market, and why she is feeling bullish this spring.

Diane Ramirez.

Q: What’s your take on Manhattan’s real estate market now? Everyone seems to feel that it is really heating up.

A: The market cannot get any hotter than it has been. The last six months, everyone you speak to is breathless, the agents, the managers. The market is very hot.

Q: Has it flipped from being a buyers’ market back to the sellers?

A: It is a sellers’ market, but you still must be properly priced. The sky is not the limit. We are starting to push the market for sellers more, but if you go out of the realm of reality, you lose your entrée into the market. And then people remember your property as being over-priced.

But if you are well-priced, at most price points, mostly two bedrooms and up, you are going to get multiple bids.

Q:  If buyers are getting priced out of Manhattan, where can they go? Brooklyn?

A:  Brooklyn is very hot. In some instances they are seeing Manhattan-like prices.

We just opened an office in Washington Heights. In Washington Heights and Hudson Heights, prices are very attractive, and it’s beautiful up there. Water views, pre-war buildings.

We picked up Stein-Perry, a very well-respected firm in Washington Heights. Gus Perry, who heads up that firm, knows the area very well. We love growing with someone who is well known in the community. We’re interested in the Upper West Side, all the way up to the Bronx. And we remain committed to Harlem as well.

Q: Do you have any other expansion plans?

A: We have also expanded in the Hamptons. We are in East Hampton and we will open in Southampton.  Our group is very strategic.

Q: What is your advice to buyers right now? 

A:  If you are looking to buy, get in there, and if you see something you like, don’t hesitate. The market is truly back. We are not seeing huge spikes, but it is starting to rise. Go for it aggressively. If you lose one, it will likely be more expensive next time around. The trend is that prices are steadily rising. I think that’s going to continue for a couple of years. Don’t try to time the market. Any area that touches Manhattan and is well served by transportation is bound to rise.

Q: What is your personal approach to real estate?  Where do you live, for instance?

A:  I live on the Upper East Side now. I’ve been back here for five years. I love change and love to try new neighborhoods. It’s nice to live in the 60s. My husband and I and the children are all settled nearby. We take in everything the city has to offer. Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall. Culturally, it can’t be beat. I find New York very healthy. It’s so diverse.

Before this, I was downtown. We tried FiDi. And before that I tried Tribeca. I hadn’t experienced living in a loft, so I wanted to try that. We bought the top floor and the air rights, and then my son and I did a joint venture where we built two apartments. Then we bought a garage on Greenwich and Hubert and put plans together for a seven-story building. We did not end up building it, but we sold the plans. They built it exactly to our specifications. My son bought  a fabulous townhouse in the 30s. And my daughter is not too far away in Connecticut. We’ve got five wonderful grandchildren altogether.

Q: Real estate professionals talk about how little inventory there is in the city. Is there anything in the pipeline that is going to change that?

A:  There is nothing that is going to open the floodgates, but new development is starting to come online.

But more significantly, people are really getting on with their lives, and that is where the break in the inventory is going to happen. People have been holding tight for a while, and staying put. Now they are moving on with their lives, and that is what real estate is all about. People going from having two to three bedrooms, having another child, or downsizing after the kids leave. Getting stuck is not healthy. It’s refreshing what’s going on now. We are seeing more movement in the resale market and we are returning to a much more normal ebb and flow.

We will still have tight inventory. Inventory is going to be a problem, but it’s going to get a little better. This is where I differ from some of my colleagues.

Q: Who is buying these days? 

A:  Everyone is thinking real estate again. First-time buyers, young people coming to the city. People whose children have left home are moving into the city, and families still want to be here. Foreigners still know that New York City is a great place to be.

It is unlike Connecticut and New Jersey, where we also have offices. There you tend to see one kind of buyer. Here it is much more diverse.

Another thing that we are seeing is that people are starting to look again for fixer-uppers, whereas before everyone wanted only finished apartments that needed no work. The fact that people are looking for fixer-uppers, where they can make their own dream home, is another sign of optimism and a healthy market.

jallon@observer.com

The second floor is the only floor with 12-foot ceilings.

Rarely do you find a broker with as much knowledge about an apartment as Town Residential's Paddington Matz has on a full-floor spread she's marketing at 288 West Street, a loft building dating back to 1860. Not only has she sold the unit four times over (she's trying now for a fifth), but the first time she sold it, she actually owned it.

