Commercial Grade

The view outside my 15th floor window. For the past month I’ve watched this building on West 37th Street go up and this week, topped off. Considering the zoning and other new construction on the block I am guessing that it’s going to be a hotel. The pace at which it went up reminds me of a computer game I used to play with my son when he was around 5 years old, Tonka Trucks. In the game an army of construction workers would scurry around and build a tower, in about five minutes!

Photo by our own Informed Appraiser, Marc Kushner.

An inspired moment from our Informed Appraiser…

by The Affordable Oracle

I am a fan of modern looking architecture, on my way to my site visit i passed some nice looking buildings. Here are some photos

Frank Gehry designed IAC Headquarters, southern (West 18th Street) facade from the 11th Avenue. Completed in 2007. Jean Nouvel's 100 11th Avenue in the background.

Northern facade of Silver Towers in the center (Larry Silverstein) completed in 2009. Two 60-story towers on 42nd Street and 11th Avenue built as an 80/20 financed by tax exempt private activity bonds issued by HFA. Atelier Condos to the right of the image. 46-stories built by Moinian, second phase in planing stages.

Tip of the Silver Towers, weird exposure

TF Cornerstone's sister towers 455W37 and 505W37

IAC building coming back down 11th Avenue

Another shout by our resident artist, Marc Kushner. Here Marc coaxes the colors out of the NYC subway system…

Our Informed Appraiser (Marc Kushner) does it again! This photo is of the Lord & Taylor’s flagship department store. Let’s see…having been in this office for 8 years now…I estimate that Ive walked by this store…hmm…say 10,000 times..just never noticed how cool it is from above.

Turns out that our very own Informed Appraiser (Marc Kushner) is quite a talent with the camera. This is one of his shots of West 38th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenue, home to Miller Cicero world headquarters. I’ve probably walked this block thousands of times, but never quite seen it through this lens before…

One of my favorite buildings in NYC is the Flatiron Building, a triangular shaped building on 23rd Street, where Fifth Avenue and Broadway intersect (175 Fifth Avenue). Built in 1902, it was originally called The Fuller Building. I had always thought that it was the first steel-framed skyscraper in NYC, but the AIA Guide to New York City corrected me (that was apparently a building on Park Row).

It’s a striking building at the south end of Madison Square Park that looms as you walk down either Fifth or Broadway. According to the AIA Guide,

Here rusticated limestone is uniformly detailed from ground to sky, in the manner of an elevatored palazzo. The acutely angled corners give it an exagerrated and dramatic perspective

Besides just being a cool-looking building, it has sentimental meaning…nearly 35 years ago my first job out of college was in that building and after a couple of years I worked my way up to a tiny office that was at the very point of the building….could barely fit a desk but those views up Fifth Avenue and Broadway were the start of my love affair with this city.

by James Dunne - The CREative Department

I’ve got to give Mayor Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan credit for the Sustainable Streets campaign launched in 2007. They’ve added 90 miles of bike lanes and created the pedestrian spaces in Times Square and Herald Square among many other initiatives. Last weekend was the second weekend of Summer Streets, where Park Avenue gets blocked of for bike and pedestrian traffic from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park. I went jogging, and snapped the shots of the dumpster pools on Park and jogging through the tunnel under Grand Central - not something a New Yorker gets to do often.

We’re out and about the streets of New York all the time, and every so often something interesting catches our eye...

I recently toured the Saatchi building at 375 Hudson Street, a beautiful building that oozes hip. I especially liked the employee’ health club with rooftop running track. (Kind of reminded me of a cruise ship!) The views from the roof were spectacular…the new Trump Soho building…a rooftop swimming pool…and of course, the Hudson River with Jersey City in the background. I do love my class C loft building in the garment district, but a private running track would be a very nice touch…

We’re out and about the streets of New York all the time, and every so often something interesting catches our eye…

The Frank Gehry designed Beekman Tower, under construction in lower Manhattan, near the Brooklyn Bridge, will be the tallest residential tower in Manhattan.

Work is also progressing on the first tower at the World Trade Center. Now that construction is underway, I expect that this frame is going to sprout up very quickly.