Real estate in gateway cities has always sold at a premium, but in the last decade, the gap between top-tier cities and the rest of the world has widened considerably.
In London, the average price per square foot for luxury apartments has more than doubled since 2006. And in New York, prices are up by more than 50 percent in that same time, according to data from the company Knight Frank.
On the flip side, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index, which measures …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
Manhattan development has decidedly grown to huge proportions during the current construction craze.
Overall, developers here have more than 64 million square feet of residential development in the works, comprised of over 440 projects and an astounding 47,285 units, according to The Real Deal magazine’s analysis of building permits and offering plans filed between Jan. 1, 2011 and July 31, 2015. If there was any doubt that Manhattan is where the big dogs play, the volume of construction here bested …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
Between 1800 and early 1900, Roosevelt Island — named after FDR — was just a little stretch of land with eight city hospitals, a workhouse and a jail (“Boss Tweed” was among the notorious prisoners). The 1970s brought a wave of residential development.
Today, the two-mile long island in the East River has a community of 14,000 residents (20% increase from 2010) who mostly live in high-rise rental buildings. Roosevelt Island is known for its green space, beautiful views of …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
Coral Gables (city of Miami-Dade), known for its affluence and Mediterranean look, will be getting a new look. This summer, after three years of intensive review and revision, Coral Gables commissioners approved the biggest single development. The tallest and largest in the city’s 90-year history — the Mediterranean Village at Ponce Circle, comprising more than one million square feet of hotel, condos and shopping layered into 6.7 acres of long-vacant land three blocks south of the Mile on Ponce de …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
It is hot on New York City streets. For many of us, relief is found on the rooftops. Today’s rooftop terraces, particularly those in new development buildings, are growing increasingly bigger and swankier, sporting everything from designer furniture, commissioned artwork to pools and spas. Here are some interesting numbers regarding new roof top projects:
71 Number of permits projected to be filed in 2015 with the Department of Buildings containing the words “roof deck.”
13,000 square footage of outdoor exhibition …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
Buyers from out of town aren’t just snapping up Miami’s prime real estate, they’re also changing the way developers build, the Miami Herald reports. As more out-of-towners decide they want to put down roots in South Florida rather than simply buy investment properties for the rental market, they’re asking for bigger, better, more expensive designs. For example, units equipped with quarters for a nanny or maid; guest suites for visiting relatives and friends; and high-tech security with biometric identification.
Those …
by Riccardo Ravasini