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Apex Condos Up For Sale In Harlem

Filed under: Real Estate Developments


Sales are opening this month for 44 contemporary condominium residences atop the first hotel to open in Harlem in 40 years. The Apex condominiums are on the upper six floors of a new 12-story, 124-room Starwood Aloft Hotel at 2300 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, on the southeast corner of 124th Street. The residences have a separate,secured entrance to the condominiums with a 24/7 attended lobby, residents-only elevators, storage, and a rooftop terrace with panoramic views. Owners of the residences will also partake of shared hotel amenities such as a second entrance, bar, fitness center and on-site parking.

The studio-to-three-bedroom residences range from 476 to 1,767 square feet of living space. Many units have floor-to-ceiling windows. There is wood flooring throughout and Bosch washer and dryers in every residence. The kitchens have custom two- tone cabinetry, granite countertops and a Kitchen Aid stainless steel appliance package that includes cook top, wall oven, dishwasher, refrigerator and microwave. The master baths offer over-sized glass showers, custom designed vanities with polished marble counters and Grohe fixtures. The studio-to-three-bedroom residences will sell from the mid-$300,000s to just over $1 million, according to the owner/developer, RCG Longview.

Emmit Smith Plans Harlem Hotel

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Sports, Real Estate Developments, Celebrity Design

emmit smith

Emmitt Smith is the marquee name among a group of investors aiming to build a hotel at the corner of Lenox Ave and 125th Street in Harlem. For a portion of the $80 million cost to finance the project they went to the New York City Capital Resource Corporation, run by Mayor Bloomberg. The NYCCRC had $120 million provided by the federal government in order to seed economic development in certain neighborhoods.

Emmitt's group requested $19.5 million, which was all that remains of the original $120 million. This week they were told they have been provisionally awarded the sum pending a full board vote, but with one serious condition: they must begin construction by the end of this year.

There have been many attempts and many promises made when it comes to revitalizing Harlem, and most have remained nothing more than attempts and promises. Assuming the investment group can source the remaining funds, it is said that the hotel will be a Hyatt, joined by retail and cultural establishments such as Whole Foods and a YMCA.

Mt. Morris Park West Townhouse, Estate of the Day

Filed under: Gadgets


Today's home is one of the most expensive townhouses in New York City's Harlem area. The five-story residence was built in 1889 by James E. Ware who also designed the Osborn co-op on West 57th Street. The 25-foot-wide home has seven bedrooms, nine fireplaces and two kitchens (one on the first floor and one on the fifth floor). The bottom two floors are shared living space, the middle two floors are given over to bedrooms and the top floor has a large great room and dining area. For outdoor space it has a back yard and a large roof terrace. The home has been beautifully restored maintaining the dark wood moldings, original fireplaces and wainscoting. This home has been listed at $7.995 million since last fall, a number that some of Curbed's commenters think is far too high. What say you?


Celebrate Black History Month at 1st Annual Harlem Fine Arts Show This Weekend

Filed under: Art

This weekend the first of what's planned to be an annual fine arts show will be on display in a historic location in New York City's Harlem: the 369th Regiment Armory.

The building itself is worth a visit all on its own: it dates back to 1933 and is Art Deco in style. It was built for the only, solely African American unit of the New York National Guard at that time. The 369th Regiment had already distinguished itself as the first all-African American unit sent to battle overseas, which it did during World War I, albeit under French command due to segregation policies of the US Army.

The men of the "Harlem Hellfighters", as they became known, were greatly decorated. Members were awarded the Croix de Guerre by France -- Private Henry Johnson of this regiment was the first American to ever be so honored -- as well as the US Congressional Medal of Honor, among many other honors. What's more, the regiment's jazz band included many Harlem musicians, and has been credited with introducing jazz to Europe. (Another musical history note, Rafael Hernandez Marin, the celebrated Puerto Rican composer also served in this regiment.) Read more about the history of the regiment here (PDF).

Changing the World Through Art: Christie's Time In Benefit

Filed under: Auctions, Art, Charity


Liya Alfred by Brian Alfred

Christie's own New York gallery outpost Haunch of Venison is hosting a special benefit Monday night for The Time In Children's Arts Initiative, a HiArt! outreach program that is dedicated to bringing arts-inspired curriculum to at-risk schoolkids.