"It was the first loft I'd ever bought," she told The Observer of unit #2W at the Medium Lipstick Building, as it's known. "I bought it in 1996 for $155,000." It had been on the market for double that, but this was before Tribeca became the hot neighborhood that it is today. "Back then there wasn't even a promenade," said Ms. Matz. "There was a cheapo parking lot on the West Side Highway across the street. It had no services whatsoever—the only grocery store was a Food Emporium." (Today, said Food Emporium faces competition from a gleaming new Whole Foods just a few blocks to the south.)

It was a foreclosure property, and the bank wanted to unload it fast, so they tacked a measly five grand onto Ms. Matz's offer of $150,000, and the loft, with its six windows of guaranteed riverfront views, was hers.

Two years and one gut renovation later, she got a postcard in the mail from a broker—she herself had not yet gotten her license—telling her that the apartment was worth $800,000. So she called up her friend Parnell O'Connell at Town (whom she trusted because "he only ever told me the bad things [about an apartment]—he never told me how fabulous something was, and he never tried to sell me"), and they eventually sold the apartment—along with the only other unit on the second floor—to Peter Gabriel's daughters, Anna and Melanie. (She got $760,000 for her unit.)

A chalk board, just in case you forgot you were in Tribeca.

By the time the Gabriel sisters were ready to move out, Ms. Matz had gotten her real estate license at the urging of Mr. O'Connell. The post-9/11 lower Manhattan boom was in full effect, and Tribeca had by now established itself as a legitimate luxury contender, so she was able to sell the unit to Tom and Geraldine Nicholson from Virginia who paid $1.1 million for the co-op to use as a pied-à-terre.

Ms. Matz stayed friends with the couple, and they even hired Todd Zwigard, her ex-husband, the architect who had done the first gut reno, to rework the apartment yet again. "He gut renovated it very much the way he would have done if he had unlimited funds," said Ms. Matz.

When Mr. Nicholson passed away and Ms. Nicholson no longer needed the apartment, Ms. Matz sold it onward yet again in 2011, this time to Colleen Hess, from Texas, for nearly $2.5 million. From 1996 to 2011, the unit appreciated on average 20 percent per year.

And so we arrive at the present day. Ms. Hess is asking $3 million for the unit, or $3.2 million furnished. And as an added bonus, Ms. Matz got permission to list the other unit on the floor at the same time—$2.8 million on its own, or $5.8 million as a 4,000-square foot, four-bedroom keyed-elevator combo.

"Ideally I would like to sell both to one person," Ms. Matz said. "Selfishly, because I think it would make an amazing full floor loft."

Sounds like Ms. Matz wishes she could move back in herself.

101 Murray is no beauty, but the real prize is in the land.

Last month, the Related Companies' Stephen Ross was reportedly eyeing the Borough of Manhattan Community College's campus in Tribeca, in a land swap that would give the college space in Moynihan Station. That idea wasn't too well received, but it looks like another college—St. John's University—is putting a building nearby on the auction block.

This afternoon St. John's announced that it is looking to sell its building at 101 Murray Street. The university bought the property in 2001, after St. John's merged with the College of Insurance, now called the School of Risk Management, which remains a tenant in the building.

"The University has been continually assessing the value of this asset in terms of space usage and market value," according to the press release. "With Manhattan's real estate market now at an all-time historic high, we have determined that it is in the best interest of the University of seek a buyer for the property at this time."

As with BMCC's campus, the real prize is not the building, but the development rights available at the site. "The location also has significant development opportunities," according to the release, "in that the site is currently built to only about one-third of its potential capacity."

According to city records, the current building, erected in 1984, contains 145,000 square feet of space. By our calculations, the current C6-4 zoning means the site could accommodate a building of nearly half a million square feet with the public plaza density bonus, with both commercial and residential possible. Interested buyers should contact Cushman & Wakefield, who is helping St. John's in their search of a buyer.

The site, separated by just one block from the World Trade Center, is cornered on the block by 89 Murray Street, a recently-built rental building designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. With a Whole Foods at 89 Murray and the millions of square feet of heavily-subsidized office space to the south, we're guessing the eventual buyer will want to take advantage of the growing demand for housing in Lower Manhattan and build apartments—likely condos, if the market continues the way it's been going.

