The Flatiron Building gives the Flatiron District its name, but the unusually shaped, instantly recognizable Manhattan landmark at 175 Fifth Avenue also sets the aesthetic tone for this small, stylish and surpassingly distinguished little Manhattan neighborhood in Gramercy. Although it spans just seven blocks from 18th Street to 25th Street, between Park Avenue South and Sixth Avenue, the Flatiron District is home to some of the most impressive architecture in all of Manhattan, from Beaux Arts beauties such as the Flatiron Building itself to some of Manhattan's loveliest cast-iron buildings. But there's more to the Flatiron District than a distinctive skyline -- from a bumper crop of new restaurants and retail to a wealth of new condominium listings, of both the pre-war condo conversion and the new construction condominium variety, this small neighborhood has become a major player on the Manhattan real estate scene.

Many of the historic buildings in the Flatiron District have remained office buildings -- although the businesses that call the Flatiron home today tend more towards technology firms, modeling agencies and art studios, as opposed to the ladies clothiers that first made the neighborhood famous in the early years of the 20th Century -- but several have been re-imagined as a type of stylish contradiction unique to NYC real estate: new pre-war condominiums, such as the conversion at 254 Park Avenue South, are a Flatiron real estate signature. In a sense it could hardly be otherwise: much Flatiron District real estate is landmarked, which means both that the neighborhood's retail has an intriguingly disjunctive feel about it -- sleek contemporary restaurants from foodie icons Tom Colicchio and Danny Meyer inhabit gracious 19th-century storefronts and a stately century-old Cass Gilbert building, respectively -- and that new construction condominium development has been comparatively scarce. Still, a few new construction Flatiron condominium developments have emerged as notable new condo listings, including the elegant and ultra-modern One Madison Park and 240 Park Avenue South. Whether the buildings are new or old, on the tree-lined side streets or along the bustling avenues, Flatiron District real estate stands out -- just as the landmark that lent the neighborhood its name has for over a century.