Galleries all over the city and individual artists have donated special works and experience packages to the auction to raise much needed funds, as schools across the city continue to cut their art budgets. Time In has spent the last year immersing Harlem kindergarteners and first graders in art, including gifting them with art supplies to sketch in HiArt! studios or in museums and galleries across the city. It's an inspiring new program that is set to grow exponentially with a little help from New York art patrons.

Cameron Mathison In New York City, Estate of the Day

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

We might be seeing a sudden flood of soap opera star pads on the market. The NY Times Big Deal column reports that because ABC is switching production of "All My Children" to Los Angeles, after 40 years of production in New York, many actors and crew might be putting their homes on the market. One soap opera hunk who has already taken that leap is the ever-smiling Cameron Mathison, who plays Ryan Lavery on the soap (and was also a contestant on "Dancing With The Stars"). Mathison has put his modernist brownstone in Harlem on the market for $2.7 million.

The 20-foot wide townhouse has three bedrooms. The brownstone includes a peaceful garden graced with a Buddha statue. Mathison and his wife Vanessa paid $1.225 million for the house which was at that point 80 percent of the way through a renovation that turned it from an apartment building into a single-family house. The facade remained a classic brownstone but inside the original old brick competes with recessed lighting and a floating steel staircase. The top level has a playroom with a skylight on the top level, and the open parlor floor has a fireplace, a kitchen and a living room. It is listed at $2.7 million.

Bailey Mansion Gets A Major Price Cut

Filed under: Estates

It's not a surprise to me that the price has been cut on the Bailey mansion in Harlem. The free-standing house at 10 St. Nicholas Place in New York was once the home of circus entrepreneur James Bailey and it is an amazing structure full of turrets, stained glass and some of the most fanciful and elaborate woodwork around. It's also in a significant state of disrepair. The Wall Street Journal's Private Properties column reports that the mansion has had a price cut from $10 million to $6.5 million and whoever buys can expect to expend significant money in rehabbing this old beauty. The column quotes the real estate agent, Lori Huler Glick, who says it could be turned into a a bed & breakfast, a school or a hospital facility. it has 12 bedrooms, a solarium, and a double living room. It is truly a unique structure but it remains to be seen whether anyone has the vision to restore this property.

Doug E. Fresh Joins The Foreclosure Club

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

The foreclosure news seems to keep coming. We saw a couple over the weekend and this morning the NY Post revealed that 1980s rapper Doug E. Fresh is facing not one but three three foreclosure actions possible foreclosures from banks looking for more than $3.5 million in unpaid mortgages on three of his Harlem homes. He also owes American Express nearly $60,000 in credit-card debt and is facing a tax lien of $367,000 from the IRS and more than $40,000 from the state of New York tax collector. He grew up in Harlem and invested in local real estate but according to a foreclosure suit filed in Manhattan in late August, 2008, he now owes more than $1.73 million. Meanwhile he is planning to open a restaurant in Harlem, Doug E's Chicken and Waffles in 2009.

Skinny in Harlem, Estate of the Day

Filed under: Estates

Every article I read about New York real estate highlights how expensive it is so when I received the tip to check out this home I was curious. A New York townhouse for just a few million? Don't get too excited, it is in Harlem and it is skinny (under 16 feet wide). The home was built in 1910 and has a planted terrace and garden. The parlor floor has 12-foot ceilings and lots of original wood including mahogany-framed windows and mirrors, carved woodwork, crown moldings and a carved staircase. The kitchen looks to be the most modern room of the house with a La Canche range, double drawer dishwasher and a large bay window overlooking walled landscaped garden. The home is four floors total, the garden floor with a kitchen and a great room and a guest bedroom. The parlor floor includes a formal dining room, home office and a parlor with an adjoining movie room. The third floor is home to another bedroom, a library and a terrace and the top floor has two more bedrooms which share a bathroom. The home also has two laundry rooms and a basement with a carpeted area and storage space. The home's taxes are just $2,500. This home is listed at $3.2 million. There is an open house this Sunday for this home if you are curious. After the jump, I'm usually in favor of dark wood but I think in this house it makes things too gloomy.

[Thanks, Kerry!]

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