Industrial is not the only way to be chic.

Tribeca and townhouse are not generally two words that are found in any close proximity. The district's cobblestone streets are edged by multi-million dollar lofts and, increasingly, glossy condo towers. The rare townhouse that finds itself with a Tribeca address could hardly be blamed for trying to take full advantage of the situation. Such was the case with 452 Greenwich Street, which made a splashy market debut last June asking $24.5 million.

The house may have gotten a little above its four stories. Now, it is back on the market with a new broker—Brown Harris Steven's Paula Del Nunzio—and a more modest ask of $19.5 million. (The Observer was disappointed to learn that it is still not in our price range.)

An unusual corner spot.

If owner Sean McCarthy gets $19.5 million for the townhouse, he will still make out marvelously, given that city records show he paid $5.65 million for the property back in 2003. But the house has had a massive renovation. Moreover, it has a history of rapid appreciation, selling first in 1998 for $499,000, then again in 1999 for $1.5 million before Mr. McCarthy bought it.

Built in 1819, the house has no doubt seen many renovations and reimaginings over the years (indeed, it was the second owner, William B. Howenstein, who was responsible for raising it to a four-story residence). In the early 1900s, the ground floor housed a restaurant.

These days, it retains some old-fashioned details, like wood-burning fireplaces and a billiards room. But basically, the place is fully-updated, super-deluxe 25-foot single-family townhouse with a chef's kitchen, Crestron-controlled surround sound, a 1,200-square-foot teak rooftop garden and a 2,500-bottle cedar wine room. Currently, it's set up as a six bedroom with four full and two half-baths.

And while some might prefer their townhouses to be nestled in a block with other townhouses (the Greenwich Village look), 452 Greenwich has some distinct advantages: namely, a single-car garage with a legal curb cut.

kvelsey@observer.com

56 Leonard's second most expensive unit is asking $24 million.

It may look like a glass and steel version of wooden Jenga tower, but a piece of 56 Leonard Street will cost buyers considerably more than the $13 Parker Brothers game. Just a month after the Alexico Group closed on a $350 million construction loan for the downtown tower, nine units—ranging from a lowly two-bedroom on the 14th floor to a $24 million full-floor penthouse on the 57th floor—have been listed with Corcoran Sunshine. (The Herzog & de Meuron-designed tower does have one major advantage over a Jenga structure: it's not likely to fall down anytime soon.)

The penthouse, just one floor shy of the building's top unit, clocks in at a sizable 5,252 square feet, and is carved into four, very generously-sized bedrooms. The $24 million price tag is not for the faint of heart, but at about $4,500 per square foot, it's a steal compared to some of the new uptown construction heading skywards (432 Park and One57 are asking an average price of $6,000 per square foot, with prices rising significantly on the priciest units). Of course, knowing the way things go, the developer may hike prices in the future.

The Alexico Group and Houston-based Hines Interests, who are working together to develop the building, are asking $3.62 million for a 14th floor two-bedroom at 56 Leonard, which at 1,733 square feet only comes out to just a bit over $2,000 a foot—not bad for new construction by Pritzker Prize-winning architects!

"If you look at the rest of the market to see what you can buy for that price, that's very attractive pricing," Leonard Steinberg of Douglas Elliman told The Observer. Jonathan Miller at Miller Samuel also thought the pricing sounded reasonable, and pointed out that Superior Ink has done sales in the mid-$3,000s per square foot.

"I think there's nothing stronger in real estate in Manhattan than the power of a protected view," Mr. Steinberg added. And at nearly 800 feet up in the air in a neighborhood without a huge amount of high-rise construction, the views at the top of 56 Leonard are about as guaranteed as they get outside of Central Park and the waterfront. The penthouse's great room will have northern, eastern and southern exposures.

Of the neighborhood, Mr. Steinberg said, "I also think that the eastern side of Tribeca"—56 Leonard sits at the corner of Leonard and Church streets—"has gone through a radical transformation over the last five years."

Still, 56 Leonard is by far the hottest project going up downtown. "There's no building that's comparable," said Mr. Steinberg. "It's one of those buildings that's pioneered a whole new classification of living in Tribeca. Tribeca's never been known for its views—this building is going to deliver a level of views that's never been seen in the neighborhood."

