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.

The tributes keep pouring in for Ralph Walker, the late trailblazing architect who is back in the news thanks to Walker Tower, the 50-unit luxury condominium developed by JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group. Walker Tower is being fashioned from one of Walker’s signature pre-war Art Deco skyscrapers in Chelsea, built at 212 West 18th Street in the late 1920s. Already the subject of an architectural exhibition held at Walker Tower last spring and a career-spanning biography published in September by Rizzoli, Ralph Walker is now receiving the documentary treatment. The short film above provides a great summary of Walker’s greatest works and his impact on the New York skyline, while also providing a guided glimpse inside Walker Tower.

The film is a great companion to last week’s Wall Street Journal feature story by Josh Barbanel, headlined “In Manhattan, Downtown Looks Up,” in which Walker Tower is held up as a shining example of what wealthy buyers are looking for in today’s real estate market: Spacious and meticulously finished Manhattan homes that blend traditional Uptown sensibility with a trendy Downtown location. Ralph Walker’s pioneering Art Deco style is an important part of that appeal.

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

“Read the Book, Buy the Condo” & “More Small Dogs and Big Homes Prices”
The New York Times

One Museum Mile is featured for hosting a book launch as a way of promoting its new-to-market properties. The building is also noted in an article on the transformation of Upper Manhattan.

“It’s Officially Penthouse Time at Chelsea’s Walker Tower”
Curbed

After being introduced by The New York Times for having asking prices up to $10,000 per foot, three of Walker Tower’s penthouses came on the market last week. This news also landed one of the penthouses in The Real Deal’s “priciest units to hit the market” spot as well as a pick up by Zimbio.

“In San Francisco, Life without “Starchitects”
The New York Times

Walker Tower, whose namesake Ralph Walker, was a somewhat forgotten “starchitect,” is featured in a piece on the lack of statement architecture in San Francisco and its surrounding areas.

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

“Top Residential Agents of the Week”
The Real Deal

Michael Graves is featured as one of the “Top Residential Agents of the Week” for his deal at 166 Duane Street.

“On the Market”
Gotham

The history and conversion of Walker Tower was profiled as a “Haute Property.” Ralph Walker’s vision for the building, initially designed as a telephone building, was preserved and honored through the meticulous restoration and the exhibit honoring the architect’s complete body of work. The care for the original details paired with the luxury finishes and amenities make this an unmatchable residence a New York City “masterpiece.”

“House of the Day”
AOL Real Estate

Noted for its stunning views and modern, sleek styling, the combination unit at One Museum Mile was highlighted. The building’s impressive amenities list as well as its positioning near to Museum Mile’s icons make this residence a spectacular opportunity for a buyer to create their dream home.

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

“Slim supply gives condo prices new pop”
Crain’s
Record rents, low interest rates and wealthy buyers looking to invest their fortunes are all helping to pump up the condominium sales market, Crain’s reports. One of the projects benefiting from the lack of new inventory is CORE’s Walker Tower development (above). “Walker Tower is shattering record prices for downtown,” CORE CEO Shaun Osher tells Crain’s. For more on Osher’s take on the current real estate market, read his comments on the new housing shortage.

“Trophies On Display: In Gaga Global New York, the Loudest Listings Bag the Billionaires”
New York Observer
In the Observer’s look at the current culture within Manhattan’s luxury real estate world (”If you’ve got it, flaunt it. That’s the new rule of thumb in luxury real estate, anyway.”), CORE Managing Director Emily Beare commented on the important roles advertising and publicity play in marketing expensive properties.

“What’s new”
New York Post
The Post’s big fall real estate preview featured CORE’s upcoming 93 Worth Street project on its cover. The former garment factory in TriBeCa, built in 1924, will launch sales later this fall with prices from $1,250 to $2,000 a square foot. Click here for more on the project.

Left: Walker's Barclay-Vesey Building is featured on the book's cover; Right: An archival photo of Walker Tower

Last week Rizzoli published Kathryn E. Holliday’s Ralph Walker: Architect of the Century, and this particular marriage of book and publisher is quite fitting. The legendary Italian publishing house was founded in 1929, just as Walker, across the ocean in New York, was in the midst of a groundbreaking run that saw him design such iconic Art Deco masterpieces as the Barclay-Vesey Building, the Irving Trust tower (now simply known as One Wall Street) and the New York Telephone Company building at 212 West 18th Street. The latter is now Walker Tower, renamed in honor of the pioneering architect, and undergoing an extensive restoration and renovation into 50 luxury residences.

This is the first book dedicated to the life and career of Walker, who was proclaimed “architect of the century” in a 1957 New York Times headline. Last spring, a public exhibition on Walker was held inside Walker Tower, based in part on materials pulled from this book. (Author Kathryn E. Holliday was in attendance and held a book-signing at the opening night reception.) The book covers Walker’s entire life and career and includes a passage on Walker Tower, a great example of Walker’s “humanistic” approach to architecture, which called for texture and ornament in design to uplift city dwellers. To purchase a copy of the book, click here, and head on over to the Walker Tower website for more on the building’s history.

