The three-floor penthouse at 500 Walnut in Philadelphia’s prestigious Society Hill neighborhood has been listed for $31 million, making it the most expensive residence in the city’s history. (Rumors have circulated that Beyoncé and Jay-Z are interested.)
For that price, buyers get 8,400 square feet of interior space, including three bedrooms, four full baths, a formal dining room, and a sculptural spiral staircase to a private glass solarium. Outside, private terraces offer a gas firepit and an outdoor kitchen, plus gorgeous views of Independence Hall and the Delaware River.
It’s not the only record 500 Walnut has set: The slender 26-story glass-and-marble tower, designed by architects Cecil Baker + Partners, has closed more sales over $7 million than all other residential buildings in Philadelphia combined.
A mural designed by Karlssonwilker at the Max in New York City.
KarlssonwilkerArt
A One-of-a-Kind Mural Takes Shape in NYC
What do you do with a luxury building that looks out onto the Department of Sanitation’s garbage truck depot? If you’re TF Cornerstone, the developer of the Max, a 1,000-unit luxury rental property in Hell’s Kitchen, you tap cutting-edge designers to create the largest outdoor mural in New York City.
Karlssonwilker’s Hjalti Karlsson and Jan Wilker have designed an airy cloudscape that mimics the area’s natural skyline, interwoven with poems that celebrate the neighborhood’s culture and history.
“We wanted to have an interactive element,” says Karlsson. “Not just give you this grand piece of painted wall, but something that will reveal itself over time and allow you to experience it in different ways from different angles.” To that end, each apartment with a view of the mural comes with a pair of binoculars, and a telescope has been installed in the courtyard.
In the News
Home Prices Soar on the Upper West
New York City’s depressed real estate market had at least one bright spot in 2020: The Upper West Side saw the biggest increase in median home sale prices, according to Property Shark’s report on the 100 most expensive ZIP codes.
Median prices for 10069, sandwiched between 59th and 72nd Streets, rose 42{a38ddb2ded6b05e28c8ae73a8db0e271c21f7193684bd9e4e28acae292f81d99} from last year to $2,725,000. That surge, the largest in the nation, was fueled by luxury condo sales at Waterline Square, a new three-tower development from Richard Meier & Partners, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, and Rafael Viñoly.
Overall, though, the picture was bleak: For the first time in the report’s five-year history, not a single New York City ZIP code cracked the top 10.
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