Real Estate

The 5 ritziest real estate trends for 2015

❶ Flashy light technology

A new light installation at The Schumacher (36 Bleecker St.) spotlights the building’s rebuilt pediment crown.Williams New York

Luxury projects across Manhattan will shine brighter this year thanks to a series of innovative new light installations.

The largest is a flashy LED piece from French lighting designer Thierry Dreyfus, which will be placed along the length of 135 W. 52nd St. this spring.

The project, which gradually brightens and fades, marks Dreyfus’ first major permanent New York City installation. “My will was to make the building breathe calmly, to offer a contrasted energy to the stress of the city by making the light installation appear and disappear as if it were alive,” says Dreyfus. (Units now go from $3.09 million to $8.7 million.)

An illuminated skylight in the lobby of the Thomas Juul-Hansen-designed 505 W. 19th St., below the High Line, spotlights the park’s textured, industrial underside.

Juul-Hansen worked with light-design firm One Lux Studio to brighten the building (units from $3.79 million to $7.8 million).

The library at The Schumacher.Williams New York

And to accentuate the rebuilt pediment at the crown of the seven-story Schumacher at 36 Bleecker St., designers Focus Lighting positioned beams shining toward the tippy top.

This 20-unit condominium will debut this summer (there are five units left and prices start at $9.5 million).

❷ Starchitects go Gotham

Starchitect Zaha Hadid will make her NYC debut with a modernist glass tower adorned with cantilevered balconies at 520 W. 28th St.Related Companies

A flock of celebrated international architects are now dazzling the Manhattan skyline with their first-ever New York City residential projects. Japan’s Tadao Ando, whose honors include the prestigious Pritzker and Kyoto prizes, makes his Gotham debut with 152 Elizabeth St., which will soon launch sales. Half-floor apartments at this seven-unit condominium will start at $5.9 million, with full-floors starting at $15 million.

The Iraqi-born Zaha Hadid — another Pritzker recipient — designed 520 W. 28th St. along the High Line.

Starchitect Zaha Hadid.Courtesy Zaha Hadid

A sinuous glassy tower with cantilevered balconies, its eagerly awaited debut in 2016 will reportedly offer 39 units priced from $4.59 million to $35 million. Meanwhile, Britain’s AIA Award-winning David Chipperfield Architects (known for rebuilding the Neues Museum in Berlin) was tapped to design 16 W. 40th St. (prices not yet available), facing Bryant Park.

And Brazil’s multi-award-winner Isay Weinfeld — beloved for his Fasano Las Piedras Hotel in posh Punta del Este, Uruguay — lends his touch to Jardim at 527 W. 27th St., where sales of the 36 units will also soon begin (prices not yet available). Amenities in this block-through development include a private driveway, landscaped gardens and a private pool.

❸ Exteriors get curvy

Curved glass is one of the hottest real estate trends for 2015, as seen in the rounded facade of the 64-story 50 West Street tower in New York.DBOX.

Great views and exposure to natural light are the ne plus ultra of NYC living. Several upcoming luxury Manhattan projects will sweeten these privileges for lucky buyers via curvy glass exteriors, a design trend that promises wider views and captures daylight through expanded angles.

Each of the 19 units at 10 Sullivan St.boasts oversize curved-glass windows, lending striking views of the downtown panorama. “They’ll get light all day from the east, then overhead to the west,” explains project architect Cary Tamarkin. When it debuts later this year, it will be SoHo’s tallest residential building, with prices from $2.55 million to $25 million (the triplex penthouse will ask $45 million when listed). Lower Manhattan’s 50 West Street, which wraps up construction in 2016, will stand 64 stories, sheathed in a curved-glass facade.

Owners will look through the floor-to-ceiling glass folds of this 191-unit building (priced from $1.83 million to $22.64 million) onto New York Harbor as well as the Hudson and East rivers. Finally, the snaky 93-unit 252 E. 57th St. residences, set to be completed in 2016, was inspired by the iconic, wavy Aalto vase. Sculpted by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the facade’s curved-glass panels bring postcard views, the East River and Central Park among them, and a deep-reaching light to buyers (from $4.19 million to $21.25 million).

