Robert A.M. Stern's 520 Park Avenue Finally Reaches Street Level, $130M Penthouse On Its Way - 6sqft

Two years since its groundbreaking, Zeckendorf Development’s tower o’ opulence at 520 Park Avenue has finally emerged from its cavernous trench. Set for completion in 2018, the Billionaires’ Row building will climb 54 floors and 780 feet into the Manhattan skyline, becoming the tallest and likely the most prestigious building on the Upper East Side. Envisioned by William Lie and Arthur Zeckendorf, 520 Park Avenue inherits the classically-inspired taste of the real estate dynasty’s prior projects. In the ’80s, their father William Zeckendorf Jr. erected some of the city’s largest post-modern apartment complexes such as Worldwide Plaza, Zeckendorf Towers, and the Park Belvedere. Here, the developers commissioned the esteemed architect/historian and dean of the Yale School of Architecture Robert A.M. Stern as the designer and SLCEas the architects of record. This team also collaborated together on 18 Gramercy Park South and 15 Central Park West, which shattered apartment records when opened in 2008. Intent on replicating its west side counterpart’s success, the Zeckendorfs again gathered the now-not-so-secret ingredients: a powerful address, palatial apartments, and most importantly, the coveted Central Park view, all of which will culminate in a jaw-dropping $130 million penthouse.

Aerial renderings via CityRealty

Diagram of the tallest current and upcoming slender skyscrapers in New York City. From left: 520 Park Avenue, 111 Murray Street, 56 Leonard,30 Park Place, 220 Central Park South, One57, 53W53, 432 Park Avenue, 111 West 57th Street, and Central Park Tower. Image courtesy of the Skyscraper Museum

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the slenderest of them all? The project site is only 60 feet wide, making 520 Park among the most slender skyscrapers in the city. Despite its Park Avenue address, the building is actually tucked midblock along 60th Street behind Christ Church, to which the project owes its address and air rights. To garner more floor area, the building will cantilever over much of the adjacent Grolier Club, capturing an additional 30 feet of width.

From Left: 520 Park Avenue, Sherry-Netherland, and the The Pierre

The tower will rise in relative isolation, roughly to the same height as the Woolworth Building downtown. Nearly all of the building’s 33 full-floor residences will posses views of Central Park since the site lies just outside of Midtown’s canyons and overlooks the protected Upper East Side Historic District. The tower’s cladding of warm Indiana Limestone is designed to soak up natural light and be evocative of the great New York apartment buildings of the 1920s and ’30s. At its pinnacle is a $130 million, three-level, 12,400-square-foot shrine of wealth. Its crown of four corner chimneys strung together by sets of pilasters, will join the fairytale tops of the Pierre and the Sherry-Netherland nearby.

Homes begin 170 feet up and cover a minimum of 4,600 square feet of. Amenities include a landscape courtyard, guest suites, private wine cellars, a bi-level health and fitness center, a swimming pool and spa, children’s playroom, and a screening area. Prices begin at $16 million and as 6sqft first reported last March, the developers are projecting a total sellout of $1.2 billion. The $130 million triplex penthouse was the most expensive apartment to hit the market. However, the three top floors of 220 Central Park South(another Billionaires’ Row tower designed by Robert A.M. Stern), is reported to be in contract for a whopping $200 million by billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin.

The construction site as of this week, via CityRealty

In a recent CNBC interview regarding the development, William L, Zeckendorf told media outlet that they’ve seen more Chinese buyers in the last 60 days than ever before. He also notes, “Probably more likely now than ever. We are seeing more and more interest in New York City from across the world, we’re also seeing record-breaking prices being paid by New Yorkers.”

Source: Robert A.M. Stern's 520 Park Avenue Finally Reaches Street Level, $130M Penthouse On Its Way | 6sqft

Inside 432 Park Avenue - Deborah Berke discusses her design philosophy behind 432 Park Avenue

Deborah Berke discusses her design philosophy behind the residences at 432 Park Avenue. The recently appointed Dean of the Yale School of Architecture explains her vision to balance the scale and beauty of the windows with a layout that flows naturally from grand spaces to intimate spaces.

