NYC families are bringing the suburbs to the city
Stroll the 11 blocks of Manhattan’s riverfront East End Avenue, and you’ll notice a remarkable absence of city noise.
“You can open your window on Saturday morning and not hear the hum of traffic,” says Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group sales director Nicole Siciliano-Trazzera, who lived there for six years. “You literally hear birds.”
The tony neighborhood also offers the tranquil 15-acre Carl Schurz Park, sports facilities at Asphalt Green and world-class schools like Chapin and Brearley.
Not to mention a new crop of growing families who’ve decided they want all the amenities of a leafy suburb without the hassle of a commute.
Demand for homey buildings in cozy neighborhoods — where cherry trees bloom in spring and Halloween parades amble by each fall — is huge.
Only 13 out of 41 units are left at Corigin’s new 20 East End Avenue, which was designed by Robert A.M. Stern and features a limestone motor court and some of the last approved wood-burning fireplaces in Manhattan (two-bedrooms start at $4.555 million). Deborah Berke is also designing a building for 81st Street and EEA, and both will join Peter Marino’s 170 EEA.
“There is an appeal to suburban lifestyles and developers are taking advantage of it,” says Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel Inc. Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants.
From East End Avenue to Boerum Hill, a boomlet of high-end, low-density buildings — with a focus on family living and open space — is rising. Call it Urburbia.
“When Christa was six months old, I realized dodging a stroller down 14th Street wasn’t ideal,” says Helen Emanuel, who previously lived in the bustling Meatpacking District with her husband and daughter, now 3.
So last fall, the family (including newborn twins) moved into a tranquil three-bedroom duplex at the Toll Brothers’ Pierhouse — set along the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park, which wraps around the western edge of the borough. The 106 townhome-style residences hover around $2,146 per square foot and offer private rooftops, landscaped terraces, bike storage and views of Manhattan.
“It’s peaceful, which is what I guess people look for in the suburbs, but you’re in Manhattan in a few minutes,” Emanuel notes.
Suburban perks also abound: soccer fields, beach volleyball courts and sailing lessons from soon-to-open One°15 Brooklyn Marina (where even a West Elm is on its way).
For those tempted, other new options in the ’hood include 51 Jay Street, a former factory that offers rare four-bedroom lofts, and One Brooklyn Bridge Park, where Sotheby’s International Realty’s top broker Karen Heyman is selling an 8,800-square-foot unit for $23 million.
Nearby in Boerum Hill, young families can choose from The Hendrik, at 509 Pacific St., where two- to four-bedroom units go for $1.5 million to $3.995 million, or the Paris Forino-designed 610 Warren, where only three units, priced from $1.895 million to $2.750 million, remain since sales began in June.
For those on the suburban-urban fence, the new-to-market Hub — a 750-unit rental property at 333 Schermerhorn St. — offers one acre of amenities, from a pool and a dog run to outdoor rec spaces, a yoga studio and outdoor movie screenings (from $2,365 to $6,400 per month).
“You are finally starting to see opportunities outside of townhouses while still feeling like you’re a part of the walkable neighborhood,” says Brendan Aguayo, managing director of Halstead Property Development Marketing.
Even Wall Street, with its two bona fide malls and tidied waterfront parks, is drawing a settle-down crowd.
Macklowe’s One Wall Street is reimagining a former bank above a new Whole Foods as a luxury condo building (for $2,000 to $3,000 per square foot).
And this month, Soho Properties’ 45 Park Place — with interiors by Piero Lissoni — will begin selling its 50 condos (from $1.9 million) in this faux suburbia, where 1 Seaport’s attended porte cochere and private water club also welcome residents.
“It is exactly where people want to live due to the neighborhood’s great vibe, beautiful parks, excellent shopping and easy access to Midtown, Brooklyn, New Jersey and beyond,” says Soho Properties investor relations associate Courtney Longenecker.
With all these new suburban-style oases, Manhattan may need a new nickname: The city that always sleeps.