under a million

A Kips Bay One-Bedroom With Brownstone Charm for $595,000

The working fireplace featured in this listing photo is just one of many nice details found in this Kips Bay one bedroom. Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Core Group Marketing

For under a million dollars, one can find all sorts of housing configurations: park- and subway-adjacent studios, one-bedrooms hidden in carriage houses or former shoe factories, and even the occasional true two-bedroom. We’re combing the market for particularly spacious, nicely renovated, or otherwise worth-a-look apartments at various six-digit price points. 

This week is all about Manhattan living and high-ish monthlies. Don’t quit your job!

A two-bedroom in Sutton Place for $765,000

50 Sutton Place South #9L

The (virtually staged) living room in this listing photo shows off how spacious it is. Photo: Douglas Elliman Real Estate

This true two-bedroom with a huge living room and two walk-in closets is quite a deal. (A few floors up, a two-bed with an almost identical layout and the same square footage is asking more than a million.) The views are mostly of other buildings, but the listing notes that you do get partial glimpses of the East River, tastefully described as “OBLIQUE RIVER VIEWS.” Get ready to pony up in monthlies, though — the maintenance is $3,114. That does include a gym, bike room, and full-time doorman.

A Greenwich Village studio for $525,000

160 Bleecker Street #10MW

The queen-size Murphy bed is hidden in the built-ins featured in this listing photo. Photo: Sothebys International Realty

A functional studio in the Atrium with a nice layout, but no bed nook. (There’s a queen Murphy bed hidden in the custom built-ins.) But it’s top-floor living, and it’s Greenwich Village. Lots of light and unobstructed views. No footsteps upstairs at weird hours. Monthlies are decent at just over a $1,000. A place for a buyer with a little whimsy, maybe?

A one-bedroom in Kips Bay for $595,000

324 East 30th Street #4

You’ll have to decide whether or not you want to rip up the wall-to-wall carpeting shown in the listing photo of this Kips Bay one-bedroom. Photo: Core Group Marketing

This is one of the midtown blocks that you could easily mistake for Park Slope if you, I don’t know, had a flower pot fall on your head. But it’s pretty. This floor-through townhouse co-op has a lot of cute details, like the working brick fireplace and the skylights in the kitchen and bathroom. The appliances need updating and you might want to rip up the carpet (though the shade is very now and I think as a culture we’ve gone the wrong way on wall-to-wall), but it’s spacious enough for a home office. The monthlies are high, at $2,754, but the listing notes that once the ground-floor space is sold or leased, it should drop below $2,000.

A Murray Hill two-bedroom for $899,000

55 Park Avenue #8EAST

The listing photo for this prewar Murray Hill two-bedroom features another working fireplace. Photo: Brown Harris Stevens

Another co-op with a working fireplace, this prewar unit has preserved a lot of nice details, such as the herringbone floors and beamed ceilings. The primary is big enough for a king-size bed, and the second bedroom can fit a queen. The kitchen has brand-new stainless-steel appliances, but the cabinets are begging to be changed out. The same layout a few floors down sold for more just last year. Same layout a few floors up is listed for nearly $50,000 more. Again, high monthlies of $3,380 — but at least your mail is hand-delivered to your door and you can tell everyone you live on Park Avenue.

A Kips Bay One-Bedroom With Brownstone Charm for $595,000