A sampling of last week’s press coverage of CORE and CORE properties.

“Scene”
Manhattan
The unveiling of the amazing duplex penthouse at 211 East 51st Street, listed by CORE’s Tom Postilio, made the Scene society pages of Manhattan. Check out the slideshow for great shots of the apartments, as well as the crowd that turned up to see the place. At right, CORE founder Shaun Osher and Postilio, courtesy of Jeff Fried Photography.

“CurbedWire”
Curbed
Wrote Curbed about CORE’s joining the rapidly growing social bookmarking site Pinterest: “Notable because this is the first brokerage we’ve seen with its own Pinterest page, and because there’s a section for Selling New York fans.” You can find and follow us on Pinterest by clicking right here.

“Haute Event: Love & Real Estate”
Haute Living
Vickey Barron’s and matchmaker Samantha Daniels’s Love & Real Estate party, which aimed to add a little romance to the world of real estate, was featured as a Haute Event.

If you poked your head out the window today you might have noticed that it’s beautiful out here in NYC and, once again, we’re left daydreaming of the great outdoors. The 3BR/3BA penthouse loft at Chelsea’s The Cammeyer — which just hit 80% sold — has one of the most casually inviting terraces on the market. The massive space is ideal for any kind of entertaining, but we like to think of it more as a private getaway where one can be alone above the bustle of the city.

HGTV’s “Selling New York” follows CORE agents as they navigate the country’s most competitive—and compelling—real estate market. Here’s our behind-the-scenes look at Episode #504, which first aired on February 16, 2012. For more SNY recaps, click here.

In “NYC Newbies,” CORE agent Kirk Rundhaug races against the clock to find his clients — Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin and his wife, Kelley — their downtown dream home. After trying to find a home through another NYC broker after selling their Flatiron District apartment, Melvin and his wife decide that their previous unpleasant experience isn’t going to derail their search. Kelley finds her broker match with Kirk and explains that time is of the essence since she’s currently staying with her daughter while trying to find a place prior to the end of baseball season. Always up for a challenge, Kirk agrees to be the Melvins’ broker and takes Kelley to a variety of downtown properties.

First stop is a TriBeCa loft at 68 Thomas Street (which has since sold) with a great outdoor deck priced just under $2 million. Kelley prefers the neighborhoods to the north — Greenwich Village and SoHo — so it’s on to a beautiful open 2BR/2BA loft with exposed brick walls on West Broadway in SoHo. It’s love at first sight for Kelley and her daughter Alexi, but Kelley can’t commit since Bob is in California. Kirk decides to show Kelley another property, this time in the classic Chelsea Mercantile building (another apartment that has since sold), to show her a different neighborhood. After touring the Chelsea property, Kelley quickly realizes that she must have the SoHo loft.

Kelley and Kirk hop on Skype with Bob to discuss making an offer on the loft. Following Kirk’s suggestion, the Melvins agree to make a competitive offer at $2.3 million, and they successfully become the new owners of a classic SoHo loft. The episode ends with Kirk and the Melvins sitting down to dinner in the Melvins’ new home. Keep on reading for some exclusive behind-the-scenes information about what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of “Selling New York” and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling!

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Launched quietly a few days ago, we are now extremely excited to publicly unveil CORE’s Pinterest page. Pinterest is the fast-growing social scrapbooking site that allows users to post — or pin — favorite projects, products, photos and more. (Today’s Wall Street Journal dives into the Pinterest sensation in great detail.) On the CORE page you’ll find boards dedicated to our new properties as well as homes featured on “Selling New York.” You’ll also find collections of design-related items that have caught our eye recently, including architecture, interior design and home decor. And of course, we couldn’t leave out a category dedicated to New York City. If you’re on Pinterest, you can follow our boards individually or follow the entire CORE page. Find us at pinterest.com/coregroup, or use the button below:

Whether on the Upper East Side, in the West Village, or across the river in Brooklyn’s brownstone belt, the private house — an enduring symbol of city life — can win over even the most dedicated skyscraper fans when it comes to luxury living. Here are three favorite townhouse currently on the market. For interior photos, check out each listing.

Where: 161 State Street
Size: 5 bedrooms/3 bathrooms
Asking: $3,300,000
Listed by: Reyn Rossington and Doug Bowen

Brooklyn Heights might have the highest concentration of immaculate townhouses in New York City, and it isn’t even in Manhattan. The homes are beautiful and well-preserved, with price tags to match. One recently sold for a record-setting $11 million. This pre-Civil War house on State Street is on the market for the first time in over 50 years, and it’s move-in ready, with 3,400 square feet of space, amazing period millwork and great outdoor space. It’s currently configured as an owner’s triplex and garden rental apartment.