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

“House of the Day: New Jersey Home’s Swimming Pool Is in the Living Room”
AOL
105 Chestnut Ridge Road, a 25,000-square-foot French-style manor in exclusive Saddle River, New Jersey, listed by Michael Graves, is an AOL House of the Day. The mansion has an indoor swimming pool, a popular feature that helped make the listing CORE’s most popular of the week.

“The incredible $19M New Jersey mansion with a swimming pool in the living room”
Daily Mail
The Saddle River mansion and its indoor pool also caught the attention of the UK’s Daily Mail, which writes, “If you’re spending $19 million on a new home, you would expect a few extras thrown in. And, with a swimming pool in the living room, this opulent French manor house won’t let you down.”

“At 46 Lispenard — 80% of units sold, five days in”
The Real Deal
CORE’s Walker Tower development in Chelsea is highlighted as a new building with strong sales in the typically slow summer months.

“Profile of real estate social media leader: CORE Group Marketing”
RE Tech Bits
Kristina Helb, CORE’s Director of Communications, is interviewed about her thoughts on social media — and how CORE uses it — by the RE Tech Bits blog, which covers the role of technology in real estate.

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

“Signs Are Up At 93 Worth”
Curbed
Lat fall it was revealed that the 13-story office building at 93 Worth Street in Tribeca would be converted to luxury condominiums, with CORE’s Doron Zwickel leading the sales and marketing efforts. Now Curbed has spotted some new signage at the site. We’ll have more on 93 Worth in the weeks ahead.

“Manhattan’s 15 Central Park West Fuels Ultra-Luxury Condo Surge”
Bloomberg
The listing of steel magnate Leroy Schecter’s two combined apartments at 15 Central Park West, which recently made headlines when CORE’s Emily Beare put it on the market, has attracted new attention to the famed building, Bloomberg reports: “Schecter’s apartment offers unobstructed views of Central Park to the east and the Hudson River to the west. The property is a combination of two units, one of which was rented by New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, that were purchased in 2008 for a total of $26 million, according to Emily Beare of CORE, the broker representing him. Schecter is renovating the space. ‘It’s almost like a work of art,’ Beare said. ‘It is an investment. You’re investing in one of the best properties in the world.”

“Walker Tower wows ‘em”
Real Estate Weekly
In a look at CORE’s ultra-luxury Walker Tower development in Chelsea, Real Estate Weekly gets an update on the building from co-developer Michael Stern of JDS Development: “‘The buyers are primarily New Yorkers, moving from uptown, Tribeca or SoHo,’ said Stern, adding that only one buyer so far is foreign. Though units at the building are unusually large, some buyers have opted to combine apartments.”

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

“The Rewards of Patience”
New York Times
CORE CEO Shaun Osher and CORE’s Walker Tower development (above) are featured prominently in this New York Times column on high-end real estate projects that waited out the worst of the economic downturn and now stand to perform well in the current thriving luxury property market. The Times‘ Alexei Barrionuevo writes, “[D]omestic buyers are also circling, and are especially eager to buy downtown, developers say. And as downtown projects go, nothing seems as primed to capitalize as quickly on the favorable market conditions (for the industry) than Walker Tower, the Chelsea building originally designed by the architect Ralph Walker that is now being converted into 50 condominiums.”

“Turning Double Play Into Big Single”
Wall Street Journal
Steel magnate Leroy Schecter is combining his two 35th-floor apartments at 15 Central Park West — one of the most successful and famous residential buildings in New York City — and has listed the massive spread for $95 million with CORE Managing Director Emily Beare. It is one of Manhattan’s most expensive listings.

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

$1 million worth of staging at Joan Collins's Dorchester apartment

“Joan Collins’ midtown east apartment gets a makeover”
New York Daily News
Legendary actress (and diva) Joan Collins put her three-bedroom, three-bath apartment in the Dorchester at 110 East 57th Street on the market with CORE’s Tom Postilio and Mickey Conlon, and the Daily News got a tour of the “Dynasty” star’s abode: “Postilio and Conlon, partners in work and life, saw an opportunity to restore Hollywood glamour that was diminished when Collins shipped many of her belongings to her homes around the world. They worked with interior designer John Lyle to put more than $1 million worth of rugs, chairs, art and other items to help the home show better.”

“On the Market”
New York Times
The Times‘ weekly look at new properties on the market includes a slideshow on 141 Fifth Avenue #22, listed by Emily Beare and Elizabeth Beare, and a previous CORE Blog featured property. The Times writes: “This condo offers a mix of classic and contemporary styles; bathrooms have mosaic floors and Waterworks fixtures. The English-style custom kitchen has a marble counter, a six-burner Wolf range, a glass door Sub-Zero refrigerator and a Miele coffee system.”

“Beyond Walker Tower”
The Real Deal
The August issue of The Real Deal includes a profile on Walker Tower co-developer Michael Stern of JDS Development, and the magazine provides an update on Walker Tower’s strong sales to date: “Stern, now 33, is working with residential brokerage Core to sell the building’s 50 units, some of which have already traded for up to $3,400 per square foot, he said. Despite having just hit the market in June, the building is already more than 25 percent sold.”