This week will witness the 90th anniversary of the unveiling of New York City’s famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel on October 1, 1931. Following an unprecedented restoration, the structure for the first time is offering the opportunity to own one of 375 residences within The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria, starting from $1.8 million.

Buyers can savor the cache of living in a structure graced by guests from Frank Sinatra and Cole Porter to every president from Hoover to Obama. In addition, they’ll enjoy 50,000 square feet of private residential amenities focused on health and wellness, entertaining and business. Residences range from urbane studios to sumptuous four-bedroom homes and deluxe penthouses, many offering outdoor spaces.

Notes Andrew Miller, CEO of Dajia US, the owner-developer of Waldorf Astoria New York, “We have assembled a world-class team to return the Waldorf to glory as one of the world’s most beloved hotels and New York’s most prestigious residential address.”

With history on the minds of Manhattanites, this could be the ideal moment to explore some other rare present-day residential structures in the heart of New York that are — or include — buildings with even longer histories. They are The Woolworth Tower Residences, The Belnord and 111 West 57th Street. These properties are dream addresses for anyone who not only appreciates the borough’s long and storied history, but seeks to inhabit a piece of that time-honored legacy.

The Woolworth Tower Residences

Once the tallest building in the world, the Woolworth Building was designed in 1913 by Cass Gilbert as a commission from retail industry tycoon F.W. Woolworth. Today, the recently-completed Alchemy Properties-designed Woolworth Tower Residences fills floors 29 through 58 with 32 loft-like condos. A $22 million restoration of the tower’s arresting terra cotta façade was among ways Alchemy saluted the Woolworth legacy by resurrecting original details of the building. 

Another was the incorporation of a coffered ceiling reclaimed, restored and relocated from the private office of Frank W. Woolworth himself. Residences offer design details from Thierry Despont, who contributed to the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. Amenities include the Gilbert Lounge and entertaining area, wine cellar and tasting room, fitness center and fifty-foot lap pool.

Topping the tower at floors 50 through 58, 727 feet above Manhattan, is The Pinnacle, the residential conversion of the building’s famous crown. In addition to 9,680 square feet of interior residential space, The Pinnacle hosts a 408-foot observatory terrace. 

The Woolworth Building has been an important part of the skyline since its construction, says Alchemy Properties’ Kenneth Horn. 

“There was this great responsibility that we took on as a firm when we bought the upper portion to ensure that it lived up to its potential in this next iteration where people can call the building home for the first time,” he adds. “Now that construction is complete, residents are living in the building, and it is over 80% sold, we can say that we’ve achieved our goal of a perfect blend of old and new by emphasizing the historic elements of the building that are fully unique to Woolworth, while at the same time creating a contemporary design with modern-day conveniences.”

The Belnord

Among Manhattan’s turn-of-the-century residential buildings, few offer the grandeur of The Belnord, at 225 W. 86th Street. Filling a complete block, the 1908 jewel was designed by acclaimed architectural firm Hiss & Weekes. Those passing through the building’s arched 86th Street gated entrance into the massive 22,000-square-foot private courtyard might be forgiven for assuming a time tunnel had whisked them back to early 20thCentury New York City. 

Once, horses and buggies slowly moved through the gated entryway. Thanks to the renovation of the 113-year-old property, that entry has been widened to permit modern vehicles to park temporarily within the courtyard, placing residents nearer their homes. This is an example of how The Belnord is being renovated to combine its traditional grandeur with contemporary conveniences.

Renovation rather than rebuilding is necessary, because many of the building’s original features would be cost-prohibitive to build in contemporary New York City. The interiors by Robert A.M. Stern Architects deliver a number of very substantially-sized residences. The most notable is likely Residence 1012, priced at nearly $11.45 million, which features both a formal entry foyer as well as an entry art gallery.  

111 West 57th Street

This residential tower incorporates the venerable Steinway Hall, which opened on 57th Street in 1925. 

Steinway Hall was the creation of architectural firm Warren & Welmore, the architects who graced Manhattan with landmarks Grand Central Station, the New York Biltmore Hotel and the Commodore Hotel, now Grand Hyatt New York. SHoP Architects and Studio Sofield have reimagined the historic building, creating a selection of large, light-filled pre-war residences that pay tribute to Midtown’s gilded heritage. The reborn Steinway Hall is incorporated within 111 West 57thStreet, which tops out at 1,428 feet as the second tallest residential skyscraper on the face of the planet.

Says Bill Sofield: “The complex shapes, patterns and materiality of Studio Sofield’s designs reflect the distinctive profile of the tower, while collaborative works by local artists preserve and expand the historical importance of Steinway Hall.”

