From Hudson Yards to Hell’s Kitchen: I wanted to own a place and stop wasting money on rent

When the rent rose for Gaia Trocchia’s Hudson Yard studio, she decided she’d had enough. She searched the city for a place to buy and landed in nearby Hell’s Kitchen in a building with a pool and roof deck. Here’s Gaia’s story as told to Kelly Kreth.

I was born in Rome, Italy. I moved to New York City in 2018 for an internship and initially lived on Manhattan’s West Side. I had a studio apartment and the rent was $2,900 to start and then went up to $3,090 post-pandemic.

There weren’t any amenities aside from an elevator. We only had a laundry area in the basement that was used by the whole building. I was on the fifth floor.

But the location was convenient, just five minutes away from the subway station and five minutes from where Hudson Yards was being built. But there was usually garbage on my street and it wasn’t pleasant to walk there.

Of course, the area has changed a lot since I moved here. The addition of Hudson Yards and the transformation of the High Line has made the area more upscale.

[Editor's note: “Transitions” features first-person accounts of what it’s like to move from one NYC neighborhood to another. Have a story to share? Drop us an email. We respect all requests for anonymity.]

I am the e-commerce content and digital shelf manager at Lavazza North America and work Downtown. My commute wasn’t bad; I would get the train at Penn Station and get off at Wall Street.

The best part of living close to Hudson Yards is being near the Vessel, the High Line, and being able to spend time in the mall, especially when the weather is bad. I enjoyed working out at Equinox, which has a view of the Vessel. All of the restaurants in the Shops at Hudson Yards are good, but I tend to head to Chelsea and Soho for dining options.

Why she decided to move

I opted to move last spring when my lease was up for renewal and my rent was going up. Instead of renting somewhere else, I decided to buy. If I had done this sooner, I would have saved at least $200,000.

I enlisted a friend who works in real estate, Matteo Rignanese, an agent at R New York, to find me a place with a doorman, gym, roof deck for under $950,000.

We looked at apartments for a month. Every weekend, we would view at least three or four apartments. Matteo had me see apartments in different parts of Manhattan to give me more options for my budget.

The buying process was pretty smooth, thanks to Matteo and my lawyer, but it was a headache to pull all the financial documents together. We were able to finalize the process in a month.

What she likes about her place

I now have a 683-square-foot studio with big living room windows on the sixth floor of 547 West 47th Street, a luxury condo building completed in 2022. Initially, I was looking for a one bedroom, but this studio is bigger than the one bedrooms I saw during my search. And it was under my budget; similar studios in the building are priced at $885,000.

The apartment has a washer/dryer in the unit, which feels like a miracle for a Manhattan rental. And if I need dry cleaning, the building has partnered with a laundry service that picks up and delivers directly to the building. It’s super convenient.

The building has great amenities, like a 24/7 doorman, well-equipped gym with outdoor space, roof deck with barbecues, recreational areas, and outdoor pool, dog park, storage and spaces you can rent for working and entertaining. There's even a reservable guest suite in the building but you need to book this well in advance.

I love the gym—it’s the space I use the most. I also love that we can rent the amenity spaces like the catering kitchen and private dining room to host dinner parties and events instead of hosting in my apartment.

The staff who work in the building are nice and always available to help with anything, and for someone whose family lives abroad, this sense of community and support is important.

How she finds the neighborhood

This part of Hell’s Kitchen area is clean and nice. One of the best bakeries, Sullivan Street Bakery, is just two minutes away from the building. Some of my go-to dining spots are Norma and 5 Napkin Burger.

There is a park and soccer field just a 15-minute walk away, and there’s a Solidcore location about 15 minutes from me as well. Central Park is also just 10 streets up, so about a 20-minute walk.

It’s not even really a dislike, but the only pain point I can think of is that the subway isn’t as close to me as before.

I commute two days a week and it takes about 40 minutes since my office is on Wall Street. I take the 1 train at 50th Street and transfer at Times Square for the express train. I could also take the A or C trains.

My family visits me at least four times a year, which is great, and my friends are here practically every other weekend. When the weather is nice, we usually gather on the roof deck.

I will definitely stay in this building as long as I continue working here in NYC.

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