Greening cities

Singapore's Gardens By The Bay greens the city while bringing residents closer to nature.  Supertrees, made from concrete and steel, house thousands of plants.

Milans' Bosco Verticale consists of twin towers planted with 700 trees and thousands of smaller plants.  The vegetation creates an ecosystem supporting wildlife and absorbs CO2.  

We in New York have Central Park, our 778 acre backyard in the middle of super prime Manhattan.  

56 Leonard in Tribeca

Photo credit:  Courtesy of 56leonardtribeca.com  

56 Leonard in Tribeca, with it's Jenga shape, will be one of the tallest buildings in Downtown Manhattan.  The 145-condominium skyscraper will feature a bursting bubble sculpture at the base.  The Jenga shape is such because no apartment will have an upstairs neighbor's balcony above it.  This effectively increases amount of light entering each apartment. 

Meatpacking District

Today's AM New York article on the Meatpacking District is well-written and succinct.  Anchored by the High Line and The Standard Hotel (pictured), MePa is beyond a nightlife destination.  It has a beautiful park that is the High Line, top restaurants such as Morimoto, fashion boutiques and cool cobblestone streets.  Chelsea Market and the very cool Google building are in MePa too. 

Soho

By Wei Min Tan

Soho (SOuth of HOuston) used to be an industrial area which became popular with artists.  As more artists moved into the neighborhood, Soho transformed into a residential work-live area with many artist studios and galleries.  This attracted chic restaurants and cafes which attracted people who want to live in such a trendy neighborhood.  

Loft living in New York

Loft living is a unique Manhattan experience.  Found primarily in Soho and Tribeca, lofts are a type of apartment that has been converted to residential use from a formerly manufacturing or warehouse space.

As such, lofts have unique characteristics which include large open spaces, high ceilings, large windows and structural beams and pillars.

Given the immense demand for lofts, developers have also built brand new loft buildings.  The key difference being these are brand new and were not former manufacturing facilities.  Many apartments also boast being loft-like which means they have high ceilings, openness, large windows and touches of beams and pillars.

Most traditional loft buildings are 5-6 stories high, have fewer apartment units and do not have a doorman.  Residents like it this way because of the privacy factor.  Further, lofts are usually measured by size (as opposed to number of bedrooms).  Reason is that a loft may be 3000 sqft and have only one bedroom.



Wei Min Tan is a Manhattan condominium broker focused on foreign buyers.  He is Managing Director of Castle Avenue Partners.

Flatiron

Flatiron is one of the most sought after destinations in Manhattan for reasons including an abundance of restaurants and entertainment spots, the Union Square farmers market, Union Square, Madison Square Park and of course, Whole Foods.  Whole Foods may not technically be in Flatiron but it's one block away hence for this purpose, I am including it.  

Manhattan Condominium Report Q1 2013

Manhattan condominiums performed well in the first quarter of 2013.  According to data by Miller Samuel, average price per square foot of $1,377 represented an increase of 4.6 percent compared to a year ago.  Median price at $1.195 million was a 13.8 percent increase over last year.   Inventory level decreased by 35.4 percent.