Lavish West Village 'Mansion In the Sky' Drops Ask By $10M
The pretty incredible West Village penthouse that Robert De Niro once called home has been on the market for all of three months, but that's three months too many as evidenced by a pricechop that brought the pad's ask down by $10 million to $29.8 million (h/t NYP). The five-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom apartment at 165 Perry Street may be asking a lot even still, but it isn't short on the amenities: in addition to 11,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space (the brokerbabble calls it a"mansion in the sky" for good reason), the penthouse comes with two levels of terraces and a seven-car garage with room for 14 cars if valeted.
West Village Chocolate Factory Might Give Way to Huge Condos
In a lengthy bit of reporting,DNAinfo has discovered that the owner of the Koopers Chocolatefactory at 39 Clarkson Streetbetween Greenwich and Hudson streets wants to convert the industrially-zoned building into—we'll give you one guess—condos. According to a letter filed on behalf of Jeff Alexander, third-generation Koppers owner, with the Board of Standards and Appeals, the building that Koppers is leaving behind for a space nearly twice as large in Sunset Park no longer suits the needs of modern manufacturing. But for large apartments with walk in closets, en suite bathrooms, and terraces? It's perfect.
A proposal Alexander and his lawyers submitted to the city details a plan to lob off a back portion of the West Village building in favor of transferring the floor area to three new floors and creating a private backyard for one of the building's handful of new apartments.According to DNAinfo, the plans say that every bedroom will have an en suite bathroom, with all apartments except for a small ground floor studio that'll probably go to the landlord having private outdoor space. Plans call for rather large apartments with three to five bedrooms, with two duplexes on the first and second, and eighth and ninth floors. The building plan also calls for underground automated parking for four cars, bike parking, and a subterranean media room and play room.
Cultivating Home Amidst a Large, Lush West Village Garden
Welcome to House Calls, a recurring feature in which Curbed tours New Yorkers' lovely, offbeat, or otherwise awesome homes. Think your space should be featured next? Drop us a line.
By her accounts, Sierra Tishgart's West Village garden is nothing short of whimsical. "Sometimes at night, I can hear my neighbor's bull frog," Tishgart says with a smile while standing on her patio on a July afternoon, moments after the sun appeared for the first time in days from behind a cloak of heavy clouds, "Sometimes," she begins incredulously, "I hear someone playing the piccolo." To be clear, this is not the norm for New York City, but with one look around her private 1,000-square-foot garden, and towards the whitewashed rear of the quaint West Village apartment building she calls home, Tishgart's recounts are easy to believe . A weeping willow tree hangs over a neighboring garden; flowers bloom lushly and a bit haphazardly from a patch of dirt Tishgart's been tending to since she moved in a little over a month ago. For a girl whose furnishings could be the envy of any casual collector, the spunky patch of mismatched flowers is Tishgart's pride and joy. Since moving in, she's been cultivating her green thumb, conferencing with elder neighbors about gardening tips and tricks, and of course, showing her work off to friends.
Heidi Klum Is Summering at the Novogratz's Hoops House
Bob and Cortney Novogratz will hand the keys of their dejected West Village kingdom over to Heidi Klum this summer, who the Post sayswill be renting the for-sale house for a short-term stay. It isn't the first time the supermodel's dropped her bags in the house, and if the pad continues to not sell, it might not be the last. The 7,180-square-foot home has been on the market since 2009, when it was first listed with an ask of $25 million. These days, the basketball court-touting townhouse just wants $17.95 million and a buyer, please. Although the five-bedroom digs weren't formally listed for rent this summer, the house has asked $70,000 per month as recently as February.
Ordinary West Village Rooftop Hides Adorable Country Cottage
It's been a winning week for the Village's rooftops. First, a glorious, coveted cabin poised high above East 13th Street came to market, and now, Gothamist relays word of a bucolic rooftop cottage replete with porch and lawn at 719 Greenwich Street. Color us jealous. The cottage belongs to David Puchkoff and Eileen Stukane, who live on the top floor of the building. A 2006 New York Times article profiling the cottage (yes, you've been walking by it unknowingly for at least that long) says that Puckhoff developed the building and decided to build out theanomalous city structure after a visit to a friend's house in rural Elk Lake, PA.
