Tag Archives: real estate

No Wal-Mart For Union Square

The Virgin Megastore space in Union Square will not become a Wal-Mart after all, much to the relief of many New Yorkers. Via Gothamist: While the shuttered Times Square Virgin Megastore transitions into a Forever 21, WWD is reporting that the Nordstrom folks might be taking over the Virgin Megastore space. The real deal high price Nordstrom department store you’ve …

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90 Years In The Same Apartment

People in this town are famous for holding on to their apartments forever. As proof, the NY Daily News has a cute story today about Elsa Barnouw, a 102 year-old woman who has lived in her 3 bedroom Manhattan apartment for 90 years. Her parents’ rent in 1919: $5. Her rent today $397. The story notes that her apartment features …

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Tiny Houses

The above is my favorite from the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel’s slideshow of houses under 1000 square feet, from a new book by Andreas Wenning called Tiny Houses.

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Madge Takes The UES

Madonna is crossing Central Park and moving into the triple digits of the UES, buying a $40M “double-wide” townhouse at Lexington and E.81st Street. Reminiscent of a London townhouse, this 26-room classic Georgian residence is notable for its extraordinary 57-foot width, making it one of the widest houses on the Upper East side, its 3000 sq. ft. garden bordered by …

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Walkability

A new real estate website calculates how many useful destinations are within a walkable distance from your home and assigns a “walkability score.” Although the idea of a compact town center is not new, walkability has become easier to quantify, thanks to Walkscore.com. The website’s algorithm takes a previously subjective idea – being able to step out your door and …

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A Little Fussy, But It Would Do

The late Brooke Astor’s Park Avenue apartment has just gone on sale for $46M. Six terraces, fourteen rooms, including four for the maids. Oh, and don’t worry about a mortgage, it’s 100% down. Conveniently located several blocks and one universe from my apartment.

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Fifth And First

I’m a bit surprised that Michigan Avenue is so inexpensive compared to SF’s Union Square.

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Flip This Space

Everybody knows parking is a nightmare in Manhattan. And yet that nightmare can provide a sublime sense of superiority to the vast majority of residents who don’t own cars -myself included – although I’m occasionally inconvenienced due to friends having to circle my block for an hour searching for a space. An interesting recent NY Times story mentions that new …

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