Origination: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffsteele/2021/09/29/new-yorkers-gain-opportunity-to-reside-within-pieces-of-history/?ss=real-estate&sh=5723442f371a 

We know that this is something we have been talking about a lot here in our blog. On the other hand, we want you as a buyer to have the best experience when buying your dream home. Since we have beautiful houses on the market now in Cinnaminson, NJ, we understand the needs and worries the buyers have. Keep reading to learn more about 5 topics to add to your list when you’re buying a home.   

1. Keep a six-month savings strategy 

When you plan for a six-month savings, you will feel way more comfortable and without anxiety when you purchase your home. Having an extra budget for if something unexpected happens, like sickness, or you lose your job, or even the pandemic that affected many people around the world, will make you not afraid to take this huge step in life. Therefore, the best solution is to plan and be very organized financially.    

2. Get pre-approved and stick with a fixed-rate mortgage 

The advantages of getting pre-approved are that you will already know what you can afford and how much your down payment can be. There are a variety of mortgages, and in this phase, it is crucial to see what fits best for you. In consequence, you are not tempted to buy what you cannot afford. 

3. Compare to get the best mortgage 

Most homebuyers don’t shop around to find the best mortgages. However, here it’s important to evaluate the one that best meets your needs, not just looks good for you. 

4. Don’t spend more than one-third of your taxable income

It is better to regret spending less money on the house than spend too much and not having anything to work with after. So, be as conservative as you can here, but we know it’s not always possible. 

5. You can walk away 

This is a tough decision when you finally find the home you want but the price is not something you can afford. Our tip is to always try to negotiate, and if your budget allows for it, offer more. On the contrary, you know what you can afford, so don’t be afraid to walk away if you can not get the offer that meets your budget. 

For sure, you will find the perfect house some day, so take your time. You will have your happily ever after! 

Cape Advisors and Pioneer Group has released a new rendering (top) and construction update for Astoria West, a 534-unit rental development rising at 30-77 Vernon Boulevard.

Already topped out, construction of Astoria West continues to progress at a rapid clip with leasing slated to commence in early 2022.

“There are very few remaining opportunities to develop along the water in New York City, which is one of several reasons we’re so excited about Astoria West and why we feel this project presented the perfect moment to enter the Queens market,” said Craig Wood, Founder of Cape Advisors. 

“The scale of the site has enabled us to introduce an entirely new product to the neighborhood with a thoughtful and robust amenity offering unlike anything else in the area. This property, when paired with the unbeatable location, will transform the living experience in Astoria.”

Fogarty Finger is the architect for the development, which features studios to three-bedroom apartments with views of the Manhattan skyline over the East River and the Hell Gate Bridge as well as a landscaped courtyard.

The amenity package spans over 40,000 s/f and includes a rooftop with resident pool club, lounge area, and a waterfront deck with BBQs, landscaped private inner courtyard and gardens as well as an on-site parking garage.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the progression of Astoria West and this latest milestone,” added George Scharenatz of the Pioneer Group. “All of the project collaborators continue to devote an incredible level of effort and attention to detail, and we look forward to seeing the project continue to come to life.”

Corcoran New Development is the exclusive marketing and leasing agent for Astoria West.

origination: https://rew-online.com/cape-pioneer-release-new-renderings-of-astoria-west/

In the global real estate industry, the largest and oldest asset class in the world, investment decisions have always been and will always be driven by people with information. Today, investors and service providers have access and need to effectively utilize an ever-increasing amount of data to create and capture value in a complex and competitive marketplace.

Secure access to this information — particularly key, proprietary data — is the critical pathway to operate at scale with speed and precision. Yet with increasing and expanding use of data assets, there are corresponding data liabilities. This is the new balance sheet as the real estate business is digitized.

Firms are responding with dedicated leadership in data security empowered with budgets, new processes, controls and oversight. Cybersecurity and data protection have quickly become the foundation of building and protecting enterprise value in the commercial real estate industry. To be clear, expertly managing information security risks is now expected of institutional investors and fiduciaries. The stakes are high and require new and evolving skills that every boardroom now has its full attention on.

