Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
There were highs and lows for New York real estate this year. Sales records were broken, but the overall market hit the brakes, even as mortgage rates stayed low. Design took center stage in many new developments, and Hudson Yards opened to great fanfare. — The New York Times
The New York Times takes a look back at the 2019 real estate highlights in the nation's biggest city. The roundup features a number of property stories that were also published (and some hotly debated) on Archinect, including the recently opened, Robert A.M. Stern-designed 220 Central Park... View full entry
Built in 1961, John Lautner's Hollywood Hills Wolff Residence is up for sale, with a $6.5 million asking price. Reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, Lautner drew inspiration from the work of his mentor. In 2006, the structure was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural... View full entry
Some know it as “The Beverly Hillbillies” mansion, others as Chartwell. Now, it has a new name: California’s chart-topper.
The Bel-Air residence of late media mogul A. Jerrold Perenchio has sold for the highest price in California history, about $150 million. The buyer is Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch and co-chairman of publishing company News Corp., The Times has confirmed.
— Los Angeles Times
The spacious estate at 875 Nimes Road in Bel Air, also known as "The Beverly Hillbillies" mansion from the 1960s TV show, finally changed owners for an undisclosed amount, which sources familiar with the deal told the LA Times, was around $150 million. While the deal would easily beat the previous... View full entry
Efforts to modernize suburban campuses can be as basic as organizing placemaking activities like after-work concerts or food truck Fridays. Usually, though, they require a much deeper investment in elements like upgraded lobbies, outdoor furniture, ball courts, fitness centers, grab-and-go cafes, greenways, bike storage facilities and open-plan offices that let in substantial natural light. — The New York Times
In her NYT piece about the renewed commercial interest in the suburban office park typology, Amanda Abrams takes a closer look at the latest investments and transformations at North Carolina's Research Triangle Park. "After all, with downtowns everywhere becoming increasingly expensive," writes... View full entry
A Berlin-based artist who put up billboards advertising fake real estate projects in protest against runaway property development received more than 200 calls from would-be investors who didn’t get the joke. [...]
At a distance, the adverts look plausible but closer inspection of the images visualising what the new properties would look like reveals odd details.
— The Guardian
Treptown Visions, billboard in public space, Treptow, Berlin, 2019 by Dorothea Nold. Image: Dorothea Nold/aussenwelt "Citizens are not being asked for their permission when investors make such drastic changes in their city, that’s why I thought it is okay to put them without permission up to... View full entry
After an incredible publicity blitz and well over a year on the market, Frank Lloyd Wright’s world-renowned Ennis House — tucked into the foothills of Los Feliz [...] — has sold for $18 million to an as-yet-unidentified buyer. That number, while significantly below the $23 million ask, ranks it as the priciest Wright-designed home ever sold, easily eclipsing the previous high-water mark set by the Storer House in nearby Hollywood Hills, which was purchased in 2013 for $6.8 million [...] — Variety
More than one Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home has changed owners this week: after learning about the successful auction of his mid-century modern Norman Lykes House in Phoenix on Wednesday, Variety now reports that the spectacular Mayan Revival-style Ennis House in LA's Los Feliz hills just sold... View full entry
An Arizona house that was the last home designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright before his death sold on Wednesday for nearly $1.7m.
Out of nearly 20 bids at a public auction for the Norman Lykes House, the winning bid came from a man who lives out of state, Heritage Auctions told the Associated Press.
