In This Week’s Edition:

If there was any lingering question about how New York’s luxury buyers would react to Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win, last week delivered a clear answer: confidence, not retreat.

Olshan Realty’s latest report, which tracks the city’s $4M+ residential market, posted one of its strongest weeks of the year immediately following the election. Forty-one contracts were signed in the five days after November 4th, marking the first 40-plus contract week since May and extending a month-long streak of elevated activity.

What stands out most is the timing. More than half of those contracts (24 in total), were signed between November 5th and November 9th, directly after Mamdani’s victory. For all the speculation and headlines predicting hesitation from high-net-worth buyers, the data shows the opposite.

As Olshan’s team wrote, “Despite all the handwringing, 24 of the 41 contracts were signed in the days after his victory.” In other words, the luxury segment did not pause. It accelerated.

This aligns with what we continue to see on the ground. New York’s upper market moves on fundamentals such as quality product, scarcity, global demand, and long-term value — not political noise. And while narratives fluctuate, buyer behavior rarely does. The city’s affluent buyers adapt quickly, act decisively, and continue to invest in a market that remains one of the most resilient and desirable in the world.

For those watching for hesitation, last week offered something very different: strength, depth of demand, and a reminder that New York’s luxury market has a way of cutting through the noise.

Tribeca’s skyline is evolving once again, and one of its transformations is now underway.

101 Franklin Street, a 16-story office-to-residential conversion designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects and developed by TPG, Cannon Hill Capital Partners, and Skylight Real Estate Partners, is poised to redefine a historic corner of the neighborhood.

Formerly home to the NYC Human Resources Administration, this 79-year-old structure is being completely reimagined into luxury condominiums. The design preserves the building’s industrial heritage while introducing expansive glass façades, landscaped terraces, and luminous interiors that open the building to light and air in a way its original architects could have only imagined.

While updated renderings and timelines remain forthcoming, the project represents a continuation of Tribeca’s long history of reinvention, where legacy architecture and contemporary design coexist in harmony.

In a neighborhood that has long balanced artistry and refinement, 101 Franklin is one to watch.

To appreciate where the city is heading, it’ helps to remember how dramatically it has already changed. The Upper West Side in 1879 looked like a different world.

From past to future: the Upper West Side may now be on the verge of another dramatic shift.

A quiet but monumental shift may be coming to the Upper West Side skyline. A site once home to the former ABC campus on Columbus Avenue is now positioned to become one of Manhattan’s tallest residential towers, potentially rising to 1,200 feet, nearly the height of the Empire State Building.

And the most striking part? It can be built as of right, with no community approval required.

The Zoning Carve Out No One Paid Attention To

In 2022, the developer Extell purchased the ABC campus assemblage for roughly 1 billion dollars, a number that initially raised eyebrows. But buried in the site’s history is the reason it was worth every penny.

Back in the 1990s, when the city was trying to attract ABC Studios to build here, it made an unusual move: it excluded this block from the Lincoln Square Special District, giving it unique zoning flexibility, including no height restriction.

That carve out still exists today.

Since acquiring the main campus, Extell also secured additional air rights from neighboring buildings, giving them clear zoning capacity for a super-tall tower.

What Makes This Unusual

The project is as of right with no ULURP and no community approval process. The site is not in a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) zone, meaning no affordable units will be required. At approximately 1,200 feet, it would become the tallest building ever built on the Upper West Side, and one of the tallest residential towers in the city.

In a neighborhood that has historically pushed back against height and density, the scale is unprecedented.

A Legacy of Precedent

Controversial towers are not new to the neighborhood. The nearby 200 Amsterdam, at roughly half the height of what Extell is planning, spent years in court over its air rights assembly before being upheld in 2021. That ruling effectively strengthened the legal pathway for new large-scale developments in the area.

Compared to the complexity of 200 Amsterdam’s zoning puzzle, Extell’s plan is far more straightforward: a clean assemblage, a billion dollar investment, and a zoning envelope that gives them full control.

What This Means for the Upper West Side

Unless the city rewrites zoning codes or a new legal challenge emerges, this tower is well positioned to move forward and to dramatically redefine the Upper West Side skyline.

A project of this scale will mark one of the most significant changes the Upper West Side has seen in decades.

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