Source: Deborah Berke discusses her design philosophy behind 432 Park Avenue | press

What Are NYC Air Rights All About? | StreetEasy Blog

BY MARIELA QUINTANA OCTOBER 12, 2015

Air rights have shaped how the city has been developed over the last 55 years

The Origins of Air Rights

Over the past 55 years, New York City has developed a system of transferring air rights in order to achieve both broad and specific urban planning goals. Broadly speaking, real estate developers are motivated to build tall because higher floor units command higher prices since buyers are willing to pay a premium for views and light.

But developers are not allowed to build as high as they’d like, unfettered by zoning regulations. If they did, quality of life would decline since the city would be a whole lot more dense, a whole lot darker and a whole lot more congested. To prevent the over saturation of the city with tall buildings sardined next to each other, the city rehauled its zoning regulations in 1961 and placed some restrictions on developers. These restrictions were intended to ensure that the new construction buildings would not denigrate quality of life while allowing for the development of new commercial, residential and public property.

Unused air rights from one property can be transferred to another neighboring construction site

(Source Several Seconds via Flickr Creative Commons)

What Exactly Are Air Rights?

Air rights generally refer to the empty space above a property. But what happens when a building is only six stories high when it could potentially be 32? This is referred to as a building’s “unused potential” and a nearby building or development could tap into that potential.

For example, if Building A is “underbuilt” according to the neighborhood’s zoning code, the developer of nearby Building B can acquire Building A’s unused air space and add it to his own site’s allotment to ultimately construct a taller building. The developer of Building B is acquiring and transferring the air space of Building A’s unused potential.

This transfer of air rights process ensures that the neighborhoods that are the sites of new development are also the neighborhoods that currently have underbuilt lots that can pass on their unused air rights to a new development. In the grand scheme of things, this helps ensure that the whole neighborhood doesn’t get overdeveloped and becomes too dense.

Floor-to-Area Ratio (aka FAR)

One of the most critical factors regulating the height of a new development is a building’s floor-to-area ratio (FAR). FAR is the maximum number of square feet that can be built on a site relative to the square footage of the lot. A building’s FAR, however, can vary depending on the location of the lot (i.e., its zoning district or whether it faces a wide street or narrow street), the use of the building (commercial, residential, community or manufacturing) and whether the building offers a benefit to the public (i.e., public outdoor space or affordable housing units).

In New York City, air is just as costly and dear as land

(Source: Michael Tapp via Flickr Creative Commons)

How Are Air Rights Transferred?

As anyone who’s ever walked through SoHo on a Saturday knows, New York City is one of the densest and most expensive cities in the world. It should come as no surprise then, that air can be just as coveted and costly as land. As a result, owning and selling air rights can be a hugely lucrative process. There are three primary ways this transfer process occurs.

1. Zoning lot mergers are the most common form of air rights transfer and primarily transpire in Manhattan south of Central Park. In a typical zoning lot merger, the owner of underbuilt property with unused development rights decides to link his property with the developer of an adjacent property or lot so that the developer can build a taller building than what would be otherwise allowed by his property’s FAR. The city does not have to approve this kind of transfer and the owner of the unused development rights stands a chance get a huge profit from the sale of the right. In terms of urban planning goals, zoning lot mergers help ensure that the neighborhoods receiving the most new development are also the neighborhoods that have historically been the most underbuilt.

2. Special purpose district transfers are another form of air rights transfers. These types of transfers occur in areas deemed by the city to be ‘special purpose districts’ and allow air rights to be exchanged between granting and receiving sites that are not contiguous. The city allows for these sorts of transfers in special cases when there is a particular zoning goal targeting the area. Examples of special purpose districts include the Special West Chelsea district near the High Line and Special Hudson Yards District, among others.

