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dimondpark
Nov 6, 2007, 3:15 AM
These are the most expensive residential blocks of 10 US Cities according to Forbes.com

In alphabetical Order
Boston
Louisburg Square
A private square in the middle of Beacon Hill--Boston's most exclusive neighborhood--this block has long been home to the most expensive homes in the city. Enclosed by a wrought-iron fence, oriented around a central lawn and flanked by statues of Columbus and Aristides the Just, the Greek revival townhouses are larger than anything else found in the area. The square has been home to famous Bostonians from Louisa May Alcott in the 19th century to Sen. John Kerry today.

Chicago
Between Willow, Armitage, Burling and Orchard
Not exactly along the Gold Coast or part of old Chicago, as it's normally defined, this block was once a sleepy enclave of modest-sized Victorian houses. However, zoning laws, which allow for buyers to combine lots, has lead to a construction explosion. Old Chicago families like the Pritzkers, Parillos and Stars are buying up as many as seven lots in the area and combining them in order to build sprawling urban mansions.

Dallas
Turtle Creek Boulevard, South of Lovers Lane
Dallas' most expensive block is a bit of an anomaly. Ask most Dallas residents the location of the city's most expensive block and most will pick some part of Beverly Drive, near the Dallas Country Club. That section of Highland Park may be the most expensive neighborhood in Big D, but the most expensive block is north in University Park on Turtle Creek Boulevard, south of Lovers Lane, where the values are slightly higher than Beverly Drive, something local brokers credit to the larger lots.

Houston
Willowick Road and Knollwood Street, South of the River Oaks Country Club
The River Oaks section of Houston is without a doubt the most expensive in the city. This is one case where the numbers we ran from real estate research company Reply! conflicted with local knowledge. Based on our calculations, the section of Willowick and Knollwood on the River Oaks country club had the most valuable properties, but multiple local brokers insisted the small diagonal stretch of Lazy Lane between Inwood and Kirby had the most expensive houses.

Los Angeles
Carolwood Drive, Where It Meets Hanover Drive, West of Angelo Drive
Just above Sunset Boulevard and smack dab between the Bel Air Country Club and the Los Angeles Country Club, this section of Los Angeles is difficult to define as blocks due to the fact that it's filled with windy roads lined with big houses. One note: The property values are higher in nearby Beverly Hills, but since Beverly Hills is technically a separate city from Los Angeles, it was not included in our calculations.

Miami
Leucadendra Drive, North of Arvida Parkway
A small island loop and home to the pricey Gable Estates, this address is the priciest in Miami. Like Los Angeles with Beverly Hills, high-priced Miami real estate is overshadowed by Miami Beach real estate, where beachfront condos command unreal amounts of money without raising an eyebrow, like the one at the Setai Hotel currently under contract for $24 million

New York City
Between Madison Avenue, Fifth Avenue, 70th Street and 69th Street
The Upper East Side zip code is the most expensive in Manhattan, so it makes sense it should contain the city's most expensive block. This particular one is directly on Central Park next door to the Frick Collection, which bounds it to the north. The most expensive homes on the block are the panoramic park-view apartments on Fifth Avenue that look across the park and downtown.

San Francisco
Broadway Between Vallejo, Lyon and Broderick
There is no doubt that the end of Broadway--where it runs into the Presidio--hosts San Francisco's biggest homes. With the elevation to see over the bay and to downtown, these homes are massive in a city where space is at a premium. The mega-mansions on this billionaire's row are home to Gordon Getty, Larry Ellison and Peter Sperlings. The exclusive fraternity has some openings, however. 2845 Broadway is listed for $65 million and 2901 Broadway asks $55 million.

Seattle
Lake Washington Boulevard Between East Denny Laine Place and Howell Place
Situated on the city's Lake Washington beachfront, homes on this stretch of Lake Washington Boulevard have views across the lake as well as panoramas of Mount Rainier. Three miles from downtown and a quarter-mile from the prestigious Seattle Tennis Club, the block has some of the largest houses in the city. It shares the lake with Mercer Island and Medina Washington, the high-priced enclaves that is home to billionaires Paul Allen and Bill Gates.

Washington, D.C.
Woodland Drive NW Between McGill Terrace and Rock Creek Park
Most people associate Washington D.C. wealth with the historic Colonial townhouses that fill the cobblestone streets of Georgetown. While those homes command top dollar, they are on small lots and as a result don't cost as much as the massive homes in the backyard of the Naval Observatory near Rock Creek Park.

The full story click below..
http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/30/most-expensive-blocks-forbeslife-cx_mw_0831blocks.html

Quixote
Nov 6, 2007, 3:24 AM
Pacific Palisades might be more expensive than Bel Air.

ctman987
Nov 6, 2007, 3:42 AM
Very intersting. Was just over by what is apparently NYC's most expensive residential block. Would be curious to find out how exactly they come out with which block is the most expensive considering the Upper East Side alone is home to dozens of expensive blocks

Crawford
Nov 6, 2007, 4:49 AM
Very intersting. Was just over by what is apparently NYC's most expensive residential block. Would be curious to find out how exactly they come out with which block is the most expensive considering the Upper East Side alone is home to dozens of expensive blocks

Are we talking townhouses or apartment buildings? I would hesitate to compare fancy coops (which usually require all cash and zero financing) with townhouses (which can be bought like conventional real estate). The fact that exclusive coops are comparatively difficult to finance and the accompanying coop interview/approval process makes it an apples to oranges comparison.