❹ City in a city

Paramount Miami Worldcenter will offer hotel, retail and residential options in one large $1 billion package, a prime example of a real estate trend growing world wide.Courtesy Paramount Miami Worldcenter

Adding an extra dose of exclusivity to ritzy urban centers is a new type of luxury development: the city within the city.

A prime example is New York’s $20 billion Hudson Yards. When it’s completed in 2024, this 16-skyscraper complex will include roughly 5,000 residences, cultural space, and a collection of restaurants and shops. Its first residential tower, 15 Hudson Yards, broke ground last month and is set to be completed in 2018 with 385 units.

The $12 billion Battersea Power Station project in London will offer all the amenities of a mini-city, including homes, hotels, luxury shops, restaurants and public gathering spots. Battersea Power Station

Then there’s London’s $12 billion Battersea Power Station project, which will transform a derelict 42-acre site into nearly 4,000 luxe flats and three hotels, as well as shops and public enclaves. Work on its third phase is expected to begin this fall and finish in 2020, with starchitects Frank Gehry and Foster + Partners building 1,305 homes across two projects: Gehry’s Prospect Place and Foster’s Battersea Roof Gardens.

In Honolulu, the 60-acre Ward Village will bring 4,000 units, as well as retail outlets, to the Kaka’ako district over the next decade. Phase one includes two under-construction residential towers; one of those, Anaha, is selling penthouses from $2 million to $14 million.

Lastly, Miami will be home to the $1 billion, 10-block Miami Worldcenter.

The first phase of construction here begins soon and will include hotel, retail and residential components.

Its Paramount residential tower will break ground soon, with 470 luxury apartments (starting at $700,000 for one-bedrooms and $1.4 million for three-bedrooms).

❺ Brazilians are styling Miami

Nature-inspired neutrals at the new 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach project in Miami.Courtesy of 1 Hotel & Homes

While Brazilian buyers have been boosting Miami’s real estate market with pricey purchases, a collection of compatriot architects and interior designers are now adorning luxury developments in the city.

Brazilian architect and interior designer Debora Aguiar.Beto Riginik

Debora Aguiar, known for designing Le Parc Residential resorts in Salvador and Rio, brings nature-inspired neutrals to the 156 residences at 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, opening early this year. (Units begin at $1.5 million and peak above $20 million.)

Neutrals also color the work of São Paulo-born João Armentano at the 13-unit Bath Club Estates in Miami Beach (set for a spring 2016 completion), where he’s designing several residences and common areas.

Those luxe homes are priced from $10 million to $50 million. At the 30-unit Marea in Miami Beach (debuting this summer), Armentano also designed a penthouse asking $7.5 million.

A pool greets denizens of the Shore Club.Handout

Avant-garde Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, meanwhile, is working on the Shore Club in South Beach, a project boasting 100 hotel rooms and 75 condominiums; 13 of these units, which start at $2 million, were reserved by buyers during Art Basel in December.

For the Brazilian cherry on top, the Shore Club’s penthouse features a pop-up gallery curated by Tribeca’s own Espasso, featuring design products from Brazilian legends including Oscar Niemeyer and Sergio Rodrigues, as well as modern makers like Zanini de Zanine and Carlos Motta.

TOP PHOTO: Curved glass is among the shiniest new trends coursing through the luxury real estate scene this year. From a Brazilian design wave in Miami and global starchitects making their Gotham debuts to cities-within-cities rising around the world, 2015 promises to be another record year for residential style and sales. The rounded glass facade at 252 E. 57th St. perfectly captures the mood of the moment in New York City residential architecture. The building’s organic, fluid veneer effortlessly connects the 65-floor tower (from architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) with its views of Central Park. Rendering by Piranha.