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It’s been a hot winter for The Cammeyer, the beautiful loft building at 650 Sixth Avenue in Chelsea’s historic Ladies’ Mile District that is one of CORE’s top new developments. Built in 1892 and once home to the world’s largest shoe store, the 67-condominium project is now 80% sold, the CORE Blog can reveal. While sales continue at a brisk pace in the building, The Cammeyer is also getting attention for making a grand entrance–literally. Interior Design magazine has an interesting story about the evolution of lobby design in Manhattan real estate. “The boutique lobby, a new subspecies, has invaded,” ID writes, and The Cammeyer, with a lobby designed by architect Eran Chen of ODA, is spotlighted. Check out Chen’s explanation for the lobby’s look: Read the rest of this entry »

Photos by Rich Caplan

Where: 15 West 20th Street, 9B
Size: 2 bedrooms (plus home office)/3 bathrooms
Asking: $3,295,000
Listed by: Adrian Noriega

Though lofts are some of the most sought-after homes in New York, some people do find the converted spaces a little cold and impersonal. One trick to warm those rooms up: add some color, which the sellers of this high-end loft condo in the Flatiron District have done. This unique 2,300+ square foot home in the Altair 20 building has more going for it than an interesting paint job, of course. The apartment’s huge living area is complemented by three full bathrooms, a working fireplace, a laundry room, central home audio system and electric window shades. And then there’s the beautifully finished full kitchen, which will make any at-home chef jealous. See it below: Read the rest of this entry »

A sampling of last week’s press coverage of CORE and CORE properties.

“Real estate broker brings matchmaking skills to the dating world”
New York Daily News
Valentine’s Day may not be until tomorrow, but romance was in the air at Vickey Barron’s Love and Real Estate event, held at her listing at 256 West 10th Street. The Daily News has a full recap, including quotes from matchmaker Samantha Daniels, and the happy news: more than one love connection may have been made. Barron’s Love and Real Estate event even got a mention from the wildly popular women’s blog Jezebel.

“Walker Tower Gets Windows”
Curbed
Curbed tipsters are keeping a close eye on Walker Tower, the residential conversion of a beautiful Ralph Walker-designed Art Deco gem in Chelsea that CORE will bring to the market this spring. Some new window openings are being punched into the facade (right), which will add to the spectacular views.

“So Eager to Get Foot in Real Estate’s Door, They Work Without Pay”
New York Times
College students are so eager to get their foot in the door of luxury real estate, they’re willing to work for free, the Times reports. The paper’s look at the world of real estate interns includes CORE managing director Emily Beare and her former intern, Maxine Fouladi.

“211 East 51st Street Unveils Totally Renovated Penthouse”
Curbed
A party report from the unveiling of the newly renovated duplex penthouse at 211 East 51st Street, listed by CORE’s Tom Postilio. The “Selling New York” cameras were also in the house, Curbed notes.

“Chelsea penthouse wows with 7,000 square feet of outdoor space”
New York Daily News
An inside look at the incredible Chelsea Skyhouse, which we recapped last week.

It’s been an unseasonably warm winter in New York, and the historic former McBurney YMCA is dressing accordingly. Exterior maintenance work on the building, which was converted to a handful of massive loft apartments a few years ago, is now complete, and the Beaux-Arts beauty at 213 West 23rd Street has shed its scaffolding and is once again shining. Today the Daily News takes note of the building, specifically its epic penthouse. Dubbed Chelsea Skyhouse, the 6,000-square-foot apartment — with a 30′ atrium and a layout currently configured as a four-bedroom, each having access to terraces — also includes a staggering 7,000 sq. ft. of private outdoor space. It’s listed for $8.95M by CORE’s Christian Rogers and Emily Beare, who cracks to the Daily News, “People in the suburbs don’t have backyards this big.”

The paper’s Gina Pace adds, “With exposures in four directions, tons of floor-to-ceiling windows and no neighbors on the floor, the space feels like it has been airlifted from the west coast and placed on top of the Beaux Arts-style building.” Click over to the Daily News story for some great photos, and check out the floorplan for the Chelsea Skyhouse below. Read the rest of this entry »

HGTV’s “Selling New York” follows CORE agents as they navigate the country’s most competitive—and compelling—real estate market. Here’s our behind-the-scenes look at Episode #503, which first aired on February 9, 2012. For more SNY recaps, click here.

In “The Best Laid Plans,” CORE Managing Director Vickey Barron was thrown a curve ball: Her client found the perfect Manhattan apartment, but it just so happened to be Vickey’s. The episode began with Vickey meeting her client, Irasema Alonso, for a showing at 280 Park Avenue South, where Vickey was listing a stunning 861-square foot apartment that had been renovated from top to bottom. Vickey explained to Irasema that purchasing a move-in ready home was her best bet since renovating after the fact takes time, effort, money and a whole lot of patience. Irasea wasn’t convinced, so to prove her point Vickey offered to bring Irasema to her own apartment nearby, which was in the middle of a $250,000 renovation.

To Vickey’s surprise, instead of recognizing the value of a completed renovation, Irasema made an interesting proposition. She made an offer of $1.215 million for the home at 280 Park Ave. South, and an offer of $1.3 million for Vickey’s apartment. In the end, Irasema’s offer for the Park Avenue home wasn’t high enough and the sellers chose to go with another buyer. As far as Vickey’s apartment went, although flattered, Vickey’s priority was finding a buyer for 280 Park Avenue. Keep on reading for some exclusive behind-the-scenes information about what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of “Selling New York” and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling!

Read the rest of this entry »