Four Seasons New York Downtown

The Four Seasons New York Downtown is being developed by Silverstein Properties and set to open in 2016.  The $950 million development will be 82 stories, 926 feet tall and located at 30 Park Place.  The hotel will have 185 hotel rooms and 157 residences.

432 Park Avenue

Photo:  dbox for CIM and Macklowe Properties

432 Park Avenue, designed by Rafael Vinoly with expected completion in 2015, is set to become the world's tallest residential tower at 1,396 feet and 96 stories.  Units start at $7 million and the penthouse price is $95 million.  The current record holder for world's tallest residential tower is Princess Tower in Dubai.  

Whitney Museum in Meatpacking

The new Whitney Museum in the Meatpacking District next to the West Side Highway is one of the most exciting developments in Manhattan at the moment.  Designed by Renzo Piano, the museum will feature 50,000 sqft of indoor galleries and 13,000 sqft of outdoor exhibition space.

CNN interview on pocket listings

 

Secret 'pocket listings' return in hot housing markets

By Les Christie @CNNMoneyMay 2, 2013: 11:48 AM ET

With pocket listings, brokers hope to find clients with deep pockets who are willing to pay in cash.
 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The housing rebound has given new life to an old, but little-known sales practice called "pocket listings," where agents reserve homes for serious buyers only.
 Most homes that are put up for sale are posted on databases called multiple listing services (MLS), on which agents share information with one another in order to find buyers. There are open houses on Sunday afternoons and listings posted on real estate websites.

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.