From global syndicates of organized crime with malicious interests to unknowing oversights and mistakes by busy or distracted co-workers, there is a wide range of exposure to protect against, all while the related systems and use cases are fluid. The following framework with five core elements are essential to have thoughtful coverage across platforms and tools that your firm deploys:

1. Visibility and controlled access: Your internal processes should allow users to easily access and manage data and share policies that effectively govern your data, all while minimizing the risk of data loss through full visibility and central management of content, security, policy and provisioning. Your accounts should be authenticated with single sign-on. In addition, customer administrators should have the ability to enforce the use of strong passwords by their user accounts and have granular access controls on the accounts with the ability to revoke access at any time. All search engines and web crawlers should be blocked from customer data.
2. Comprehensive activity tracking and audit log: Your systems should include the ability to record and maintain every action performed in a detailed and structured activity log, while archiving a complete history so that you have complete visibility into their activity for total transparency.
3. Secure data and digital content services: All content on your systems should be delivered and accessible exclusively with strong encryption. Data should be transported over HTTPS using transport layer security (TLS) 1.3 in transit and stored with AES-256 encryption at rest. All systems should have multi-region redundancy and be under constant monitoring and threat detection.
4. Third-party verification and compliance: You should require and ensure the systems you utilize have and maintain rigorous third-party certifications with annual audits, including: SOC 2 Type 2 certification under SSAE 16, CyberGRX Tier 1 Assessment protocols, and penetration and vulnerability tests.
5. Availability and resilience: Your systems should deliver a secure, resilient and highly available service at scale for the world’s largest and most sophisticated investment management firms. Your systems should also utilize multiple data centers with reliable power sources and backup systems to deliver redundancy and reliable availability along with robust disaster recovery and business continuity plans that are made available to review upon your request and tested annually.

Accessing and processing increasing amounts of data are critical for creating new opportunities and efficiencies in the commercial real estate business. In the modern age, data protection is as important as physical security, requiring proper due diligence for proptech systems when evaluating and utilizing them. Partners, investors and clients will migrate to firms whose data and systems are most trustworthy. Investing robustly in cybersecurity not only protects your data but also gives confidence to your partners and clients that their data is safe.

There’s an old saying that if you encounter a bear in the woods, you just need to be faster than the person who you’re with. Today, the digital bears clone themselves in real time, and the firm next to you is on an Olympic training regimen for data security. Don’t lose a step and get eaten alive.

Origination: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/2021/09/15/commercial-real-estates-new-foundation-cybersecurity-and-data-protection/?ss=real-estate&sh=64c928f8114a 

The median cost of owning or renting a home is unaffordable to minimum wage workers in all 50 of the country’s states, finds a new analysis from LendingTree. Rising home prices and rent costs are putting housing costs out of reach to more low-income earners.

The study finds that the affordable housing payment for minimum wage workers across the country is $1,074 less than the median monthly housing costs paid by homeowners. Renting was also found to be unaffordable. The difference between an affordable monthly housing payment and the median gross rent averages at $533.

LendingTree researchers studied whether owning or renting a home is affordable to a person working a full-time minimum job. They factored in 30% of a monthly gross income on housing to weigh affordability. They calculated how much a person could afford in monthly housing costs if working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year at their state’s minimum wage.

The states where owning is most affordable for workers earning minimum wage are Arkansas, West Virginia, and New Mexico. Check out the chart below for a full breakdown.

Origination: https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/09/15/study-minimum-wage-workers-struggle-to-afford-ownership-rent 

Plans include a Japanese restaurant led by Michelin Star chef Shinichi Inoue

A zero-carbon-emitting luxury hotel and condo building that is partnering with a Michelin Star chef and a former Zaha Hadid senior architect sounds like a new development in Chelsea or Tribeca.

But Richard Xia’s Fleet Financial Group is seeking to bring the concept to Corona, Queens, just two miles from LaGuardia Airport.

The group plans to break ground on the 25-story project, known as Eastern Emerald, at the end of the month. Totaling 350,000 square feet, it will have 256 hotel units and 196 condominium residences. The project will also include a conference and performing arts center, along with a bar and restaurant led by chef Shinichi Inoue, formerly of Michelin-starred restaurants Sushi Azabu and Sushi Inoue.

To design the facade, Fleet Financial tapped SASI Studio, whose co-founder, Mattia Santi, was formerly a senior architect at Zaha Hadid. The design appears to mimic some of the style of the late Hadid’s use of curves.

Xia said the project already has funding in place using existing money from private investors as well as money from the federal cash-for-visas EB-5 program.

He said the project could also qualify for C-PACE financing, which allows developers and landlords to obtain cheap loans if they make certain energy improvements. The site was home to a car repair facility and gas station that Fleet Financial remediated. It received Track-1 remedial certification, which allows for unrestricted future use.

The luxury building is expected to be completed in about three to four years, according to Xia.

The Eastern Emerald would be an outlier for Corona, which isn’t known for luxury development. The average rent in the neighborhood is $2,110 per month compared with $3,217 in Long Island City, according to RentCafe, which tracks apartment rents. The area is close to Citi Field and Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

origination: https://therealdeal.com/2021/09/16/fleet-financial-to-bring-luxury-hotel-and-condo-project-to-corona-queens/