Lofts are perhaps the most New York way of living. Airy and spacious, they are the romantic manifestation of the city’s transformation from industrial grit into a chic urban utopia. High ceilings, wide open spaces and cast-iron never go out of style, and here are three of our favorites.

Where: 200 Mercer Street, 2-A
Size: 4 bedrooms/4 bathrooms
Asking: $4,500,000
Listed by: Patrick Mills and Evan Greenberg

This SoHo triplex makes the best use of combining the loft style with a more traditional, townhouse-like layout, creating a common area that is expansive and open but still allows the privacy of a separate floor for bedrooms and an informal media room. What really makes the place special, however, is the third level which simply consists of a large bedroom or office and a huge private outdoor terrace.

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The Columbus Circle Holiday Market

Is it too late to find a fantastic holiday gift for someone special? Or two? Or ten? Not in New York City, of course. We asked some of our top CORE agents to share their last-minute picks for great holiday shopping. Procrastinators can thank us, well, later.

Columbus Circle Holiday Market [link]
Neighborhood: Columbus Circle/Central Park South
Tips: This is my favorite market for holiday gift shopping since you will find a wide range of unique goods such as handmade clothing, jewelry, toys, ornaments, artwork and gourmet foods from boutique vendors and craft purveyors. You’ll be sure to find something for everyone on your list! It’s only open until Christmas Eve.–Lisa Graham

C. Wonder [link]
Neighborhood: SoHo
Tips: Co-founder of Tory Burch mixes with Chanel and Goyard. It’s a fun, chic store that’s super affordable…there’s something for everyone, including guy stuff. I purchased a tote bag that offers a monogram, palm tree cocktail plates for a Yankee swap party with a “beach style” theme, nylon attaché cases, and monogram wine corks and cheese boards.–Lawrence Treglia

Tiffany & Co. [link]
Neighborhood: Midtown
Tips: When racking one’s brain for the perfect gift, last minute or otherwise, Tiffany always shines. Even at its busiest, it radiates a calming energy. Their personal shoppers take the drag out of holiday shopping, as there are no lines or bargain hunters to contend with. And let’s face it, even the most jaded New Yorker must admit that the timeless mystique of Tiffany’s legendary blue box is intoxicating. (Holly Golightly knew this.)–Tom Postilio and Mickey Conlon

Lord and Taylor [link]
Neighborhood: Murray Hill
Tips: They have everything in every price range for women, men, and kids. It’s one-stop shopping, and there are no crowds!–Susan Rubell

The Shops at Columbus Circle [link]
Neighborhood: Columbus Circle/Central Park South
Tips: Particularly Sephora, Whole Foods, Williams-Sonoma and Godiva. I love the convenience of having a variety of options all in one place in my neighborhood. For example, I can run down to Whole Foods and have a basket of cheeses made with delicious meats and pick up a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Then I can easily run up to Williams-Sonoma and Godiva to help complete the gift baskets. And in the midst of shopping madness you can take in a coffee and a pastry at Bouchon.–Adrian Noriega

Chelsea Market [link]
Neighborhood: Chelsea
Tips: There are vintage vendors in a pop-up space. In addition, there are additional pop-up stores at 19th street and 10th avenue and 15th street and 10th avenue offering various items. I bought cool vintage belt buckles, a knife set and a vintage mink wrap.–Lawrence Treglia

The Upper Breast Side, Bank Street Bookstore, J. Crew, American Apparel and Paul Smith
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Tips: The Upper Breast Side for cute baby gifts like swaddle blankets, socks that look like Converse sneakers, ballet slippers and awesome headbands. The Bank Street Bookstore for the best kids’ and teen books and the most knowledgeable sales people. J. Crew and American Apparel for scarves, gloves, and hats. And Paul Smith has the best stocking-stuffers and men’s gifts.–Natalie Rakowski

West Elm [link]
Neighborhood: Chelsea
Tips: There is something for everyone’s home here. I often walk through the block-long store, entering on West 17th Street and exiting on West 18th Street (even after the gift-giving season, just to warm up).–Stuart Sussman

Best Place of the Week: 220 Riverside Boulevard
New York Daily News (12/16)
The Daily News named this 3,000-square-foot condo (right) in the Upper West Side’s Trump Place its “Best Place of the Week,” and it’s not hard to see why. CORE’s Emily Beare told the paper, “You see the George Washington Bridge to the right, and you can see through the kitchen and see a beautiful view to the left. Wherever you are in the apartment, you see amazing views.”

