Square footage has always been at a premium in New York City, and recent years have shown Manhattan apartments growing larger. The average size of apartments sold in Manhattan has increased 23 percent since 2003, growing from an average of 1,105 square feet to 1,363 square feet so far this year.
The shift was especially pronounced after the pandemic, when apartment sizes jumped seven percent since 2020, years after buyers spent months working, learning, exercising, and relaxing from home. Sold apartment sizes increased all over Manhattan for the most part, though apartments on the Upper West Side and in Downtown neighborhoods saw the biggest change in the average size over the past two years.
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Additionally, the share of larger unit types has steadily increased over the past two decades. Some new luxury developments only offer studio or one-bedroom homes as staff or guest quarters, if they are included at all, and CityRealty data shows that two-beds and larger account for 52 percent of Manhattan apartment purchases, the highest share on record.
The desire for more space and privacy has emerged in a number of ways. It is not unheard of for some buyers to combine two or more apartments into one large home while a building is under construction; it's usually easier this way, but that doesn't deter some who want a larger home in a beloved building.
Boutique condominiums with only one or two apartments per floor have grown popular, and some luxury buildings devote their uppermost levels to full-floor or multi-level units (see Residence #113, the floor-through apartment at Central Park Tower that had Manhattan's top sale last week). But for some buyers, single-family townhouses offer the ultimate in space, privacy, luxury, and status.
It is important to note that going from an apartment to a townhouse can be a bit of a learning curve. Chores like taking out the trash and shoveling the walk that might have fallen to building management are now the responsibility of the homeowner, and a completely different methodology is used to calculate a townhouse's property value than an apartment's, which will lead to variations in assessed tax value. But for some buyers, it's all worth it to have a large trophy property with several floors of rooms, at least a small private backyard, lower tax rates (thank New York City's lopsided property tax system for that), no in-building neighbors to complain about noise, and the freedom to transform their home without the approval of a co-op or condo board.
But while board approval isn't required to make changes to a townhouse, Landmarks Preservation Commission approval is essential if the house is located in a historic district. A case in point is 11 Hubert Street, a post-war garage and office building in the Tribeca West Historic District that has been marketed as a vacant development site with two sets of Landmarks-approved plans for a single-family mansion with amenities that would not be out of place in a luxury multi-family building.
A plan by acclaimed architect Maya Lin proposed a townhouse with a double-height garage, a full-floor primary suite with his-and-hers baths, a half-Olympic swimming pool, a half-basketball court, a home theater with stadium seating, a home gym and spa with hot tub, cold plunge, sauna, and steam room, a wine cellar, and a house manager's suite. A plan by Eric Cobb Architects called for a house with a double-height living room leading to a private courtyard, a chef's kitchen with pizza oven, a full-floor primary suite with adjacent workspace, an NBA-sized half basketball court, and a commercial-grade gym with a cryotherapy chamber.
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However, neither of those plans came to fruition. Public records show that the property sold for $17.4 million in August 2025, netting the LLC-identified seller a small loss, having bought it for just under $20 million in October 2018. Less than a year later, the buyer, listed in public records as RIL USA Inc., was back before Landmarks, this time with new plans by SPAN Architecture. A floor plan included in the presentation calls for a single-family house with a second-floor terrace, a roof terrace, and a basement-level private pool.
Rather than a demolition and replacement with a glassy new house, this new design calls for re-cladding the building in a new red Roman brick facade, replacing existing windows and installing new ones, building a rooftop addition, and installing rooftop mechanical equipment, including an elevator bulkhead.
Landmarks found that the existing building did not contribute to the historic district, appreciated that the proposed recladding recalls historic materials and relates well to the historic district, and approved the plan.
Below, we look at a selection of townhouses for sale in coveted Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods.
Chauncey + Lewis, #TH (AGUAYO & ASSOCIATES INC)
146 Diamond Street, #TH (Compass)
210 East 52nd Street, #TH (Leslie J Garfield & Co Inc)
41 Wolcott Street, #TH (Realty Collective LLC)
240 West 123rd Street, #TERRA
$3,150,000 (-18.6%)
Harlem | Condominium | 4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths | 2,156 ft2
240 West 123rd Street, #TERRA (Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales LLC)
The Pearl Townhome, #PH
$3,475,000 (-3.3%)
Broadway Corridor | Condominium | 4 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths | 3,675 ft2
The Pearl Townhome, #PH (Douglas Elliman Real Estate)
Williamsburg Townhouses, #TH10
$3,590,000 (-5.3%)
Williamsburg | Condominium | 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths | 1,934 ft2
Williamsburg Townhouses, #TH10 (Corcoran Group)
85 Calyer Street, #TH (Daniel Gale of Brooklyn LLC)
172 North 6th Street, #TH
$7,495,000 (-6%)
Williamsburg | Townhouse | 4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths | 4,000 ft2
172 North 6th Street, #TH (Corcoran Group)
175 Clinton Street, #TH (Corcoran Group)
145 Reade Street, #TH (Bespoke Real Estate LLC)
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