real estate market beat
clockwise from left: the kitchen of a unit at 34 West 13th Street; living area of a unit at 34 West 13th Street 66 West 11th Street
downtown’s gold coast Text by michael ewing
to its end on the northern side of the park.
“Greenwich Village has always been known as the
“The gentrification we live amongst was already
Mecca of the art scene, where many talented musicians,
It is hard to imagine that the Washington Square Arch,
in full swing by 2004,” remarks Robin Stein, working
actors and writers began their careers. The population
which draws its influence from the Arc de Triomphe
alongside Jeremy Stein on the Stein Team of Sotheby’s
and neighborhood as a whole have experienced
in France and has become an iconic symbol for both
International Realty. “But over the last 10 years, we’ve
immense changes with the construction of many high-
Greenwich Village and New York University, was defaced
seen a filling in of the gaps.”
end condominiums, making it one of New York’s most
with graffiti and vandalism 30 years ago. The sweeping
“That stretch along Seventh Avenue, which was once
expensive zip codes,” adds Emily Beare, a broker at
changes that revitalized New York in the early 1990s
a bit unappealing with ambulances idling, will soon be
Core. “However, the community still remains very strong
cleaned off and polished its glistening Tuckahoe marble
a very sought-after stretch,” continues Stein. “This sort
in trying to preserve its identity of being a free-living and
hue and transformed the neighborhood. The area around
of sums up a facet of change in the Village: an unsightly
liberal area.”
the monument and Washington Square Park is referred
hospital, which served the entire neighborhood, along
to as the Gold Coast for its Greek Revival townhouses,
with many neighboring ones, is being replaced with high-
the decadent condominiums along Waverly Place and
end housing, marking a change for the better for anyone
the last bit of Fifth Avenue that runs from Union Square
looking for a great apartment to buy.”
With Great Art Comes Great Housing Pricing is steep, with a simple two-bedroom along lower Fifth Avenue hovering in the $2.5 million range, Stein
34 West 13th Street photos courtesy of Sotheby's International Realty; 66 West 11th Street photos by Evan Joseph
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