And while 56 Leonard isn't Herzog & de Meuron's first foray into New York—the Swiss architects worked on developer Ian Schrager's green 40 Bond Street in SoHo—the 57-story tower will be the Swiss high-design duo's first contribution to Manhattan's skyline.

In fact, the tower of glass will be the architects' first skyscraper, period. The tower has been well-received by New York's architectural establishment, and is as anticipated a building as any in a city that has no dearth of starchitecture to look at, and look forward to.

Could development finally be coming to the long-stalled project?

The planned conversion of the Beaux-Arts Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue into Amtrak's "Moynihan Station" has always been more about real estate and architecture than transportation, spurred by the city's desperate search for atonement after the destruction of the old Penn Station. Former Amtrak President David Gunn didn't mince words when he told Bloomberg News in 2011 that the project is "controlled by a bunch of rich developers."

And Related Companies doesn't seem to be doing anything to disabuse us of that notion. The New York Times reported that Stephen Ross has yet another trick up his sleeve to revive the stalled project: he wants the Borough of Manhattan Community College to move into Moynihan Station.

But Related isn't just looking for an anchor tenant for Moynihan—it also wants BMCC's land in Tribeca.

"Under the proposal by the developer," The Times writes, "the community college would move 3.8 miles north of its current location downtown to 1.1 million square feet of space in the post office building," where it would serve as the would-be complex's anchor tenant.

This would be an upgrade from BMCC's 780,000 square feet between Chambers Street and North Moore Street fronting on West Street, but this extra space would be dwarfed by Related's haul, should the plan pan out: BMCC's site sits on nearly a quarter of a million square feet of land, the majority of which has an unimpeded view of the Hudson River. With a 20 percent bonus for affordable housing or a public plaza, the current zoning would allow the site's owners to build 2.7 million square feet of space—slightly larger than 4 WTC, as a comparison.

Related may be able to count on the support of New York's civic elite, who are eager to see Moynihan Station come to life—Robert Yaro of the Regional Plan Association seemed to endorse the deal if it would get Moynihan back on track—but BMCC doesn't appear to have much interest in the project, especially since it would mean leaving their $325 million, newly-built Fiterman Hall. Plus, there's a slight legal barrier to overcome: "It was also unclear how the school could legally swap the land without going through an auction," The Times writes. Unnamed "government officials" told The Times that Related should stick to retail and office tenants, suggesting Google as a possibility.

But Mr. Ross remains undeterred, and Related is reportedly taking the issue directly to Governor Andrew Cuomo, perhaps seeking to appeal to his edifice complex.

ssmith@observer.com

Matthew Patrick Smyth designed this bedroom with globe-trotters in mind.

The Observer took a long, damp walk to 250 West Street last night for the condo conversion's official debut (its target audience is clearly not the public transportation crowd), but the Hudson, thankfully, kept to itself on the far side of the highway.

It was not so well behaved last October, when Hurricane Sandy flooded the Tribeca building's basement, delaying not only the move-in date, but the big reveal of three apartments gussied up by Hearst for its interior design showcase. (Some of the mechanicals in the basement had to be replaced.)

Sandy did little to stymie sales, however—the 106-unit, Zone A building only has eight apartment left, including a massive penthouse with its own lobby (still under construction)—and is expecting to receive its certificate of occupancy later this month, according to spokesman Josh Greenwald.

David Rockwell's design screams rich bohemian.

And while high-end real estate unveilings are invariably sweet torture for the melange of reporters, brokers, PR people and design buffs who attend them but can't afford the apartments they celebrate, this one was especially cruel. All three Hearst showcase apartments, decorated by Matthew Patrick Smyth, David Rockwell and Anthony Todd are in contract to be sold (for $2.95 million, $3.54 million and $5.93 million respectively).

The unfinished penthouse, which is expected to be priced around $40 million, and could possibly be combined with the separately offered apartment below it, provided little relief for the more budget-conscious luxury shopper.

The event, meanwhile, was packed with creative types pretending to be wealthier than they were and luxury apartments pretending to be more creative than they were. The designers, at least, picked suitably well-paid but artsy occupations for the apartments' pseudo occupants: a fashion entrepreneur and high-ranking curator, a financier and advertising executive and a brand strategist/elephant conservationist and creative business investor.

