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Townhouses stage comeback after more than 100 years

Construction of the multi-floor homes at highest rate since the Gilded Age

From left: Abby Hamlin, One Morton Square and the Superior Ink building
From left: Abby Hamlin, One Morton Square and the Superior Ink building

New-build townhouses are back.

In the post-recession boom, an increasing number of developers are working new-build townhouses into their master plans. This is particularly true for developer Abby Hamlin, who is working on townhouses in a section of the St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral School at 34 Prince Street.

“New townhouses are absolutely desirable once again,” she told the New York Post.

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Her project follows Hamlin Ventures’ State Street master plan, which included 23 townhouses on a Brooklyn city block between State and Schermerhorn streets. The first 14 townhouses there were finished in 2007 sold out at an average of $2.6 million per home. The second phase was completed in 2014, when the homes went for an average of $3.5 million each.

The addition of ground-up townhouses in Brooklyn and Manhattan is happening at a rate not seen since the late 19th century.

A number of other townhouse developments from a few years back can be seen across the city. In 2004, One Morton Square opened with 283 units and six townhouses, one of which is still available for $9 million. In 2009, starchitect Robert A.M. Stern put seven serviced townhouses at the base of his 53-unit Superior Ink building on West 12th and Bethune streets. [NYP] — Claire Moses

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