HEY NEW YORKERS - COOL OFF IN GUESS WHERE?

For those who missed this on my old blog here is info on the ski slopes in Dubai. More meaningful now anyway than in January! Jump here and here for info and more photos.

Thanks to Getty Images for this photo!

EMOTION MAPS + REAL ESTATE

Location, location, location as we all know is real estate rule number one. Then came Louise Sunshine who said, "I think so much about real estate today is about lifestyle, not about bricks and mortar."

Well for a new spoon in the soup, maybe someone ought to go speak with Scott Smith, a futurist with Social Technologies, a futures research firm. Smith's blog Smartspace, brings to our attention, Emotion Maps, a research project being done by Christian Nold, a London based artist. Nold combines a GPS meter with a Galvanic Skin Response sensor to map out an emotional response to a location.

Perhaps this would be a good tool for the focus groups that developers sometimes employ when planning their new constructions and conversion projects?

Contraire to what's being claimed by many of those intimately involved in the selling of these new conversions, when a certain hot broker throws a party for other brokers to bring their buyers to come see the new super luxe property he is representing, this suggests that he must not be selling out even with accommodating midnight appointments. Perhaps Smith and Nold could put their creative heads together and come up with some irresistable new gizmos to get the job done.

The map reproduced here from Smith's Smartspace blog is of London's Kensington borough, "full of money, advertising and luxury."

Jump here for Smartspace and here for Christian Nold.

SUNSHINE BEACH, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

This photograph is the work of Jon Linkins and looks across the lap pool to the office wing.

This week's architectural design of the week goes to the international architect Kerry Hill and the Ogilvie House project. The home is located on a high dune overlooking the beautiful Sunshine Beach in Queensland, Australia. Hill and the owner's goal was to "bring about a sense of simple elegance . . . a delicate balance between scrupulous simplicity and a feeling of warmth and a feeling of true peace and serenity, sensuality and refinement." Go here to read all about it and see many more gorgeous photographs.

NEW YORK RHYTHMS

If you don't have enough city noise to satisfy when the iPod is resting try this new little toy from Soundseeker. They offer the Google map featuring the audibles of New York. Look for the little white stick men on the map. Don't miss the Carousel in Central Park or the Pentacostal preacher in Brooklyn. Great diversion and that Google map is awesome. Jump here for the fun! You can contribute your own favorite sound to Soundseeker by the way. Credit for the find goes to ResearchBuzz.

NEW YORK CITY

Sunset from West Street in Tribeca

RECENT REAL ESTATE CLOSINGS

DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN:

2 Cornelia Street 2552 SF closed July $2,707,000 $1061 per SF
29 King Street 510 SF closed June $582,750 $1143 per SF
429 Greenwich Street 2372 SF + parking space closed June $3,375,000 $1423 per SF
215 Bowery 717 SF walk up closed June $600,000 $837 per SF
99 Reade Street 1170 SF + 350 SF terrace closed May $1,700,000 $1264 per SF*
345 Grand Street 2349 SF closed June $1,750,000 $745 SF

*using 1/2 of the outdoor SF in the price per SF calculations

Special Thanks to Property Shark for the info!

CAR OF THE DAY

How about a Maserati to go with your new Richard Meier's luxury loft?

ARE THERE ENOUGH BUYERS TO GO AROUND?

Josh Barbanel writing for the New York Times has written one of the better articles on exactly what's cookin' with the Manhattan real estate market. Are there more condos being built than there are buyers buying? Why are applications for new projects from developers rising? Who is buying? Are asking prices on new developments negotiable? Are the prices still increasing? Why is there such a bullish view on Manhattan when the rest of the country is wrestling with foreclosures? An extremely insightful article, jump here for the full read.

LEVIEV BOYMELGREEN STILL SHEDDING IN MIAMI

The Miami Herald is reporting today the developer Leviev Boymelgreen (think Spring Street Bank, River Lofts, Philippe Starck buildings in Manhattan and lots of projects going on in Brooklyn, and Las Vegas) has sold the Meridian Center office building in Miami they purchased in 2004. Go here hit business briefs and scroll down for the complete story.

YOUR NEW YORK REAL ESTATE DOLLAR

For this four bedroom home with three decks and a two car heated garage on a little over an acre of wooded land 90 miles from NYC, 12 miles to the train and six miles to the NYS thruway, in Manhattan you can get a third floor walk up studio with no views in a coop building. Wanna know more? Call me.

BASTILLE DAY RALLY SUNDAY JULY 16 NYC

Annual Bastille Day rally starting noon near Grant's Tomb (RDS & 122nd St) hopefully ending up down Fifth Avenue at Washington Square around 6pm. Citroen automobiles, the one pictured here is a mint classic 1970 Citroen, Velosolex motorized bicycles. Jump here for more info.

TRIBECA

12-18 Harrison Street

DADDY KONG

Views from 129 Lafayette.

CLASSIC CARS

1970 Cadillac

SUMMERTIME FUN UPSTATE NY

RECENT CLOSINGS DOWNTOWN: 2 FAMILY & UP

142 Greene St 5 Flrs Office Bldg 51'x110' closed January '06 $27,250,000
420 Broome St 7 Flrs 10 units 100'x134'/136' closed February '06 $20,500,000
600 Washington St 6 Flrs 137 units 200'/99' closed February '06 $74,950,000
552 Hudson St 4 Flrs 36 units 77'x87' closed February '06 $10,750,000
129 Perry St 6 Flrs 24 units 25'x82' closed February '06 $5,250,000 (walk up)
86 Perry St 5 Flrs 10 units 20'x35'/40' closed February '06 $2,000,000
237 W 12th St 3 Flrs 2 units 19'x30'/38' closed March '06 $3,995,000
117 Christopher St 6 Flrs 24 units 25'x77'/92' closed March '06 $6,900,000 (walk up)
256 W 12th St 3 Flrs 6 units 21'x42'/89' closed March '06 $7,300,000
173 Sullivan St 5 Flrs 20 units 25'x75'/100' closed March '06 $3,800,000
35 Spring St 2 Flrs 2 units 19'x32'/59' closed March '06 $2,300,000
112 Eldridge St 6 Flrs 16 units 38/x74'/88' closed March '06 $3,150,000
199 Bowery 12 Flrs 65 units 100'x120'/150' closed March '06 $14,475,000
275 West St 2 Flrs 43'x84'x43' L shape bldg closed March '06 $28,798,500
29 Allen St 5 Flrs 8 units 26'x76'/88' closed April '06 $2,600,000
27 Perry St 3 Flrs 3 units 25'x53'/80' closed May '06 $6,950,000
290 W 12th St 6 Flrs 40 units 50'x104'/120 closed May '06 $9,000,000

All information is from Property Shark and Mighty Map!

Cars of the Day

Been on holiday upstate and there are lots of cool cars just cruising around. I'll post some more along with a little real estate overview up here in Ulster County. Also coming up are recent sales downtown Manhattan that have recently closed.