The apartments were the sort of sprawling, big-windowed spaces where the walls can be painted in colors like night shade without making a room seem small or dark. The vague, but suppressed suggestion of the building's industrial past in traditionally laid out apartments could occasionally produce infelicitous juxtapositions: in one of the showcase apartments, a pillar was plunked awkwardly between the living room and kitchen.

As far as new development debuts go, the evening did attract a more varied crowd, among them actors and filmmakers who had shot films in the three apartments and a puppeteer. Security guards were also plentiful, watching the high-end housewares and providing direction to confused party-goers looking for a bathroom. "Which one can I use?" asked one woman who had failed to decipher the signs hanging from the many bathroom doors.

We heard not one, but two couples discussing foreign language acquisition (as well as an uncomfortable exercise in which a man recited the days of the week in a Germanic-sounding language as the woman tentatively echoed him. We hope it wasn't a date).

The rain, the candles and a much friendlier than usual crowd (the actors invited us to an after-party in the East Village which we, sadly, did not attend), and the pink and orange cocktails created a more relaxed crowd than usual. One woman prodded a painting and declared that it looked "like cake frosting." Another guest giggled at the "boys and sex" educational book on the nightstand of the children's room (what pre-teen would ever leave that out? she asked).

Two other women, after finding themselves in a palatial closet, contemplated the fictional lady of the house.

"She only wears shiny things," said one as she reached to stroke a crimson stole. Then she peered at a pair of Converse in pristine white, carefully arranged to look carelessly kicked off beneath a divan. "The sneakers look so fake," she remarked.

"Oh Caroline," sighed the other woman, "you have to make believe."

"But I do believe!" cried Caroline. "I totally believe."

kvelsey@observer.com

Hurricane provisions: donuts and coffee at Dough in Bed-Stuy.

The wind is picking up, the streets are emptying and both Bergdorf Goodman and Saks have both boarded up their big, beautiful windows, but in some corners of the city, life is continuing as New Yorkers seek out the real essentials: donuts, booze and coffee.

In Bed-Stuy, Brooklynites were flocking to Dough to get their fix of hibiscus, dulce de leche and cafe au lait donuts and lay in tins of coffee from the Brooklyn Roasting Company. The line stretched nearly out the door at noon, as workers scurried around the kitchen, mixing, rolling and baking to feed the demanding masses. The store was planning to close at 2 p.m. Nearby, Bedford Hill coffee employees were sandbagging the door; the Daily Grind by the Franklin Train C Train stayed open until 3 p.m.

And while many remained at home, huddled indoors to avoid getting wet, for others staying dry looked like a much bigger threat. The Black Swan Pub and Restaurant on Bedford Avenue was buzzing at noon, as was TipTop on Franklin. In Crown Heights, the Fermented Grape was doing brisk business, dispensing wine to help residents pass the long, storm plagued hours to come. Soda Bar was full of revelers, heading off cabin fever with beers and cocktails.

"We're having a hurricane party!" exclaimed the woman who answered the phone. She told us that the bartender would be there until 7 p.m. Milk Bar was also hopping and local bodegas, by and large open, were doing a brisk business in beer and cigarettes.

In Manhattan, however, things are shutting down fast as employees and staff rush back to their homes in the boroughs as the tunnels and  bridges close.

"The streets are desolate, the wind is blowing, everything is closed down, from the restaurants to Whole Foods, we're pretty much under lock down," said Tribeca resident Charlie Walk, the former president of Epic Records. "The Dunkin' Donuts are shut down, the Starbucks are all closed. I think it's probably the first time a lot of people in the neighborhood have made their own coffee."

Mr. Walk said he was most worried about flooding. "If the area gets flooded, you know it's going to be weeks and weeks and weeks. It's not an individual concern, it's a neighborhood concern. It's making sure the storm doesn't shut down a neighborhood for a prolonged period of time."

Mr. Walk, who lives a half-block away from Battery Park, said he'd checked out the water and found that it was "bubbling," but it wasn't planning on leaving.

"We're going to stick it out, I think most people in Zone B are," he said.

