360 Central Park West

New York City has always been synonymous with reinvention. As The New York Times states, “Building have been no different,” and recently, this has been especially true. In the city of dreams, every building is given the possibility of a second chance, including office towers, cathedrals, power plants, parking garages, schools, cinemas, warehouses, and even banks.

                         Rendoring of Howard Hughes Corporation's Pier 17 Redevelopment

Redevelopment of historic South Street Seaport has been a hot-button issue since Hurricane Sandy ravaged lower Manhattan in 2012, and the fate of the iconic waterfront remains unclear.

In a very short time apartment residents at The Helena will be able to compost without leaving their homes. The new program being implemented at The Helena, at 601 West 57th Street, means that residents will be keeping their organic trash out of the landfills. The plan, as being thought out by The Durst Organization, is also supposed to be used in a brand new apartment complex currently being built next to The Helena. The program however is still in the planning stages and is set to launch at The Helena as a test. New York City is increasingly becoming a green city with sustainable buildings and programs such as these.

Next door neighbors are teaming up to sell their luxury apartments, illustrating NYC’s newest real estate trend: the higher demand for three-bedroom apartments and more. The “combination apartment”, in which owners sell their apartments together so the buyer can break down walls and created a “super-sized” unit, also provides for a higher profit for each individual luxury condominium or co-op owner. However, this is not simply a means to make apartments more marketable to buyers; it also falls in line with a general rule of thumb within NYC real estate, which states that unlike most other areas in the U.S., the larger the space, the more a seller can charge per square foot.

While there are a variety of factors influencing this trend, there are two main reasons for this increase in combination apartments within NYC real estate. A one bedroom that can be potentially transformed into a three bedroom often increases the buyer pool, especially if each individual unit is offered as separately as well. This falls in line with the growing desire of those searching for larger luxury apartments, especially as more and more Manhattanites choose to remain in NYC to raise their families. And even though demand has risen for “super-sized” apartments in recent years, new construction has been unable to match this desire with available supply.