Halstead Property

Dan Danielli
Sr. Vice President
Park Avenue Flagship
Tel: (212) 381-3325
ddanielli@halstead.com

Real Estate Living Near Lincoln Center

By Diane Mehta

Manhattan's cultural heart pulses throughout the 60s on the West Side, an area once made famous by the gang rivalry depicted in West Side Story, the Leonard Bernstein-scored musical set in 1950s New York. A massive urban renewal project in the 1960s tore down those tenements to make way for the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, home to many of the world’s top performing arts companies and now celebrating its 50th anniversary with its own architectural transformation.

Buy here and you're buying into a cultural scene, not just a neighborhood. Dan Danielli, a senior vice president at Halstead Property, says there's a higher density of artists and performing artists here than anywhere else in the city, citing Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo, the Metropolitan Opera's general manager Peter Gelb and music director James Levine, pianist Yevgeny Kissin and violinist Itzhak Perlman as residents. Many Europeans, performing artists, conductors, and opera singers who appear at Lincoln Center all claim a pied-à-terre here.

Lincoln Center high-rises tend to be condo developments, built in the last few decades. Visually, that means sleek glass-box apartments. That's exactly what you get at The Element, a sparkling new condo at 555 W. 59th Street with floor-to-ceiling views. Residents in the 186 plush units on 35 floors will find stellar amenities: a glass-enclosed atrium-style pool, whirlpool and kids' pool, saunas, massage treatment rooms and yoga studios, and 12,000 square feet of landscaped outdoor space. Prices start at $1.26 million for a one-bedroom to a penthouse for $5.2 million. For sale at $3.25 million is a 3-bedroom corner unit on the 32nd floor, facing northwest to a view of the George Washington Bridge from the balcony. The curvy interior spans 1,790 square feet, and sports 9 ½ foot ceilings, a kitchen outfitted in Italian cabinetry, a Sub Zero refrigerator and Bosch oven. A similar glass-centric design graces a $3.595 million penthouse at The Copley, a 1985 white-glove tower at 2000 Broadway and 68th Street. The 3-bedroom, 3-bath unit spans 2000 square feet, with dramatic Manhattan views. It too has a pool, gym, and garden. One owner, says Danielli, says it's seven minutes from her apartment to her seat at the Metropolitan Opera.

The area has always been posh, but it once felt more artsy than moneyed. When 15 Central Park West and the monolithic Time Warner Center went up, they raised the profile of the neighborhood considerably – giving it a 21st-century edge. Fifteen Central Park West – one of the most prestigious new addresses in Manhattan – was designed by Robert A. M. Stern, Dean of the Yale School of Architecture. Its 200 units are spread across two towers rising 23 and 44 floors, and it comes loaded with a 14,000-square-foot fitness center, a 75-foot pool illuminated by a skylight, a plush private screening room, a tasteful wood-paneled private library, and 30 private climate-controlled wine rooms and a tasting area. An active group of buyers are Asian and Russian investors, who tend to buy second or third homes here, says Mitchell Speer, a senior vice president at Corcoran. These days, unit prices have softened by 15%. But for sale at $4.6 million is a 1-bedroom with two full granite baths outfitted with Italian-imported Calcutta marble. The apartment overlooks the building's leafy motor court and pool. It spans 1,292 square feet, with 10-foot ceilings throughout, crown molding, and individually controlled thermostats for air-conditioning and heating in each room. A convertible guest area off the kitchen includes a custom-built Murphy bed.

Both buildings have become a magnet for celebrities, notes Vera Jones, vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman, who says Forbes 400 billionaires, rock stars, some of the surviving hedge fund tycoons, Hollywood directors and producers, and celebrities like Ricky Martin, Denzel Washington, and Sting populate the buildings. They don't have to go far to eat. The Time Warner Center is packed with celebrity chef-driven restaurants, including Marc Murphy’s Landmarc, Masa Takayama's Masa, and Thomas Keller's French-American phenomenon Per Se, considered by many to be one of the best restaurants in the world. Nearby is Picholine, famous for its cheese and game; Jean-Georges, haute, Asian-inspiredand French; and Daniel Boulud's Bar Boulud, a bistro across from Lincoln Center. Artsier types congregate at the Italian Café Fiorello's and Café Des Artistes, bedecked with its famed murals of nymph-like women frolicking in the woods.

Living here means it’s just minutes from your door to any of the world’s finest arts venues. The New York Philharmonic, led by the inimitable Lorin Maazel and soon his successor Alan Gilbert, makes its home at Avery Fisher Hall, and at the Metropolitan Opera you'll hear the greatest voices of the world and see some of the most theatrical and cutting-edge productions. The American Ballet Theatre is in residence at the Met in June and July. At the David H. Koch Theater, the New York City Opera performs, as well as the New York City Ballet. The newest addition is "Jazz at Lincoln Center" – located in the Time Warner Center – run by jazz impresario Wynton Marsalis. The Vivian Beaumont Theater stages plays and musicals – right now the critically acclaimed revival of South Pacific is playing, and the Mitzi Newhouse Theater offers lively seasons of off-Broadway style productions. The Walter Reade Theater screens indie, foreign, and classic films by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. And of course, the summer standards: the Lincoln Center Festival and Mostly Mozart. What a world to wake up to.

Thursday, June 18, 2009