Sting rents a upper floor apartment in West Chelsea luxury building

The late Dame Zaha Hadid designed 520 West 28th street, is now home to Sting and his wife Trudy Styler. The Related building features a 75 foot sky-lit pool, spa, 24 hour juice bar and robotic parking. The West Chelsea building has 30 units and it appears that it is nearly sold out. Closings began mid 2017 with 6 apartments showing available on streeteasy from just over $5 million to $16 million. Two apartments are for rent- one for $15,750 and one for $26,000.

 

This swimming pool in 520 West 28th street where Sting and Trudy Styler have just rented an apartment.

NBC coverage

Listings in 520 W 28th street

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

How does a rent stabilized tenant affect a Manhattan townhouse’s value?

In an ideal setting,  a Manhattan townhouse will be delivered vacant and sold to a buyer who can convert it to a single family mansion, condos or a rental building. However, when a Manhattan building is conveyed with a rent stabilized tenant or a few rent stabilized tenants, then the buyer pool will narrow but it still has tremendous value. The factors that impact the value will be size of the apartment, likelihood of accepting a buyout, and what percentage of square footage, the RS tenants occupy within the building. The calculation of value is going to be based on the net operating income.(NOI). The NOI and cap rate will dictate the value, but the upside which the buyer/investor will evaluate will have to do the likelihood that the tenant might be bought out now or in the near future, the age of the tenant, and how likely they might have immediate family who will succeed them within the apartment.

For example, on a recent tour of Upper west side townhouses with an investor we looked a one building that was asking $5.4 million with 6 units 2 of which were rent stabilized. Within the same neighborhood, a 7 unit building was asking nearly $1 million more with all free market tenants. Both were both offered at an approximate 3% cap rate.

Now what happens when the majority or all of the building is occupied by rent stabilized tenants and the cap rate is extremely low or the income is not even covering the expenses, now you will see an even more narrow pool of buyers whose expectations for a discount go up as the rents paid by the tenants goes down as does the likelihood of a buyout. In this situation, a more thorough analysis based on current market conditions will need to be done by a Manhattan real estate broker experienced in the transfer of townhouses and multifamily properties.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

 

Thinking of selling your Manhattan brownstone without a certificate of occupancy?

If you are thinking of selling your Manhattan townhouse one of the first things you should verify is your certificate of occupancy. A certificate of occupancy tells a prospective buyer what the legal use is. The challenge is that the certificate of occupancy rules came about in 1938 and many homes were built before that. As a result, you may have a building without a certificate of occupancy. Department of Buildings site  Go to the DOB site and enter the address of the property then click on certificate of occupancy link. Many properties will not have a certificate of occupancy on file. In some cases the CofO may contradict the actual use. Consult with your lawyer and architect and your real estate broker to see what would be required to modify the CofO and if it can be sold without bringing the C of O inline with the actual use.

If there isn’t a CofO on file then it may get even more complicated. Consult with your attorney/architect to see what the DOB records indicate. Sometimes, it can be confusing due to different NYC agencies classifying your Harlem townhouse as different usages. Recently, I met a homeowner who said his building was “registered” as a 4 family with the City. Upon initial research he was being taxed as a 4 family by the NYC Department of Finance but his CofO says 3 family home. If your CofO says 3 family, you have a 3 family.

As always, this blog is intended for informational purposes and not as a substitute for legal advice so please consult your attorney. Your real estate broker can normally recommend an attorney for you who specializes in real estate and hopefully can shed some light on any CofO issues that you might have. Additionally, an experienced, Manhattan townhouse broker can advise you  on what is customary as far as paper work and what would cost you money in terms of marketability.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

 

 

Recent closed Upper West side townhouse sales

15-17 West 94th street– Two interconnected townhouses on a Park block which offering a mixture of free market and rent stabilized tenants were sold for a total of $9.6 million. The buildings were 18′ wide each and about 70 feet deep. This properties will be ideal for a conversion to condos or maybe a large mansion. The purchaser was Dikran Properties LLC. The sale closed 1/30/18.

42 West 94th street- Also located in the Upper west side/Central Park west historic district, this legal 8 unit townhouse had a mixture of free market and rent stabilized tenants. The 17 by 52 built townhouse sold for $4.35 million and closed 1/17/18. The purchaser was listed as 42 West 94th, Inc.

Both of these properties appeared to have changed hands in off market transactions though they were previously listed by real estate brokers.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

Manhattan luxury residential market keeps momentum going

There were 26 contracts signed last week at $4 million and up according to the Olshan Realty’s weekly report. The most expensive was a co-op on Fifth avenue that was asking $20 million. This is an especially good week considering the recent snowstorms and that it was Easter week.

The Real Deal coverage

How is VR affecting the real estate industry?

Virtual reality and augmented reality are very slowly starting to enter the real estate brokerage business. In some new developments you can take a VR tour when a building is in the pre-construction phase. More often than not, a model apartment is created so that the buyer can see, and feel the touches of a new luxury apartment in Manhattan. Real estate brokerages and agents tend to be slow adopters of new technology however and as a result, very few listings even ones in the luxury and super luxury market have a VR tour which does not require technology like a viewer. You can tour the property just like you use google maps navigating through in the way that you would like. Very few listings even have a video tour. I would estimate 5-10% of all listings. Take a look at an example below of a VR tour and a video tour. One photographer said he felt that VR was a fad. I am not sure I agree as I think it is a tool that allows property to be truly showcased 24/7 and the buyer can zoom in on the details that they want to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.