— The Guardian
Commissioned by Norman and Aimee Lykes, this Phoenix home known as the "Circular Sun House," was Frank Lloyd Wright's last residential design before his death in April 1959. The structure was completed nearly ten years later by Taliesin architect John Rattenbury. Image: Heritage Auctions In case... View full entry
After selling his Malibu estate last year for $38 million, Silver has listed his Brentwood home for sale at $77.5 million...The bright-colored and striking Mexican modernist residence was designed by architect Ricardo Legorreta. Completed in the early 2000s, the roughly 26,000-square-foot house includes a circular atrium, a dining room topped with a pyramid-like ceiling and a 30-foot-high family room with hydraulic doors. — Los Angeles Times
"If the Silver estate sells for its asking price, it would nearly double the Brentwood price record of $40 million set in 2014 when NFL star Tom Brady sold his home to hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre.," reports the Los Angeles Times View full entry
The Related Companies has released new renderings and a new name for Thomas Heatherwick’s High Line project at 515 West 18th Street: Lantern House. The pair of residential structures is located along Tenth Avenue between West 18th Street and West 19th Street and flanks both sides of the High Line [...]. The development is Heatherwick’s first residential project in New York City and in the United States. SLCE Architects is the architect of record. — New York YIMBY
Thomas Heatherwick is expanding his foothold in New York City: after creating quite a stir with the Vessel at Hudson Yards and the under-construction floating Pier 55 park, the London-based studio is teaming up with developers Related Companies again for the practice's first residential project on... View full entry
The hypothetical Retail Apocalypse should be supported by a decline in the total retail establishments, but that's not the case. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported 1,044,509 establishments for 2018, for a net gain of 2,413 establishments over 2017 (1,042,096). The 2018 figure also represents a net gain of more than 20,800 establishments since a retail trough in 2011, a low point resulting from the Great Recession. — Congress for the New Urbanism
Sharon Woods, CEO of real estate consultant group LandUseUSA, writes in Public Square, a journal produced by the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) presents an opposing, data-driven view of the future of America's retail landscape. Woods writes, "The future for brick-and-mortar retail... View full entry
In May of this year Airbnb conducted a competition allowing two winners the ability to spend a night at the iconic Louvre Museum in Paris. This "night at the museum" created quite a bit of buzz, however, not everyone was pleased with the museum's new attention and partnership with the billion... View full entry
Commercial-property prices in major cities around the world tumbled in the second quarter, amid signs of slower global growth and heightened trade tension between China and the U.S.
Average property prices fell in the second quarter from the first quarter in Hong Kong and Seoul to London and Washington, D.C., according to data from Real Capital Analytics.
— The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal reports that Melbourne, central Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Paris, London, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. all saw a retreat in commercial real estate property values during the second quarter of 2019. The trend applies to struggling sectors like office buildings and malls. View full entry
Among the more than 16,200 condo units across 682 new buildings completed in New York City since 2013, one in four remain unsold, or roughly 4,100 apartments — most of them in luxury buildings, according to a new analysis by the listing website StreetEasy. [...]
Already the prices at several new towers have been reduced, either directly or through concessions like waived common charges and transfer taxes, and some may soon be forced to cut deeper.
— The New York Times
Despite record-breaking residential construction in New York City, sales of apartments have slowed steadily in recent years. NYT real estate reporter Stefanos Chen has analyzed the latest numbers of unsold units, especially in the higher price ranges, following a glut of inventory in newly... View full entry
With only 400-some Wright structures still standing, surely these listings must erupt in bidding wars from eager buyers as soon as they hit the market, right?
Wrong. On the contrary, Wright homes tend to sit on the market for years. Often with numerous price cuts!
— Realtor.com
Owning a home designed by a famed architect may be a dream for many. However, what are some of the unforeseen factors that come with owning such a home? According to Adriana Velez from realtor.com, owning a Frank Lloyd Wright home comes with its fair share of obstacles. Velez explains, "for... View full entry
The Trump administration is vastly expanding the scope of condominium purchases eligible for lower-down-payment loans.
The move, announced Wednesday by the Federal Housing Administration, could help revive the entry-level condo market for first-time buyers because FHA-backed loans require only a 3.5% down payment and lower credit score than conventional loans.
— The Wall Street Journal
The move, in the works since 2016, could help provide a modest pathway for more Americans to afford real estate purchases, though tight supply and a pronounced focus on luxury housing on the part of developers could dampen the effects of the new measure. View full entry
