Madison Square

The Wall Street Journal Greater New York * NY REAL ESTATE RESIDENTIAL * OCTOBER 8, 2010 North of Madison Square Is Starting to Gel By SHELLY BANJO The name won't show up on any real-estate website's search buttons and it can't be found on the map, but signs that NoMad, the area North of Madison Square Park, is hitting its stride are hard to ignore. With the new Gansevoort Hotel on Park Avenue... [more]

The Wall Street Journal Greater New York * NY REAL ESTATE RESIDENTIAL * OCTOBER 8, 2010 North of Madison Square Is Starting to Gel By SHELLY BANJO The name won't show up on any real-estate website's search buttons and it can't be found on the map, but signs that NoMad, the area North of Madison Square Park, is hitting its stride are hard to ignore. With the new Gansevoort Hotel on Park Avenue South and 29th Street, and Eataly, a 50,000-square-foot Italian megastore, both opening this fall, this "un-neighborhood"—as Corcoran Group agent Shakti C'Ganti puts it—is experiencing a renaissance after years of being a no-man's land sandwiched between the Flatiron, Gramercy and Murray Hill districts. "What neighborhood is this?" jokes Antonio Rappazzo, the general manager at nearby bistro Almond, who moved to an apartment on Madison Avenue and 30th Street with his wife Michaela and two children about a year ago. The couple was drawn to the location because of its proximity to the subways, their work and, of course, Madison Square Park. "You're close to everything but you're not in Murray Hill or Midtown. It feels a bit more grown up, a bit richer," Mr. Rappazzo says. Sitting with their kids in the park recently, Ms. Rappazzo says the nascent neighborhood, which brokers say covers 23rd to 30th streets and Fifth to Lexington avenues, is still a work in progress. "What it really needs is a grocery store and some good places—like coffee shops—to hang out," she says. "But two new hair salons just opened, so there are signs that it's happening." Like Union Square's plight years ago, Madison Square Park not more than a decade ago was a place people walked around—not through. Nearby corridors were filled with wholesale hawkers selling rugs, perfume and luggage. "All the buildings were full with rugs and antiques," says Sarkis Vardanian, national sales manager at Megerian, a rug dealer on Fifth Avenue for more than 25 years. "As rent skyrocketed, rug dealers couldn't afford to stay here and many of them went to New Jersey." After a two-year capital restoration project, the park was rededicated in 2001 and the Madison Square Park Conservancy, now one of the richest nonprofits in the city, was formed. Restaurateur Danny Meyer's Shake Shack moved in and the conservancy began hosting artists and cultural events, such as this month's outdoor market. The market, which showcases food from nearby restaurants, gifts and crafts, runs through Oct. 23. Piggybacking on the park's success, business owners in 2006 formed the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership, a business improvement district. Then, developer Andrew Zobler and Alex Calderwood of the Ace Hotel Group came into the micro-neighborhood—in a big way. Two years ago, they acquired the old Breslin hotel on 29th Street and Broadway and turned it into the 260-room Ace Hotel. The lobby's free Wi-Fi and next-door coffee shop, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, attracts tourists and locals alike during the day. When dusk falls, the lobby bar turns into an upscale lounge. In February, the group added a retail component with souvenir shop No. 8a and Opening Ceremony, a design and gift shop. To create an entire experience around the hotel, they brought in chef April Bloomfield and restaurateur Ken Friedman, who built out a complex that includes the Breslin, a tavern-style eatery that opened last year. This month the John Dory Oyster Bar opens. "Our first thought was no way are we going to be pioneers again," says Mr. Friedman, referring to his failed restaurant along the High Line that closed last year. "We started to wander around and see that there are all these young designers, architects, tech companies and there was really no where for them to go…this [neighborhood] is kind of like a secret." Real-estate developers caught on and up went high-rise residential buildings such as the Sky House and Twenty9th Park Madison on 29th Street, adding hundreds of units to the area. Since 2006, nearly 1,000 units have been sold in the area and the price per square foot has risen by 20% to $1,232, according to Corcoran. Following suit was the 20-story Gansevoort Hotel, which opened to much fanfare last month. It features several bars and Ristorante Asellina. which will open this fall. It also will have ground-floor retail space for Lacoste. However, Eataly, cofounded by Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and his mother, Lidia, "is what's cemented the neighborhood," says Marc Glosserman, owner of nearby Hill Country Barbecue and Hill Country Chicken, which opened on Broadway and 25th Street last month. "Forget about a destination, NoMad is transforming into what will become the next Meatpacking District in 10 years." —Melanie Grayce West contributed to this article. Write to Shelly Banjo at shelly.banjo@wsj.com [less]