And things are getting better with each new building. The Laguna, the latest to open, features a sleek design that would be equally at home in Williamsburg or South Beach. It's built right to the sidewalk with shops all around, and like the rest of Newport's newest towers, it will surround a park, Newport Green.



As a sign of the area's growing popularity, all 158 units were rented in less than six months last summer and fall, with some two bedrooms going for as much as $4,000 a month.



"It's still a better deal than Manhattan, but it's not cheap," says Mario Gaztambide, LeFrak's vice president for residential "People love Newport, and they want to call it home."