Soho is one of Manhattans archetypal 20th century gentrification stories.

As has been well documented, the neighborhood which stretches south of Houston Street to Canal Street and is bounded by West Broadway to the west and Lafayette Street to the east went from being a haven for artists in the 1960s and 1970s to one of the citys priciest neighborhoods, where loft spaces were particularly prized.

At the end of 2004, The Real Deal reported that the average price of an apartment in Soho had reached $1.56 million, up from $417,000 a decade earlier. By 2006, the neighborhood, along with Tribeca, had the highest average rents in the city.

Owing to zoning and landmark restrictions, there wasnt a great deal of new development in Soho during the condo boom of mid-2000s. One of the most notable and controversial projects was the 46-story Trump Soho, a condo-hotel where prices eclipsed $8.7 million as early as summer of 2011.

The neighborhood has also become known for its many retail offerings: On Broadway, large retailers such as H&M and Aldo have increasingly occupied storefronts, while on side streets many high-end independent boutiques have set up shop.

-GB