As the weather starts to warm up, many New Yorkers find all they want is to take a cool dip in the comfort of their own pool. However, homes with this luxury can be a rare find in the city. Below are three spectacular properties that allow for homeowners to privately lounge and relax beside the pool.

Where: 105 Chestnut Ridge Road
Asking: $17,500,000
Size: 5-bedrooms, 7-bathrooms
Listed by: Michael Graves

Located in Saddle River, NJ, this state of the art French manor offers the ultimate in luxury and sophistication on 4.4 acres of beautiful wooded land. Complete with an indoor pool with custom infinity tub, this home offers what most New York City properties cannot – space, serenity, and seclusion. (more…)

Throughout 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, Brooklyn’s real estate market has been booming with sales on new developments, townhouses and brownstones, and practically everything in between. Below are three properties located throughout Brooklyn that can easily explain why the borough’s real estate market has hit new highs.

Where: 122 West Street, PH K
Size: 2-Bedroom/2-Bathroom
Asking: $1,500,000
Listed By: Ivana Nikolic and Winchester Brown III

Located in Greenpoint, this duplex penthouse offers a 3 terraces, one of which spans 1,000-square feet. In addition to its expansive outdoor space, we are drawn to the apartment’s beautiful open layout, architectural staircase and 42-inch fireplace. (more…)

Downtown Nudges Out Uptown as Priciest Destination for Luxury Buyers

The Real Deal

For the first time in a decade, the asking prices for luxury Downtown apartments have outpaced those in Midtown and Uptown. Walker Tower is highlighted as one of Chelsea’s most desirable developments.

Wallabout Refloats Next to the Navy Yard

The Wall Street Journal

The Wallabout neighborhood in Brooklyn is featured in last week’s Wall Street Journal. Doug Bowen gives insight into the revival of this area, spurred by bolstered activity in the nearby Navy yard, thriving businesses, and the development of a new mixed-use complex.

Go for Brooke

New York Post

Sofia Vergara visited Jeff Smith’s 301 East 52^nd Street penthouse listing.

Where: 170 Washington Park, Brooklyn
Size: 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Asking: $2,495,000
Listed by: Doug Bowen and Vickey Barron

“Many buyers re-entering the real estate market after years on the sidelines are discovering what they’re after in brownstone Brooklyn,” the New York Times wrote this month. “In neighborhoods including Fort Greene, Park Slope, Boerum Hill and Red Hook, brokers are besieged by buyers.” Into this highly competitive market comes 170 Washington Park in Fort Greene, which boasts a huge advantage: It’s right on a park. An amazing park, at that. Fort Greene Park, a 30-acre site with roots that go back to the Revolutionary War (it was originally called Washington Park), was the work of Central Park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, and was Brooklyn’s first designated park. Its playgrounds, tennis courts, tree-lined paths and open lawns are the heart of this historic neighborhood.

Currently a four-family house, 170 Washington Park will be delivered vacant, allowing for a new owner to consider many different single-family or multi-family uses. The house, on a 100-foot lot, is 22 feet wide and 45 feet deep, creating generous layouts. And don’t forget: Fort Greene Park is the front yard. With a small-town vibe that people fall for as soon as they visit, Fort Greene also happens to be extremely convenient for commuting to Manhattan. Given what we’re hearing about the Brooklyn brownstone gold rush, we suspect someone will have a claim on this beauty in no time. Here’s a peek inside:

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

“‘Burg’s New Most Expensive House Comes With Loading Dock”
Curbed
The new listing for 257 Berry Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the neighborhood’s most expensive single-family townhouse, made a big splash on NYC’s most popular real estate blog. CORE’s Doug Bowen and Vickey Barron have the listing. The Real Deal also wrote about the unique house, seen at right.

“Gimme Shelter”
New York Post
Olympic hero Shaun White toured a $5.75 million loft at TriBeCa’s 72 Reade Street listed by Michael Graves. The full-floor apartment has 3,360 square feet, which might be just big enough for a snowboarding half-pipe.

“Harlem becomes magnet for wealthier New Yorkers”
New York Daily News
The sale of a $3.1 million penthouse at CORE’s One Museum Mile luxury condominium development is proof of a big shift on upper Fifth Avenue.

“Living Large: A Penthouse Apartment With A Slide”
CBS
CBS’s Emily Smith took an on-camera tour of the A Building duplex that comes complete with an indoor slide for her Living Large series.

