50 PERCENT SOLD AT 26 WEST 127TH STREET CONDO

Harlem Bespoke: A new press kit has announced that the development called 26 West 127th Street, a new boutique ground-up condo development, has reached 50% sold in just 10 weeks despite the traditionally slow summer sales season as buyers look for value, more space and more privacy.  We took the above photos doing a preview in June before sales officially launched for the season. 

ARCHITECURAL DETAILS AT 2171 FREDERICK DOUGLASS

Harlem Bespoke: We noticed over the summer that the side of 2171 Frederick Douglass Boulevard had just been revealed an that there was some design detailing in the brickwork which makes the straightforward box just a little bit more interesting.  We mentioned previously that the development started up about 4 years ago and the building is finally finishing up.

CONSTRUCTION: 282 WEST 132ND STREET

Harlem Bespoke: One of the empty lots that has been in the neighborhood for as long as we can remember will finally have something built up at the corner location on Frederick Douglass Boulevard.

FIRST LOOK: 26 WEST 127TH STREET CONDOMINIUM

Harlem Bespoke: We have not had a new condo walk through since early 2020 right before the pandemic started but now had the opportunity to get a look at the model one-bedroom apartment at the newly constructed 26 West 127th Street condominiums located just east of Lenox Avenue.  The boutique brick and glass development only has 12 units but the floor to ceiling window really maximizes the indoor space within along with the additional outdoor space from the nicely appointed balconies on the upper floors. 

NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE STATUE AT NEW BUILDING

Harlem Bespoke: The iconic statue at the front of the National Black Theatre just north of 125th Street at Fifth Avenue was removed right before the building was fully demolished last year and that left some questions on the public work of art's fate.  Everything on the block was gone by end of 2021 and now a recent rendering on the plywood reveals that the statue will be restored to the same location within a brand new theater space.

DEMOLITION: 164-168 WEST 136TH STREET

Harlem Bespoke: We were hopeful for the future of the pair of brownstones at 164-168 West 136th Street just west of Adam Clayton Powell when the townhouses sold back in 2015 but a full restoration never quite happened.  Plywood fences when up in 2017 but then nothing happened until earlier in the year as the lower photo reveals.  Everything was demolished since there was no landmark protection for this historic block and a poster out front now reveals what will be arriving in the not too distant future. 

CONSTRUCTION: 2371 FREDERICK DOUGLASS BLVD

Harlem Bespoke: We never thougth to see the day when the empty lot on Frederick Douglass just north of 127th Street would finally be filled in but that is definitely starting to happen now.  There was an abandoned 6-story tenement building on site that was demolished back in 2012 so it has been about 10 years since any activity has taken place.  Apparently the foundation is currently being worked on and there was a rendering on the plywood out front. 

QUESTION: MORE DEVELOPMENT AT 655 ST. NICHOLAS?

Harlem Bespoke:  We have been taking photos of the development plans by Harlem School of the Arts for a decade now and remember when a huge 111 unit residential building was proposed next door at a massive lot that used to have an old garage building on it.  The lot was even staged as a set for West Side Story recently in a scene that depicts the Puerto Rican neighborhood being taken over by rampant development.  So what did eventually happen here?

REMEMBER: A GAS STATION AT 110TH AND FDB

Harlem Bespoke:  HB is uptown's longest running blog with the most original photos that we take ourselves daily and have been recording all the big changes in the neighborhood for over a decade now.  One of the dramatic points of transformation have been at local gas stations which used to be quite abundant up until recent years.

UPDATE: FIFTY PERCENT SOLD AT ELEVEN HANCOCK

Harlem Bespoke: A press release announced recently that Eleven Hancock by St. Nicholas Avenue and 125th Street is now 50 percent sold. This cantilevered new development has some of the more dramatic architectural details to be found in the uptown condominium market and almost half the units include outdoor space.  New York City DOB has granted the development its Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) and closings are set to begin immediately with first move-ins set for this summer.  More on Eleven Hancock can be found in our past post: LINK

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ARCHITECTURE: ARCHES AT 300 WEST 122ND STREET

Harlem Bespoke:  The last time we checked on 300 West 122nd Street in February, the top floors had all been concealed but now have been revealed.  We walked by the new construction running along St. Nicholas Avenue this week and noted that contrasting arches make up the windows on the upper floor.  Newer buildings in the neighborhood have been more bold with the design details in recent years and window elements are definitely one of the major trends to happening uptown.  More on 300 West can be found in our past post: LINK

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GREEN HARLEM: DELIVERY BY URBAN GARDEN CENTER

Harlem Bespoke:  Uptown gardeners looking for blooming trees or larger plants should check out Urban Garden Center on Park Avenue by 116th Street since they will make a deliver.  Harlem has a lot of brownstone green spaces or terraces on newer buildings and this is the time of year to get more dramatic gardening started.  Get more details on the official website: UrbanGardenNyc.com 

