10 Most Expensive Blocks in the U.S.
Forbes.com has generated a list of the most expensive blocks in 10 affluent cities across the country. They are:
1. Boston, Louisburg Square: A private square in the middle of Beacon Hill, Boston’s most exclusive neighborhood. The block has long been home to the most expensive homes in the city.
2. Chicago, between Willow, Howe, Burling, and Orchard: A once middle-class area that, due to zoning changes, has seen the rise of mega-mansions.
3. New York City, between Madison Avenue, Fifth Avenue, 70th St., and 69th Street: This Upper East Side zip code is the most expensive in Manhattan, so it makes sense it should contain the city’s most expensive block.
4. Dallas, Turtle Creek Boulevard, south of Lover’s Lane: Most would pick Highland Park as the most expensive, but the winner is north of that, in University Park, where values are higher than Beverly Drive due to large lots.
5. Houston, Willowick Road and Knollwood Street, south of the River Oaks Country Club: Local real estate professionals disagreed with this assessment and say Lazy Lane was the priciest.
6. Los Angeles, where Carolwood Drive meets Hanover Dr., west of Angeles Drive: This hot neighborhood is just above Sunset Boulevard and nestled between the Bel Air Country Club and the Los Angeles Country Club.
7. San Francisco, Broadway between Vallejo, Lyon, and Broderick: With the elevation to see the Bay and downtown, these homes are massive in a city where space is at a premium. To give you an idea of the cost: 2845 Broadway is listed for $65 million and 2901 Broadway is going for $55 million.
8. Seattle, Lake Washington Boulevard between East Denny Laine Place and Howell Place: Situated on the city’s Lake Washington beachfront, homes on this stretch of Lake Washington Boulevard have views across the lake as well as panoramas of Mount Rainier.
9. Miami, Leucadendra Drive, north of Arvida Parkway: A small island loop and home to the pricey Gable Estates, this address is the priciest in Miami, but Miami is overshadowed by Miami Beach, where beachfront condos command awe-inspiring prices.
10. Washington, D.C., Woodland Drive, N.W., between McGill Terrace and Rock Creek Park: The massive homes in the backyard of the Naval Observatory near Rock Creek Park out-price the Colonial townhomes in Georgetown.
The magazine worked with California-based data provider Reply! to map the 100 most expensive properties in each city and then measured home values and the concentration of high-priced home values in each particular cluster. The rankings were based on property records, tax records, and an algorithm that calculates a market value for a home based on neighborhood trends, to effectively measure homes that haven’t been appraised or sold recently.
Forbes then confirmed the data findings with real estate professionals in each city to see if the data findings reflected their experience in the upper echelon of the real estate market.
Source: Forbes.com, Matt Woolsey (08/31/07)