Where: 532 8th Street, Brooklyn
Size: 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Asking: $2,095,000
Listed by: Doug Bowen and Vickey Barron

Brooklyn’s Brownstone Belt is anchored by Park Slope, the charming, family-friendly neighborhood that runs along the northwest side of Prospect Park. And while brownstone homes are indeed what most people think of when they daydream about having their own house in Park Slope, that doesn’t mean the neighborhood doesn’t rock out in other ways. This Neoclassical home is part of a consecutive row of 12 limestone townhouses, making for one of the most beautiful stretches of real estate in all of Brooklyn. Located a half block from Prospect Park, on a street that received Brooklyn’s Greenest Block Award, the 2-family home is currently configured as a 5-bedroom, 2-bathroom owner’s duplex with a deck and garden access, plus an income producing garden rental apartment. The stoop is stunning, the location is impeccable, and the layout is ideal. For anyone smitten with the charms of Brownstone Brooklyn (or Limestone Brooklyn), here’s what you’ve been waiting for. See below for a few inside peeks.

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The neighborhood of Wallabout doesn’t have the same name recognition as nearby Brooklyn ‘hoods like Fort Greene, DUMBO or Park Slope, but it has plenty of history — thanks to its location near the 200-year-old Brooklyn Navy Yard — and now, a fledgling real estate boom of its own. That’s according to the New York Times, which highlighted the developing neighborhood and its charms over the weekend. One property featured by the Times is 141 Clermont Avenue (above), on the Fort Greene/Wallabout border, which is a pre-Civil War house that unbelievably still has its original wide plank wood floors in place. It’s listed by CORE’s Doug Bowen, who lives in the neighborhood. Have a peek inside below.

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

“Where History Meets Industry”
New York Times
The Times‘ “Living In” column took a trip to Brooklyn over the weekend, to the historic neighborhood of Wallabout. CORE’s Doug Bowen, who lives in the neighborhood, gave the paper a primer on what real estate sells for in the area. We’ll have more on this story on the CORE Blog later today.

Listing of the Week
MSNBC
The press can’t get enough of Parul Brahmbhatt’s Steampunk-inspired loft listing at 120 West 29th Street (right), and neither can we. The latest outlet to cover the quirky pad is MSNBC’s The Bottom Line blog, which calls it a “dramatically-inspired space straight out of a Jules Verne novel.”

“Three Developments Change the Stigma of Upper Fifth”
New York Condo Blog
CORE founder and CEO Shaun Osher was interviewed about the changes along Upper Fifth Avenue, where there’s been a boom in construction, including the new CORE project at 1280 Fifth Avenue. Here’s our take on the piece and the neighborhood’s transformation.

“Halal and hipsters on West 29th Street”
The Real Deal (11/1)
West 29th Street is in the midst of transforming from gritty to glam in the wake of the success of the Ace Hotel, and The Real Deal spoke to CORE Senior Vice President Lawrence Rich (right) about the changes in the neighborhood, and what’s to come.

“3 residential brokerages shift into drive”
Crain’s (11/8)
Crain’s on CORE’s growth, including the recent relocation of CORE’s main corporate office to a 5,000-square-foot space in the Flatiron District at 104 Fifth Avenue. Said CORE CEO Shaun Osher: “There was an opportunity to move to this new space, that truly reflects our brand, in the most exciting office market in New York City.” Check out photos from CORE’s housewarming party on Facebook.

“Osher’s Core acquires residential firm R.P. Miller & Associates”
The Real Deal (11/8)
Residential real estate firm R.P. Miller & Associates, helmed by industry veteran Reba Miller, was acquired by CORE last week. The Real Deal got comments from Miller (who has sold over $1 billion in property during her long career) and CORE CEO Shaun Osher about the deal. Miller will take over the role of managing director of sales at CORE.

“Less Than $1M For a Pre-Civil War House in Fort Greene”
Curbed (11/9)
Doug Bowen’s and Win Brown’s listing for a historic townhouse at 141 Clermont Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, caught the eye of real estate blog Curbed, which remarked: “It’s currently configured as two one-bedroom apartments (squeezed into 1,324 square feet!) but would be easy enough to renovate into a single-family residence. Side bonus: the lot is 25′x100′ and it’s got a driveway.” This is the same Fort Greene charmer that was featured in CORE’s Three of a Kind last week.

I’m pleased to share my next CORE Talks Interviews subject, top New York City developer and builder, Jeffery E. Levine of Levine Builders. Watch as I sit with Levine in his new Brooklyn project, The Edge, to discuss the rapid sales of this successful development. In the episode, we also converse about Levine’s beginnings in construction and real estate, pivotal points of his career path, the focus on green and environmental sustainability in real estate and Levine’s prediction on the next big New York City neighborhood.