But a lot of people think it will, and it makes sense that it will, just because of where it's located."Spanish Harlem (otherwise known as El Barrio) is located between the East river and Central Park, between 100th and 125th St. It's a slow process though."That area's just not as gentrified - there are a lot more beggars. There's limited space in New York, but I can definitely see it happening in Spanish Harlem, just because Harlem is no longer cheap. However, plans to complete the new Second Ave subway have spurred new development in East Harlem," says Simonsen.She adds: "Prices in Harlem are getting so high now, that there always has to be that next step. This area has been slower to catch up due to the poorer transport links on the East Side, but now looks set for a similar invasion. "Parts of the East Side corridor have been hampered by the existence of just one Subway line, as opposed to several lines serving the West Side. "One of Harlem's prototypical developments are purchasers of four-six unit properties who rehab the apartments, retaining one or two for their own personal use, and selling the rest as condominiums at substantial profit.
"Brownstone town houses can be anything up to 500,000 sq ft, depending on the width. In lots, people buy a whole one, and just split it into two duplexes."Regeneration of these recognised Harlem hotspots such as Sugar Hill, Central Park North and Strivers Row, has meant that despite scope for still considerable profit, the onus has shifted to newer territories for larger investment gains: namely Spanish Harlem. This structure enables an enterprising purchaser to recoup his own costs and continue owning and living in the property," says Goldschmidt.Simonsen is also witnessing similar activity. Before it was much more the haves and have-nots at 96th St; that was your cut off It's not like that any more. In Harlem there's so many luxury condominiums that have gone up just even in the last year, and continue to go up, particularly on Central Park North. That's a super hot spot, but there are a lot of new developments also."You're looking at $800 a square foot now, and it used to be $200-300, maybe even less Brownstones are going for $1.6m or more. There's just a lot of people I think who previously would have had to move out of the city, now looking to Harlem as an alternative.
It's getting pricier admittedly, but you can actually buy a house, whereas that's usually the price of an average two-bed condo downtown. That's a big difference - a house or a two-bed condo!" Indeed, the price of a town house in Greenwich Village alone ranges from $5m-12m.These areas are also offering lucrative opportunities for buy-to-let investors. I didn't want to look at my clothes, so I planned a walk-in dressing room.I like cooking, so the heart of the house is the kitchen and all my sofas. I tend to relax at the kitchen table and eat with friends, or I lounge on one of the many sofas and read or watch TV. On Sundays, the surrounding industry is quiet and the whole place cools down, so its good day to chill out.Space is the ultimate luxury and it means you can let furniture define the space.
The bathroom is off the kitchen and has a huge free-standing bath, which I bought from Loot for £70 It had been left to rust in someone's garden I painted it black It looks really sharp now.Furniture tends to find me. I don't tend to play it much, as I'm embarrassingly bad and the walls are too thin.Since I started the furniture design company, Showroom Dummies, with Brigitte Stepputtis, who also works as the head of couture for Vivienne Westwood, and Bob Pain, a print specialist, the house is even more full of furniture. My friends managed to lift it up the stairs and then presented it to me with a glass of champagne on the top and a book of It's a Wonderful Life. Since I have a big space, people give me things that no longer fit into their lives or homes.
On my 30th birthday my friends bought me a surprise present of a Challen baby grand piano, which now lies in the hallway. Now, I love the fact that this space is so close to the river.When Ethel, my Staffordshire terrier and I moved in six years ago, we had to do just about everything from rewiring the electricity to constructing new walls, and putting in new plumbing. One of the most time-consuming tasks was scraping, burning, and sanding the bitumen from the floor to reveal the maplewood boards underneath. I had great help from a good friend of mine, Dean Whatmuff, who kept on top of the whole project, making sure things were being done on time, ordering materials and keeping people on the right track.It took a long time to raise the money to renovate the place. I held an auction of my work and other artists and had a proper auctioneer from Sotheby's. I bought a lot of stuff secondhand and helped with whatever decorating we could do.It took about two months to transform it from a leaking shell stuffed to the ceiling with rubbish into a pretty swanky space. I think I have made the most of what was here by revealing lots of original detail like tiles, reconstituting the industrial kitchen gear and fixing the floorboards.The building was formerly a factory for Burberry, and my kitchen was their canteen, so there were many things to be moved.My interior style is quite grand but homely, eclectic - and not at all flashy.I had a gut-feeling about the corner I would like to sleep in, so that immediately became my bedroom.From my bed, I can hear the birds singing and the river flowing.I designed the "lightning" wallpaper behind my bed, and the venetian mirrored chest was a gift from another artist many years ago Apart from that I don't have much else in my bedroom.