House of the Day: Chelsea, Storage, Space
Wall Street Journal (12/15)
A cool apartment in Chelsea with high ceilings, private outdoor space, all sorts of added storage and a “hiding space” behind the kitchen was the subject of a great Wall Street Journal “House of the Day” slideshow. CORE’s Stuart Sussman and Tom Postilio have the listing at 246 West 17th Street.

Just Sold!
New York Post (12/14)
The $1.6 million sale of a 2-bed/2.5-bath condo in SoHo’s Urban Glass House at 330 Spring Street made the Post’s weekly roundup of big sales around New York City. CORE’s Adrian Noriega had the deal.

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“Meet Walker Tower, the Newest Pre-war Building in Town”
New York Observer (11/14)
CORE’s newest development is Walker Tower, and news of the building was broken on the CORE Blog. The Observer followed that up with a look at the Chelsea building’s pre-war credentials. The weekly writes, “So if you’re looking for a new pad and want the pre-war facade without the pre-war maintenance fees, this might be a good place to start.” At right is an undated archival photo of Walker Tower.

“Chelsea’s Sleeping Giant Remade as Luxury Condos With 14-Foot Ceilings”
Curbed (11/14)
Curbed also jumped on the Walker Tower news early, cementing the building’s status as a spring blockbuster-to-be. Here’s a taste: “One of the more remarkable features is its lofty ceiling heights—since each floor is nearly 15′ tall, the whole building looms over its neighbors, affording gobsmacking panoramic views to the south, west and north.”

“$849,000 for an 1830s 1BR With a Very Cozy Footprint”
Curbed (11/11)
For its “Six Digit Club” feature, highlighting the best listings priced under $1 million, Curbed took a look at Ivana Tagliamonte’s co-op listing at 47-49 King Street, which is a landmarked 1830s Federal-style brick rowhouse. Wrote Curbed, “OMG, cute.” We concur.

What’s New is a weekly look at one of CORE’s most striking new listings.

Where: 140 Thompson Street
Size: 1 bedroom/2 bathrooms
Asking: $1,695,000
Listed by: Elise Ward and Liz Dworkin

Ask anyone what New York City neighborhood they think of when they hear the word “loft” and you’ll almost always hear “SoHo” as the response. It’s the romance of high ceilings, wide-open living spaces and buildings with incredible history that drives people to crave the SoHo loft lifestyle, and this Thompson Street listing delivers on those cravings. The dining area, living room and kitchen all flow together to create a vast space that evokes the drama of the old-school bohemian loft, but with updated and luxurious appliances and fixtures (and don’t forget about those sleek Poliform built-ins). The best touch of all? The preserved wooden columns and beams that simply cannot be replicated, giving the loft a sense of history and authenticity. Check out another great photo of the space below.

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The building located at 345 Grand Street is believed to have been built around 1900.  It is a SOHO-Style Cast Iron that somehow was transplanted to Lower East Side.   Before the building was converted to a  Condominium in 2002, it had a quite an interesting history.

During the 1910’s the second floor was a dance hall.  The ticket pictured below was found under the floorboards on the 2nd floor, which has  13′ ceilings and used to have a wide staircase down to the ground floor, also 13′ high.  That stair is still there in the space that is for sale or rent as retail or gallery — but it is covered over now by the 2nd floor’s new flooring.

In the early 1900’s it became a distribution outlet for for H W Perlman Pianos.  1950’s it was a warehouse for Sun Ray Yarn.  As demonstrated in the photo below, Sun Ray Yarn used to be housed in the building next door to 345 Grand Street.  You can see that 347 the original home of Sun Ray Yarn was next door, while H W Perlman Pianos took up most of 345.  It was a warehouse and sales showroom, probably not a factory.  The lady’s long dress and the lack of wire suggest the date was around 1910, right around the time the “Grand Hall” Ballroom Dance was held.

Allen and Alice Freidman, the owners of the building put the building on the market in 1999.  Phillip Frazer and 5 other partners bought it as a Co-op.  They kept  the commercial spaces downstairs  where there was one tenant Grand Sterling Silver, operated by Grand Sterling Co Inc, now on 14th Ave Brooklyn.

AFTER the group brought together bought the building, in 1999, they chose an architect and builder and filed plans for a total rehab — new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, elevator, intercom and alarms.  A new roof enabled higher ceilings for the 5th floor and an entirely new apartment to be built on top — this 6th floor penthouse was designed and built by the present owner and seller Phillip Frazer.

For property details, visit: http://www.corenyc.com/en/listings-345-grand-street,18,163788.html

First Open-house 12-3PM, Sunday June 14th.

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