Union Square was similarly quiet, one resident told us. As for Fifth Avenue, it was packed with tourists wandering in packs, even though all the stores are sandbagged and empty. Even the Dunkin Donuts were closed, said an employee of a residential real estate company (who had taken a cab from his apartment on the Upper West Side to the company's deserted, and officially closed, Midtown offices).

"I've never seen all the Dunkin Donuts close before, not even during Irene," said the employee. He managed to find a cup of coffee and D&S Marketplace, whose owners had driven into Manhattan to open the story in the morning, but were planning to head back home later in the afternoon.

Fortunately, those in the West Village can head out to Waverly Inn, which is serving dinner tonight as usual, we were told. If you can get a reservation, that is.

kvelsey@observer.com

New York's priciest zip codes, based on closing costs, are all in Lower Manhattan (Propertyshark.com)

We don't like to gloat, but in this case we just couldn't help it. We told you so Forbes! As The Observer argued when the magazine released its headline-hogging Most Expensive Zip Code list, the Upper East Side zip code 10065 was almost certainly not the nation's most expensive zip code. Now there's data to prove it.

According to a new report from the number crunching wizards over at PropertyShark, the Upper East Side is not even New York's most expensive zip code. And PropertyShark's report includes co-ops. Unlike Forbes'.

As we pointed out when the Forbes numbers were released, looking at New York property sales without considering co-ops isn't really looking at New York property sales at all. If you exclude rentals (which is where the majority of New Yorkers lay their heads at night), co-ops make up three quarters of the housing stock in Manhattan. Even considering the fact that condo sales are brisker than co-ops these days, that's an unforgivable omission.

PropertyShark also takes Forbes to task for looking at asking prices rather than closed transactions—while asking prices are a way of measuring the market, they reflect hopes and dreams more than reality. These days even sought-after, fast-selling properties often go a little under ask. Indeed, PropertyShark found big discrepancies between ask and get in zip code 10065. The median ask, according to the Forbes data, is $6.5 million, while the median get, according to PropertyShark is $1.6 million if you don't include co-ops. Adding co-ops lowered the median closing in the zip even further, to $1.1 million.

In all of the city's 10 most expensive zip codes adding co-ops to the calculations dropped the median closing price significantly.

So which neighborhood takes the crown in PropertyShark's estimation? Tribeca! In fact, the top three—10012, 10007 and 10282—are all in Lower Manhattan. The Upper East Side's 10065 comes in a lowly eighth. Maybe 10065 can at least take the award for most dramatic performance. Or should that honor go to Forbes?

The heir (a still from the documentary Born Rich).

As a child born into one of the country's most powerful publishing families, it can be hard to escape from the shadow of one's overwhelmingly successful antecedents. It appears that Samuel I. Newhouse IV didn't want to be in the literal shadow of the family offices, soon to relocate to the World Trade Center, either. He's jettisoned his trendy Tribeca loft at 55 North Moore Street for $2.7 million, according to city records.

Mr. Newhouse bagged the three-bedroom, 2.5-bath co-op for $2.4 million back in 2009;  a nice newlywed nest for him and his brand new bride. As you might expect, the fourth-floor pad is packed with authentic industrial touches that give a faint whiff of the neighborhood's working class history but none of the odor: industrial pendant lights, a tin-pressed ceiling, steel and mesh doors leading to the master bedroom (custom, of course) and Cuban hand-rubbed white washed brick walls. And don't forget the vintage industrial ladder that leads up to a sleeping loft, right next to the industrial sliding steel doors opening into "the cozy third bedroom," according to the listing, held by Elika & Associates broker Yael Dunsky.

Newhouse's old house.

If so inclined, buyer John Woodby will be able to continue the fantasy of long days of punishing physical labor in the kitchen, where there are plenty of props for the pretend chef: Leche de Luna stone countertops, deep double sinks, a Viking refrigerator, Fisher/Paykel dishwasher and Wolf range with double ovens. He could even buy a few more, if so inclined, with the few hundred thousand he shaved off the $2.99 million ask.

Where will Mr. Newhouse's new house be? We're not sure, as no purchases under his name have hit city records in the last few days. He could be cutting expenses in solidarity with the 60 staffers that Conde Nast just laid off—if he moved to Cobble Hill he could save some cash and kick it with fellow media scion A.G. Sulzberger. But heirs to vast media fortunes usually stretch their spending wings as they get older.

kvelsey@observer.com