3. Landmark transfers are another form of exchanging air rights and involve properties and sites that have been deemed historically or culturally significant by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. In these types of transfers, New York City zoning code allows the exchange of air rights between an LPC-designated landmark and other properties wishing to develop land. The two properties do not necessarily have to be contiguous and in many cases are across the street from each other or even down the block from one another. The underlying principle behind landmark transfers is that new construction occurs in neighborhoods that are less dense due to the unused air rights of underbuilt landmarks. An additional advantage to these types of transfers is that destitute landmarks do not have to sell off property to generate revenue but rather can sell off unused air rights.

In NYC, air can be as expensive as land. Read StreetEasy Blog to learn more about the NYC zoning rules that regulate the transferring of air rights.

Source: What Are NYC Air Rights All About? | StreetEasy Blog

Could a Pedestrian Bridge Connect Jersey to Lower Manhattan??? - Curbed NY

New Jersey can sometimes feel like it's a world away from New York City, but in reality, it's only a few miles from Jersey City to Manhattan—the Hudson River crossing itself is only about a mile. And one Jersey City resident wants to breach that divide in a unique way: with a pedestrian bridge. ( Jersey Digs) Kevin Shane, who came up with the idea, worked with Jersey-based Jeff Jordan Architects to conceptualize plans for a Hudson River crossing called the Liberty Bridge that would begin in JC, cross the Hudson River, and end in Battery Park City. His reasoning: "With the increase in commuter traffic from Jersey City and Hoboken and the unbearable, often delayed mass transit options that are getting worse over time, the bridge could provide a new access point to Manhattan for the hundreds of thousands that go into NYC each day." The renderings, which you can check out below, show a High Line-esque walkway (with various ADA-compliant access points) with benches, plants, and artwork. The bridge would also, according to the site, "provid[e] a 200+ foot view over the Hudson unlike any experience before." Of course, this is all just a proposal—Shane admits the challenges to getting it done are "monstrous"—but it's certainly interesting to consider.

[All renderings via Jeff Jordan Architects]

· Liberty Bridge [Official] · The Highline has Nothing on Jersey City's New Pedestrian Bridge [Jersey Digs]

Source: Could a Pedestrian Bridge Connect Jersey to Lower Manhattan? - Pie in the Sky Ideas - Curbed NY

Luxury Sales Slow With 13 Contracts at $4m+ Last Week - The Real Deal

Manhattan’s luxury residential market maintained its relatively tepid pace. A total of 13 contracts were signed this week at $4 million and above, only a slight improvement over last week’s paltry total of 10. The persistently low demand at the high end has also continued to depress prices, with the average unit this week going into contract for $6.3 million, down from $6.6 million last week. The median price, $5.3 million, was also down from last week’s figure of $5.9 million. The one clear positive sign was a strong fall in the average discount from the original asking price, which came in at 2 percent this week, down from a two-year-high of 12 percent last week. The week’s top contract was for the four-bedroom unit M10 at Witkoff Group’s 150 Charles Street in the West Village. The triplex 5,600-square-foot condo features 19-foot ceilings, a fireplace and a 458-square-foot garden. The unit was sold from floors in 2013 for $12.5 million. The developer allowed that buyer to reassign the contract for the unit. 150 Charles started closing over the summer. Construction there is nearly complete. The second most expensive unit of the week was a co-op, 11C at Halstead Property’s 1125 Park Avenue on the Upper West Side. The nine-room corner unit, which features a library, was asking $9 million. It was last purchased in 2005 for $5.3 million, and has since been renovated. [Olshan Realty] – Ariel Stulberg - See more at: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2015/10/05/luxury-sales-slow-with-13-contracts-at-4m-plus-olshan/#sthash.ngKhoDwh.dpuf Source: Olshan Realty | 150 Charles Street | 1125 Park Avenue