I think if you asked most Upper East Siders and brokers in the know, they would say the most expensive townhouse block is East 70th betwen Park and Lexington (two blocks east of the block cited in the article). This block is known as having the best homes in Manhattan.

For coops, Park Avenue is generally a little more exclusive than Fifth Avenue. The best part of Park Avenue is in the low and mid 70's. The best coop building in NYC is 740 Park Avenue. It is basically impossible to get into unless you are already in a certain short list of people. Price has little to do with its exclusivity. Its residents have included Rockefellers, Kennedys, Chryslers, Vanderbilts, heads of Revlon, Time Warner, Blackstone, Standard Oil, Pepsi, etc.

There's an interesting book on the building called 740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building. http://www.mgross.com/books/740-park/ I found it enjoyable.

Rufus
Nov 6, 2007, 5:00 AM
Los Angeles
Carolwood Drive, Where It Meets Hanover Drive, West of Angelo Drive
Just above Sunset Boulevard and smack dab between the Bel Air Country Club and the Los Angeles Country Club, this section of Los Angeles is difficult to define as blocks due to the fact that it's filled with windy roads lined with big houses. One note: The property values are higher in nearby Beverly Hills, but since Beverly Hills is technically a separate city from Los Angeles, it was not included in our calculations.

Somehow I don't think the writer meant that the roads regularly experience wind.

BTinSF
Nov 6, 2007, 5:16 AM
Are we talking townhouses or apartment buildings? I would hesitate to compare fancy coops (which usually require all cash and zero financing) with townhouses (which can be bought like conventional real estate). The fact that exclusive coops are comparatively difficult to finance and the accompanying coop interview/approval process makes it an apples to oranges comparison.




In this price range, I doubt anybody finances. What would you think if Larry Ellison walked into a bank and asked for a loan to buy a house?

BTinSF
Nov 6, 2007, 5:23 AM
[B]San Francisco
2901 Broadway asks $55 million.



http://photos.gmacreco.com/MLSListings/140/Full/322933.1.jpghttp://photos.gmacreco.com/MLSListings/140/Full/322933.2.jpg

and I'm not sure if these 2 cars come with the house, but they should (the VW is obviously for driving around SF):

http://photos.gmacreco.com/MLSListings/140/Full/322933.18.jpg
Source: http://www.trulia.com/property/1040558684-2901-Broadway-San-Francisco-CA-94115

Saddle Man
Nov 6, 2007, 5:36 AM
Very wealthy people will still finance a home if there's a low loan rate compared to high interest earned in another area. Happens all the time.

forumly_chgoman
Nov 6, 2007, 8:22 AM
^^^Yeah its esentially a hedge

dimondpark
Nov 6, 2007, 12:25 PM
BT,
I always loved that house, so elegant. There was an article in the Chronicle on this block a few years back. Apparently back then, the median net worth of the households on the 2800 block of B'way was $800 Million-now its probably a bit higher...there's something like 7 billionaires who live there. Imagine what their block parties must be like.:cheers:

BTinSF
Nov 6, 2007, 5:03 PM
Very wealthy people will still finance a home if there's a low loan rate compared to high interest earned in another area. Happens all the time.

Although I suspect you are confusing the "pretty wealthy" with the Larry Ellisons the article is talking about--and you don't have to tell me about playing this game because I play it myself (I could pay off my mortgage but I don't because I earn more on the money than I'm paying for it)--the point nevetheless was made that you couldn't compare condos and coops because one couldn't be financed and I am quite certain none of these folks fail to live where they want and buy the property they want because of the need for a loan.

10023
Nov 6, 2007, 5:59 PM
Agree with above. Obviously people buying a $5 million house use leverage (a mortgage) to lower their cost of capital, even if they can afford $5 million in cash. I just don't think banks issue $20 or $30 million mortgages, period.

LivingIn622
Nov 6, 2007, 8:44 PM
are all of those blocks in the city limits or some in the suburbs?

dimondpark
Nov 6, 2007, 9:20 PM
are all of those blocks in the city limits or some in the suburbs?

all within city limits.

brickell
Nov 6, 2007, 10:14 PM
Miami's is actually in Coral Gables, a suburb. It's strange in that they mention not including Miami Beach because it's a separate municipality, but then they still can't get it right.

The most expensive in City of Miami limits is probably Brickell Ave south of the Rickenbacker aka Millionaires Row. Stallone and Madonna had homes there at one point.

