Thursday, July 2, 2009
LOWER EAST SIDE—It looks like the open-top glass atrium part of 115 Norfolk Street, aka Son of THOR because Hotel on Rivington masterminds Grzywinski + Pons are calling the shots here as well, is beginning to take shop. This excites us immensely. Why? We'll never tell. [CurbedWire Staff]
CARROLL GARDENS—A press release landed in our inbox from the gang at 90 First Place, boasting of some impressive numbers. "80 percent sold after being on the market for just eight weeks," it says, and indeed, that's a balm for these harsh times. However, we'd be remiss in not pointing out that this renovated brownstone development has just five units, so it's not quite a bonanza. Prices range from $925,000 to $1.15M, and closings are expected in October. [CurbedWire Inbox]
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Comment of the Day
—
"Oh, I finally get their PR strategy...(1) hire 'raw talent' summer intern, preferably unpaid, (2) tell them to design a warehouse with tons of seats in side, encouraging them to 'be creative' and 'go all out,' (3) leak un-edited rendering to press, (4) wait for backlash, (5) release 'real' design of arena, rendered on used napkin by a focus group of developers and elected officials. Brilliant."—StructureHub [Don't Judge New Barclays Center Design Yet, Developer Says]
Thursday, July 2, 2009
This week's headlines from Curbed Hamptons, our overserved East End outpost...
1) Is it the end of the road for the McMansion, that most Hamptons of overwrough creations? The Wall Street Journal, citing fancy statistics, seems to think so, which probably means that the next age of 150,000 square foot homes is just around the corner.
2) That's Rather Hideous, Southampton Edition! With twin zebra rugs!
3) Forget that initial paltry $4 million estimate. Those in the know in the real estate world now expect the Madoff's waterfront abode in Montauk to sell in the $7-$10 million range. Weeked at Bernie's! It's like we're writing Post headlines here.
· Curbed Hamptons [hamptons.curbed.com]
And now, the results of yesterday's PriceSpotter asking price guessing game...
Location: 195 Bowery
Asking: $3,900,000
This week's PriceSpotter listing was the duplex penthouse at longtime Curbed favorite 195 Bowery, the building some might call the southern starting point of the glitzified Bowery 2.0. There are only so many penthouse condos with multiple terraces high above the Bowery, which could be why the correct asking price was guessed on the first try. Or maybe commenter LiberalElite is just a superb player. What we'd like to know: How the asking price would differ if this place was north of Houston Street.
· Listing: 195 Bowery [Elliman]
· Curbed PriceSpotter: Trophy Home on the New Bowery [Curbed]
Marie Viljoen, of landscape designers Holly, Wood & Vine, decided to check out the lilies of the LES's Sara D. Roosevelt Park this morning because, well, she planted them. Much to her surprise she spotted somebody trying to make off with an armful of flowers. On her 66 Square Feet blog, she recaps the confrontation:
WHAT ARE YOU DOING????? Silence. A resolute backing away. An armful of lilies, upside-down in her hands. Right now I could still weep. But then I was as mad as hell. I hope I scared the living daylights out of her. I hope I hiccuped her pacemaker. She got stuck on the fence for a bit. Didn't even look at me. Stuffed her flowers upside-down in her cart, crushing them and my heart. I stormed around and caught her on the basketball court in the middle of game. She pulled the old no-speak-Eenglish trick. Yeah, right. You bloody cow. No, I didn't say anything terrible. All I said was, You. are. a. thief.
Then Viljoen put on some gardening gloves and strangled the life out of the lady. OK, not really, but lessons were learned: "The ladies of the Lower East Side:
if it isn't nailed down they'll take it."
·
The lily thief [66 Square Feet]
Oh, you thought all those leaked renderings of the new and incredibly shitty Barclays Center were the real thing? Haha, silly you. Those much-reviled designs, which replaced Frank Gehry's more expensive vision, were premature—or so says Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner, who Crain's reports has promised city officials that "The Hangar" will be nothing short of superb. Also, the Nets will when the title next year and Daniel Goldstein just put a deposit down on 10 luxury suites.
· Ratner promises Atlantic Yards arena redesign [Crain's]
· New Nets Arena Renderings Make Critic No Less Angry [NYT]
The latest from Racked, covering shopping and retail from the sidewalks up.
[One guess as to what neighborhood this co-op boutique calls home.]
1) Soho: Who doesn't love a bit of cryptic signage? Check out the coming soon announcement from a coffee shop/not a coffee shop on West Broadway at Spring Street. Mysterious!
2) MePa: Hat tip to Racked for pointing us to this pressing matter: Is the DVF boutique on West 14th Street dousing the entire neighborhood in Diane von Furstenberg's signature scent? The High Line did have a vanilla and floral thing going on the last time we checked it out.
3) Lower East Side: Tiny little Freeman Alley is getting another posh retailer, this time costume jewelry line Fenton/Fallen, whose store will be "similar in design to a well-appointed Park Avenue town house but is disrupted by hints of overt elements such as neon pawn-shop windows and pop details reminiscent of the Eighties." Yeesh, another one of those?
· Racked [racked.com]
Heads-up: the Curbed Network is teaming up with 92YTribeca this month to bring you three consecutive Thursday nights of drinks, conversation, and edification. Curbed takes the stage on Thursday, July 30, hosting a conversation about the changing world of renting in New York city. Guests include Prudential Douglas Elliman's Dottie Herman and Miller-Samuel's Jonathan Miller to discuss new buildings, hot neighborhoods, how to find deals and the ever-present question of rent versus buy. There's space for a few hundred Curbed readers to join us for the night, which will include ample mingling time before and after the featured conversation. Tickets have just gone on sale for $12 each; do join us.
· The New World of NYC Rentals with Curbed.com [92YTribeca]
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