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READ: MANHATTAN OUTPACES BROOKLYN SALES

Harlem Bespoke:  There has been so much written on the state of the housing market over the past year and it appears now that sales are picking up because of lower prices.  An article in The Read Deal this week mentions that the glut of stock and lower prices have increased signed contracts this year by 31 percent in Manhattan as compared to last January 2020 and that is almost double to the 17 percent Brooklyn increase now on record.  Pricing for homes were down 6.2 percent in Manhattan and 5.4 percent in Brooklyn on average.  Manhattan has always been the bellwether for the market and has recently been touted as not doing so well compared to Brooklyn but the picture appears to be different in the new year.  More details in the Real Deal post: LINK

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CONSTRUCTION: NEW HEIGHTS AT 300 WEST 122ND

Harlem Bespoke: The new construction at 300 West 122nd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue has been going up for the past couple of year now but should finish up in the coming months.  An international pandemic slowed things down quite a bit last year but now only the top levels need to be completed.  Grey brick appears to be a trend we have been noticing for some time and it actually is a decent neutral to compliment the neighborhood.  Once everything is complete on the outside, the finishes within usually take less time to install and the condo market should be in pretty good shape by then.  More on the development can be found in our past post: LINK

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ARCHITECTURE: STEEL FRAME WINDOWS ON 125TH

Harlem Bespoke: An update to those boring solid glass buildings popping up all over the city has a little history behind it.  Industrial factory-style steel frame windows are old school but now appear to be the designer choice for modern developments like the ones recently installed at Eleven Hancock on 125th Street by St. Nicholas Avenue.  These might be one of the first example to found in Harlem but a few more renderings have been reviewed on other new construction in the neighborhood that will highlight the unique architectural detail. Check out our past post for more on Eleven Hancock: LINK

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CONSTRUCTION: FACADE REVEAL AT 300 WEST 122ND

Harlem Bespoke: The new construction at 300 West 122nd Street started rising on St. Nicholas Avenue less than a year ago but facade finishes have now recently been revealed.  The 13-story residential building has been mostly covered by scaffolding and netting since summer but now everything is starting to come down. There appears to be modern nod to prewar details here and the development should fit in nicely with the surrounding historic architecture when all is complete.  More on this address can be found in our past post: LINK

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CONSTRUCTION: PASSIVE HOUSING ON WEST 126TH

Harlem Bespoke: We walked by the passive housing development at 11 West 126th Street recently to see if anything had happened since construction stalled over a couple of years ago.  As can be seen from the above photos, not much has changed and the energy efficient building by Fifth Avenue that uses minimal amounts of electricity for cooling or heating is still in limbo.  It also appears that no new DOB permits have been filed since 2017 and maybe it would be better off to sell everything to a another developer at this point.  To learn more about passive homes, check out our past post on this more sustainable living alternative: LINK

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READ: CONDO AND CO-OP SALES 2020

Harlem Bespoke: Real estate offices will be opening again on Monday and some might wonder what is currently happening with home sales this year.  According to Habitat magazine, the first half of 2020 saw a 23 percent drop of condo and co-op sales compared to last year but the average sales price actually increased by 2 percent.  Median closing prices across the city average out at $685K and more listings are expected to arrive on the market within the coming weeks.  With all that said, quite a few new developments are finishing up in the neighborhood so the second half of this year should be very active for uptown.  More details can be found on the Habitat site: LINK

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READ: THE BIRD DEATH TRAP OF CENTRAL PARK?

Harlem Bespoke:  One of the more random headlines in the news recently is that Circa at Central Park North and 110th Street is some sort of death trap for migrating birds.  Apparently a couple of dozen birds die each day by flying into the glassy new construction at the corner of Frederick Douglass Circle by 8th Avenue.  Buildings evidently can treat the windows with ultraviolet film to prevent this from happening so maybe there is some sort of solution going forward.  We also noted that the article is calling this area the Upper West Side but anyone in the neighborhood will tell you that it is Harlem since Frederick Douglass is looking right at the structure.  More details in the Post: LINK

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CONSTRUCTION: PLANS FOR PATHMARK REVEALED

Harlem Bespoke: We took a walk by the old Pathmark supermarket on East 125th Street and Lexington this past weekend to see if any changes were afoot to the site that sold in a big development deal back in 2014 for $39 million.  Demolition was supposed to happen 4 years ago and reportedly new permits have recently been filed for the mix-used 9-story construction right by the only subway entrance currently on the east side.   Now a rendering has been released for everything that has been planned but it is unclear if all will work out this time around.