299 West 12th Street - Greenwich Village

SOLD & CLOSED - DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN

460 W Broadway $3.85 mil 2039 sf closed 3/07 $1888 per sf
311 Greenwich St $679k 700 sf closed 3/07 $970 per sf
120 Greenwich St $755k 771 sf closed 3/07 $979 per sf
505 Greenwich St $1.235 mil 979 sf closed 3/07 $1262 per sf
82 Beaver St $975k 1024 sf closed 2/07 $952 per sf
53 N Moore $2.15 mil 1740 sf closed 2/07 $1236 per sf
255 Hudson $1.925 mil 1533 sf closed 2/07 $1256 per sf
27 Leonard St $1.953 mil 1636 sf closed 3/07 $1194 per sf
302 W 12th St $1.125 mil 597 sf closed 3/07 $1878 per sf
175 W 12th St $500k 440 sf closed 3/07 $1136 per sf
165 Charles St $6.092 mil 2487 sf closed 2/07 $2450 per sf
92 Warren St $2.3 mil 2019 sf closed 3/07 $1139 per sf
299 W 12th St $1.275 mil 755 sf closed 3/07 $1689 per sf
88 Laight St $2.176 mil 1762 sf closed3/07 $1235 per sf
173 Perry St $3.8 mil 1853 sf closed 3/07 $2051 per sf

All information provided by Property Shark

MARIANNE CUSATO - NEW YORKER CONFERENCE

Kudos to the New Yorker Magazine, they're bringing in Marianne Cusato, recipient of The People's Design Award for the Katrina Cottage. Designed as a dignified alternative to the FEMA trailer the cottage is a small, safe, affordable, permanent house that can be assembled quickly. See the floor plan above. The key word here is dignified. A nest of these look much more like a living village than a bunch of FEMA trailers! Although originally designed for Katrina victims, let me take advantage and say what a nice little weekend country getaway for those still waiting for their first million! Buy a few acres of land near a stream put this up and soak up a bit of heaven and sanctuary from the chaos of the city when needed! Go to New Yorker Conference 2012 for details on a day and two nights of "new ideas and forward thinking" presented by the New Yorker Magazine (and BTW David Byrne is also on their speaker list!) And for more info on the brilliant Marianne Cusato - Cusato Cottages.

MANHATTAN MARKET REPORT 1997-2006

Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel Appraisers in Manhattan (and the only one who counts really) has just published the Manhattan Market Report 1997-2006. This is a gold mine of numbers, data tables and graphs charting the Manhattan housing market over the last ten years using the sales from 6,400 condos and coops. If you want to know the nuts and bolts of Manhattan real estate over the past decade go here.

TODD MERRILL ANTIQUES

Got to add Todd Merrill's store to our "Hot Stuff" links. Specializing in a glamourous and eclectic mix of American and European designer furnishings from the 1920s-1980s. Take a look at his streaming video and you will see stuff that will have you kickin' dust to get to his store (if you can afford)! I die for the Poco Rabanne space curtain! Merrill's 4000 sf store is on the ground floor of the Bayard-Condict Building at 65 Bleecker Street (at Crosby Street), New York's only building by esteemed architect Louis Sullivan.

SOLD & CLOSED - DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN

Photo of Morton Square

130 Fulton St $2.6 mil 2794 SF closed 3/07 $931 per SF
15 Charles St $575k 461 SF closed 3/07 $1247 per SF
275 Greenwich St $720k 752 SF closed 2/07 $958 per SF
1 Morton Sq $1.87 mil 1160 SF closed 2/07 $1612 per SF
1 Morton Sq $2,032,150 1543 SF closed 3/07 $1317 per SF

Thank you to Property Shark

VIEWS FROM 15 BROAD

ARCHITECTURE FOR WEEKEND HIDEAWAYS

This Appalachian Mountain House situated in Dillard, GA was designed and built in 2001, the creative output of Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam Architects, Inc. It's 1000 square feet with another 1000 square feet of open deck. The architects call it an inside-outside place. Jump here for the full scoop.

THE POWERHOUSE LIC

Want to see some really cool visuals? Go to The Powerhouse Condominium and click on construction progress then 'view our updated construction progress gallery.' You get a snippet of the construction process and what the construction workers are looking at on a clear day! Those lofts are going to have some awesome views!

UNION SQUARE VIEW

SOLD & CLOSED - DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN

1 Morton Sq $2.65 mil 1736 SF closed 2/07 $1527 per SF
124 Hudson $2.45 mil 2057 SF closed 2/07 $1191 per SF
62 Beach St $2.45 mil 1528 SF closed 2/07 $1603 per SF
44 E 12th St $980k 984 SF closed 2/07 $1000 per SF
421 Hudson $855k 755 SF closed 2/07 $1122 per SF
138 Reade St $2.95 mil 2237 SF closed 1/07 1319 per SF
9 Murray St $2.2 mil 2272 SF closed 1/07 968 per SF

All information from Property Shark

FLORIDA PROPERTY TAXES = ZERO?

According to Mark Zilbert of the Zilbert Realty Group, the Florida government has property tax reform at the top of their agenda. They expect an initiative to pass next year reforming the property tax code and to pay for it the general sales tax would increase by 2-2.5%.

The proposal is that if you own a residence in Florida and it is your primary residence your tax bill would be ZERO. If you have a Florida residence as a second home or a commercial proeprty, the taxes would be rolled back to the 2000-2001 levels, with future increases limited.

To get the full scoop go to www.nomorepropertytax.com and read on.