On a Secret Historic Courtyard, a Tiny Redone House for $4M
Barrow Street in the West Village is plenty adorable as it is. But when you sidle into Pamela Court, a little-known back courtyard tucked behind a handful of its lovely townhouse facades, it opens up a whole other realm of cuteness. Built before the Civil War, 58 Barrow Street is a landmark that got a complete and total renovation. The floorplan is tiny and the staging furniture is sort of white and bland, but nonetheless, it's an intriguing little house—and who would ever deny the cache that comes with a doorway that opens onto a secret courtyard? The very secret courtyard, in fact, that Village legendChumley's, a historic bar where literary greats imbibed, once had a back entrance. (Chumley's is currently getting its own makeover, so it's unclear if that door will still exist when it's done.) 58 Barrow's owners and renovators (whose identity is shielded behind an LLC calledSpeakeasy 86, which actually recalls Chumley's street address at 86 Bedford) think the four-bedroom house is worth $4.25 million. Do you?
When Rats Invade: Surviving an Infested West Village Rental
Curbed Horror Stories are firsthand reader reports about terrible New York City apartment experiences past and present. This week, in honor of Renters Week, we're having a rental horror story showdown across all Curbed sites, with the winner receiving a staycation. Have a terrible tale to share? It's not too late to submit. Up now: one renter describes coping with a vermin infestation.
I was so excited to be in my first apartment in the West Village. Great location. Rent-stabilized. I could walk to everything. Until the second year I was there, when the rats started to take over. I was in a basement apartment in an older building, and the rats furrowed into the concrete holes outside my apartment. They ran amok—theywere in the walls and went through the garbage outside the door every night. I couldn't sleep for months. The rats made so much noise at night—and were so overpopulated—and my bed was right next to the window. The management company didn't really take our complaints seriously.
One night, I remember, I was excited because the exterminator came. I thought the rats would be gone. As I was looking at my air conditioner from a few feet away, I saw a yellow eye peering towards me from inside the air conditioner. I went to an all-night cafe and had them take out my air conditioner the next morning. There were so many rats that the babies could squeeze in and out of the air conditioner. They could get out before I turned it on and off. Eventually, the management company went in through my apartment to seal up the holes in the concrete. But only after a dead rat turned up outside the front steps, so the whole building could see. It made it better, but you can't ever reallyget rid of rats.
Hidden West Village Townhouse Is So Tiny and So Expensive
This West Village townhouse that's set back off the street may be charming, but is it nearly $6,000/square foot charming? Its seller seems to think so, as they just listed it for $15.99 million—more than double the $7.3 million they purchased it for in 2008. The 2,700-square-foot townhouse at 9 1/2 Jane Street does have its pluses—it's set back off the street and has a private courtyard and three bedrooms—as well as its drawbacks—it appears that half of its windows look out onto a brick wall—but that's true of any space. So, will this little West Village gem get what it wants, or does it, like most New York City real estate, suffer from an inflated sense of self?
Weekend Open House Tour: West Village
This weekend on the Open House Tour, we're seeing what's on the market in the West Village. There are some nice listings, including a two-bedroom on Leroy asking $899,000, a one-bedroom on West 12th asking $2.1 million, and a two-bedroom on Perry asking $3.2 million (above).
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Brick House From the 1840s Is Quintessentially West Village
Everybody loves historic homes, and New York has some of the best. This Federal-style house dates back to the 1840s, and it shows in the details like exposed brick, crown moldings, and ornate mantels onwood-burning fireplaces. Oddly enough, the listing contains no floorplan, but the brokerbabble makes it out to be a three-bed, two-bath. An the photos sure are nice. There's a quaint back garden with climbing vines. The house has central A/C, which confirms that it has been renovated at least once in the last 170 years. That's a good thing, considering it wishes to command a handsome asking price of$8,950,000.
