I have been in the real estate industry first as a licensed agent and as a broker since 1999. I have sold in every Manhattan neighborhood though do work a lot on the Upper west side where I live and upper Manhattan. I speak French,Portuguese, and Spanish.
In New York City, outdoor spaces are coveted and as a result at a premium. In some new developments, outdoor space is priced at nearly the price of interior square footage. Typically in the cold months which used to be November through April here in Manhattan, outdoor spaces get neglected and not used. In Manhattan’s Park West Village on the Upper West side, many apartments have terraces which lay barren during the winter.
What should you do with them once the normally cold winter arrives? One obvious choice is storage and another suggestion given in Real Estate Weekly’s article is get heatlamps or if your space is ample enough then a gas fireplace may do the trick.
Circa Central Park- the new development condo being constructed by Artimus Construction at 285 West 110th street is progressing along in the construction stage. Sales have not begun yet at the 48 unit building located at Frederick Douglass Circle. For market rate apartments, prices will start at about $1 million. 10 units will be sold below market via a lottery system in the building being designed by FXFowle Architects. It will reportedly have 3 penthouses, high end finishes and a 2 story lobby as well as a common rooftop deck. Prices for a few 2 bedroom/2bathrooms on low floors are reportedly around $1.8 million with carrying charge of around $1100 per month not including the taxes which will be abated.
The LPC approved a contextually conceived condo development that will help Collegiate Church to raise capital for their charitable functions both nearby and throughout the world. Two buildings-260 west 78th street and 378 West end avenue on Manhattan’s upper west side will be built as one development on Manhattan’s upper west side.
COOKFOX architects designed the project. Given the success of similar new buildings in the area we can imagine family sized apartments probably ranging from $2500 and up per square foot.
On Thursday morning, a ceremony organized by the local community celebrated the centennial of the Jean of Arc Statue. The monument itself was a tribute to the friendship of France and the US. Honoring the bond between these two countries is even more significant given the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
The statue is in Riverside Park at Riverside drive and west 93rd street on Manhattan’s upper west side. The local community is raising funds to restore the statue to its original glory and towards that end has already raised $5,000 from neighbors.
Seamless and Streeteasy did a study of neighborhoods and tipping and found that some of the wealthiest nabe’s by cost of real estate actually surprisingly tip the least. On top of that list is Manhattan’s Upper west side. The median tip for the Upper West side and TriBeCa is around 15%. However, both neighborhoods were bested or maybe more appropriately worsted by Upper Carnegie Hill which average just over 12% in tips.
According to NYPost.com, the rent stabilized tenant at 400 Central Park west apt 1R is trying to illegally combine this 2bd/2ba apartment with the adjacent studio that they own. Apartment 1R is being rented for $1183 per month in a market where similar apartments in the same building have been rented for upwards of $5,000 and similar apartments have sold for nearly $2 million. According to the landlorrd, the tenant is illegally trying to combine this apartment with the studio apartment next door that they own.
400 Central Park west is a doorman condo with approximately 414 apartments, live-in-super, exercise room, laundry room, and playroom. The building is located at the corner of 100th street and Central Park west.
PC Richards is opening a 20,000 sqft store in Harlem on 125th street at 309 West 125th street. The store will have both frontage on 125th street and 126th street which will make access and pickups easier for customers. The chain is family owned and was founded in 1909.
If you are considering buying your first Manhattan apartment, you should read this Sunday’s NYT real estate section. The article gives you some common sense advice including the follow:
1- Getting a pre approval and why you need to have it in hand when you are looking for your NYC pad.
2- Ways to find an experienced NYC broker to find a property
3- Alternative strategies to find a Manhattan apartment including speaking to the doormen in the buildings that you like to try to find an apartment that is coming soon to the market.
4- Understanding the role of your real estate attorney and perhaps why it makes sense to do an engineer inspection.
5- Basic tips on putting in bids like not putting a bid in prior to or at the open house.
According to LINK, the 2nd avenue subway will finish late next year but the prognosis for the extension to 125th street is not good. Construction will not start until at least 2020 thanks to a $1 billion cut in the project’s budget. Local politicians are irate and trying to get the project back on track for an earlier date to extend through Harlem.
The Pathmark on Harlem’s 125th street is closing by this Saturday. The store which opened with much fanfare in 1997 has little left on its shelves at this point. It is unknown whether the closure is a result of Extell’s purchase of the site for $39 million or the bankruptcy of the Pathmark’s parent company-A&P. Representatives of the former owner and the new owner have said it was not a result of the sale however.
This closure though leaves many residents with no supermarket to do their shopping. It was estimated the store served 30,000 customers per week. A new Whole Foods is opening up late next year or early 2017 but that will a long walk for residents of East Harlem and the prices may not be affordable for many in the area.
News about the NYC real estate residential and commercial markets provided and interpreted by an industry veteran licensed since 1999. Brian Silvestry of BSRG Inc. Licensed real estate broker