Via Chicago
Nov 6, 2007, 10:35 PM
this is the article that ran in the Tribune a while back in regards to the mansions popping up in Chicago

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-061006gianthousesmain-story,1,163700.htmlstory?coll=chi-news-hed

Mammoth mansions rise in Lincoln Park as Chicago's wealthiest parade their bankrolls

By Susan Chandler | Tribune staff reporter
October 7, 2006

Penny Pritzker's Mansion rises like a modernist fortress on the 1800 block of North Orchard Street in Lincoln Park. A rectangular slab of tobacco-colored stucco stacked between two boxes of glass, it is eye-stopping and in sharp contrast to the quaint collection of Victorian houses a few doors on either side. Some neighbors complain it looks like a Hyatt hotel, a snide reference to the international lodging chain that is the centerpiece of the Pritzker clan's $15 billion fortune. Others think it is better suited to the IIT campus, which is a virtual shrine to the architecture of the modernist giant Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Still others liken it to a contemporary art museum and say it is just plain ugly. But the stark style isn't the only thing that rankles them. It's the overwhelming size of the place. Still under construction, the mansion and its side yard take up five city lots, making its frontage the width of half a football field.

Across the street, another mansion is equally imposing and stylized, but very different. Now receiving its finishing touches, it could be described as a Normandy stone cottage on steroids. Its rustic facade looms three stories above the sidewalk, and the house fills nearly every inch of its three-lot site....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-061006gianthousessidebar-story,1,6747233.htmlstory?coll=chi-news-hed
Exercises in isolationism

Blair Kamin | Tribune architecture critic
October 7, 2006

I don't typically take aim at houses. But I have no problem going after the mega-mansions that have invaded Burling, Orchard and Howe Streets south of Armitage Avenue. They're not purely personal matters, like most houses. They're turning what was a vibrant urban neighborhood into a collection of bloated, physically isolated, suburban-style manses.

Let's give the houses their financial due: Most cities would kill to have billionaires and multi-millionaires putting down this kind of change instead of fleeing to the 'burbs. Besides raising property values and the tax base, the homes present an undeniable sign that this part of Chicago is highly desirable. It's just that they're killing off the architectural style and urban substance that once made this area so attractive...



personally, i dont entirely agree with Blair. these modern day mansions are just as out of place with their surroundings as their predecessors were. with that said, i find most of them disgusting.

jboy560
Nov 7, 2007, 2:26 AM
does anybody have any pictures of those chicago mansions going up?

Cirrus
Nov 7, 2007, 3:40 AM
Here is the DC block. It's exceptionally close-in to have detached houses. Probably the closest clump to downtown that exists. Connecticut Avenue is the street running along the top of the image, Rock Creek Park is the triangle of wooded area in the lower right, and the Naval Observatory (where the Vice President lives) is just off-screen to the lower left.

For your neighborhood bearings, this would be immediately north of Georgetown and immediately south of Woodley Park.

http://beyonddc.com/images/photos/dc/DCsRichestBlock.jpg

Via Chicago
Nov 7, 2007, 8:14 PM
does anybody have any pictures of those chicago mansions going up?

these are some of the photos that ran with the article:

http://lynnbecker.com/repeat/Orchard/pritzker.jpg

http://lynnbecker.com/repeat/Orchard/star.jpg

http://lynnbecker.com/repeat/Orchard/20060527-18946-orchardwith.jpg

http://lynnbecker.com/repeat/Orchard/20060527orchardclassical.jpg


found this on Flickr:

http://flickr.com/photos/40142450@N00/356329469/
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/124/356329469_a45f355a19.jpg?v=0

VivaLFuego
Nov 7, 2007, 8:30 PM
does anybody have any pictures of those chicago mansions going up?

here's one:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1322/1482956295_ee4e3dbcb9_o.jpg
some more:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1166/1483811916_8770bb1368_o.jpg
These are all even gaudier in person.

10023
Nov 7, 2007, 9:10 PM
Who builds a villa with a Spanish tile roof and outdoor piazza in the middle of Lincoln Park?

Marcu
Nov 7, 2007, 9:28 PM
^ Those are much more tasteful than a typical suburban mcmansion.

BnaBreaker
Nov 7, 2007, 9:30 PM
That Chi neighborhood is just immaculate.

Dr. Taco
Nov 7, 2007, 9:49 PM
I'm pretty sure these are expensive "blocks". They are basically movie star artificial islands between Miami and Miami Beach. I got the pleasure of exploring their neighborhood one night last january.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/jstush04/islands.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/jstush04/island.jpg


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/jstush04/george.jpg

^ I believe George Clooney lives in that giant one on the left side of the photo. or at least, thats what his security guard said


Others who own homes on these islands include Sean Combs, Gloria Estefan, some golfer, and... others. can't really remember. long time ago. But we were on the "cheap" island. Star Island has even bigger, more expensive mansions. But I remember George Clooney having about 10 million dollars worth of cars all showcased in his front courtyard. it was pretty sick :tup:

VivaLFuego
Nov 7, 2007, 10:01 PM
^ Those are much more tasteful than a typical suburban mcmansion.

This is generally true, but it doesn't mean it isnt gaudy. Though, their higher-quality look I think results from the much greater amount of money spent on finishes and facade details, as opposed to a sense of "taste".