Landlord Fights 91-Year-Old Tenant Over Rent-Stabilized Pad
BLDG Management founder Lloyd Goldman has been accused by the daughter of one of his tenants, 91-year-old former opera singer Ruth Berk, of getting Berk declared incompetent and placed in a nursing home against her will in order to get her rent-stabilized apartment in95 Christopher Street in the West Village. Berk was removed from her apartment in 2013 after an anonymous call to Adult Protective Services (that her daughter and lawyer say must have come from the landlord) and was just returned there after a judge ruled that she was competent. (Berk reportedly wowed the judge by singing "Summertime" and "My Funny Valentine.")
Robert De Niro Spent Two Years in This Lavish $40M Penthouse
Although, according to a Curbed commenter, the current owner ofPerry Street's flashy glass-floored penthouse is "not a celebrity," thePost reports that it was at one time home to one of the most recognizable celebrities of them all: Robert De Niro. The Post says the real estate aficionado and veteran actor posted up in the $39.5 million digs on Perry Street following a 2012 fire that caused significant damage to his 88 Central Park West apartment. De Niro lived in the duplex penthouse at 165 Perry Street for two years prior to his ongoing stay in A-Rod's former apartment at 15 Central Park West. The actor and wife Grace Hightower continue to wait it out uptown, without the benefit of a seven-car garage, as their Brentmore apartment gets made anew.
$13M Downing Street Carriage House Is a 'Certified Treasure'
The carriage house at 29 Downing Street is undoubtedly special—the brokerbabble calls it "a property that you cannot find anywhere else in the world," "a completely unique piece of art," and "one of Manhattan's certified treasures"—but it looks like the owners think it's more wonderful than the market does. After listing nearly a year ago for $12 million, the 3,480-square-foot house failed to find a buyer, so obviously, it re-listed for $1 million more. Now asking $13 million, the house also has its own website, and the listing offers more photos of the historic space. Built in 1829 on land owned by the third United States Vice President Aaron Burr, the house, per the listing, "is one of the only constants that remain in original form" on Downing Street. The sellers, John Bennett and Karen Lee Grant, an artist and photographer, bought it in 1977 and turned it into this live-work space.
Half a Million, for 250 Square Feet of West Village Real Estate
A world where $40 million is the new "normal" asking price for luxury apartments really makes you appreciate the little things. And by little things, we mean this 248-square-foot studio on Cornelia Street, which is just undeniably small. (A very scientific calculation was performed based on the floorplan, so it excludes the bathroom.) The tiny walk-up, which was renovated since the owner bought it for $250,000 in 2013,just hit the market asking double what he paid: $499,000. No, those closets don't house a Murphy bed, but the futon could serve as a crash pad, and the broker says a queen-sized bed—with no frame or headboard—could fit across from the radiator. It does have that West Village-y exposed brick, a brand-new kitchen and bathroom, and low monthly costs, but is there enough room? Remember, some New Yorkers live comfortably in 90 square feet (or 200), and with the right furniture (or snazzy movable walls) even the tiniest of apartments can feel like home.
Diane Arbus's Former West Village Home Listed for $13.5M
- The main townhouse
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Photographer Diane Arbus didn't actually live in the townhouse itself at 131 Charles Street, but in the carriage house hidden behind itthrough a narrow, 32-foot-long horse walk. Both the townhouse and the carriage house (address: 131 1/2 Charles Street) are now on the market for $13.5 million. When Arbus lived in the carriage house, in the '60s, it was owned by Thomas B. Morgan, press secretary to Mayor John V. Lindsay and, later, editor of the Village Voice. The house become an individual city landmark in 1966 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it has been owned since 1968 by Judith Stonehill, an active Greenwich Village historian and preservationist. Unsurprisingly, it has been lovingly preserved and has retained much of its original character, including wide plank hardwood floors, decorative wood moldings, and five fireplaces.
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