Two Upper East side condos are in contract and the accepted payment is Bitcoin. 389 East 89th street, Magnum real estate’s condo conversion may be the first apartments in Manhattan sold for Bitcoin. One apartment is a studio and the other is a one bedroom.
Category Archives: Conversion
Children’s Museum coming to 361 Central park west
According to The Real Deal the church at 361 Central Park west, which was once slated to be converted to condos was purchased by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan for $45 million. The site was purchased by the developer in 2014 for $26 million and after hitting roadblocks with the approval process to convert to condos, they decided to sell. The community will have a chance to be part of the approval and design process as the Museum will need to go through the city approval process as well.
What happens when the sponsor turns over control to the Condo?
When a sponsor sells a condo, at some point they turn over control of the condo to the owners. According to Cooperator, it must happens in 5 years maximum or when 50% of the apartments are sold.
From there, the owners have to be ready to take the baton. In the article, the writer goes through the steps necessary to be ready. Among them, a team of advisers needs to be in place including lawyers, accountants and engineers. The owners must make sure that the sponsor has lived up to their requirements as laid forth in the offering plan.
There are buildings that I know of that have had facade or construction defects only a few years after they were built. Perhaps they did or did not consult with an engineer when taking control from the developer. Also, the wording in the offering plan is to protect the sponsor and not necessarily the condo going forward so a legal review of the offering plan may be necessary.
Manhattan condo conversions selling well
While much has been published about the condo glut that Manhattan is experienced in the luxury market, the affordable luxury market continues to sell very well. One of the latest condo conversions to hit the market is 416 West 52nd street aka NINE52 which is being developed by Gaia Real Estate and designed by architect Karl Fischer. Currently there are 36 apartments offered with 24 of those apartments already in contract! The average price per square foot according to streeteasy.com is about $1550 per square foot. Currently the least expensive apartment is $790k for a 1 bd/ba of 570 sqft (53m2) and the most expensive is just under $3mm for a 3bd/2.5ba of 1929 sqft(179m2) Common charges and taxes are running about $2.20 per sqft and th building features a doorman, bike room, gym roof deck.
Another condo conversion which is further along is 360 Central park west which is showing 23 listings on streeteasy.com with 22 of those in contract. This building is at the corner of 96th street and CPW. The Rosario Candela designed prewar building will have a doorman, children’s playroom, bike storage and pet washing among the amenities. Prices were averaging around $2000 per square foot.
I think what these conversions and about a handful of others are showing is that there is a dearth of affordable luxury property and while the luxury or super luxury market may be suffering, other segments of the market are still moving very well.
Affordable luxury condos coming to Upper East side
Developer Ben Shaoul is bringing to market a condo conversion of a rental building at 389 E. 89th street shortly. Prices are very attractive at $1.58 million for a 2 bedroom with 1098 sqft and the least expensive 3 bedroom with 1315 sqft starting will be just under $2 million. Other developers are finally getting the message that the luxury boom is more or less over and it is wise to bring to the market 1-3 bedroom apartments within more Manhattanites budgets. Prices will average about $1596 per sqft according to LINK in this conversion.
The same devloper will launch sales later this month at a conversion at 23rd street and 1st avenue called Luminaire. Prices will average a reasonable $1789 per square foot in this 103 unit condo.
Affordable luxury update 53rd and 8th
According to streeteasy, a handful of buildings including the building known as 53rd and 8th, are offering “affordable luxury” condos are only a fraction of what some of buildings are asking for luxury condos. This particular building offers 1 bedrooms of just north of 600 sqft as well as 2bedrooms and even some combination units that total over 2000 square feet. The most expensive listing is under $4 million. This is quite a difference from the usual price of luxury condos which typically start north of $5-6 million.
Since the building was a rental conversion the cost savings is passed on to the buyers. About 26 contracts were signed according to Streeteasy.
360 CPW condo conversion Upper West side
At the corner of 96th street and Central Park west on Manhattan’s upper west side, signage has gone up for a condo conversion and there is a teaser site.
The residential portion of the building, according to Propertyshark.com, is just under 156k sqft. Additionally, there is the Second Presbyterian Church which is on 96 street.
Apparently, the building will become condos. See below website to register.
The building is ideally located at the corner of CPW, adjacent to the B,C subway lines and also the M96 and M10 buses. It is also right across the street from 361 CPW which is the church-to-condo conversion that is making it’s way through the community review process due to needed variances for adding windows and a possible penthouse.
Developer gets green light to do condo conversion at 361CPW
The developer has finally received the approval earlier this week by the Landmarks Preservation Committee to go ahead and convert the former church at the corner of 96st and Central Park west to 39 condos. Additional windows will be added to the 96 th street side as well as the north side of the building.
The building was purchased in June of last year for $26mm and has over 33k sqft in total.
Read the full story and see renderings on Curbed NY.