Curbed
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Real estate, Urban design, Media |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founder | Lockhart Steele |
| Fate | Merged into New York magazine digital division (2020) |
Area served | United States |
| Parent | Vox Media (since 2013), New York magazine (since 2020) |
Curbed is a U.S.-based website focusing on real estate and urban design, published under the umbrella of New York magazine. Initially launched in 2006 by Lockhart Steele as a blog dedicated to New York City's real estate scene, it broadened its scope by 2010 to feature dedicated sections for various real estate markets throughout the United States. Steele once characterized Curbed.com as an "Architectural Digest after a three-martini lunch". The platform also organized an annual Curbed Cup competition to determine the top neighborhood in each featured city.
In November 2013, the Curbed Network—comprising Curbed, the culinary website Eater, and the fashion-focused Racked—was purchased by Vox Media. The acquisition was reportedly valued between $20 million and $30 million. Among its contributors, Curbed critic Alexandra Lange earned a New York Press Club award in 2018 for her urban design reportage.
Curbed developed localized editions covering cities such as Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.. Nevertheless, due to extensive layoffs and organizational changes within venture-backed media companies, compounded by effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of these local editions were discontinued by 2020, leaving only the New York City version operational.
By October 2020, Curbed was merged into the digital division of New York magazine, with a renewed focus on topics related to New York City's architecture, built environment, design, real estate, and urbanism. Prominent contributors include Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Justin Davidson and design journalist Wendy Goodman.