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.
Category Archives: Luxury
What amenities generate the most buyer interest in Manhattan?
There are a variety of different amenities that you will see in Manhattan new developments ranging from movie theaters, and golf simulators to swimming pools, catering kitchens and shared outdoor spaces and even an occasional tennis court.
According to Jonathan Miller or Miller Samuel Inc. there is a perception that more is better. From my experience, buyers look for what makes sense for their lifestyle. In a larger projects, you have more room for amenities. For example in Waterline Square on the West side of Manhattan, you have a shared amenity space called the Waterline club which includes a soccer pitch and a tennis court among the many amenities.
Within an apartment or townhouse, you look at the condition of the apartment including the finishes in the kitchens and bathrooms but also the details.
What amenities do you think are most important to have in a building and within the individual apartment or townhouse?
189 Edgecombe avenue coming soon to the market
Take a sneak peek at 189 Edgecombe which will be coming to the market this week. It is a 2 family renovated townhouse with 5 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms and a huge garden and plenty of original and restored details.
Manhattan luxury real estate market doing well
21 contracts were signed last week above $4 million according to the Olshan report. Dollar volume is up since January as well. This was the 6th straight week with at least 20 contracts signed above $4m.
1 Seaport looking for inventory financing
Brian Silvestry1 Seaport developer, Fortis Group is looking to finance $270 million for the 1 Seaport condo project and also the first phase of their redevelopment of the LICH site in Brooklyn.
The 1 Seaport condo is the Financial District is 76% sold and closings were to begin in June but construction was delayed several months due to a construction worker’s death at the building in 2017.
Thinking of buying a luxury Manhattan property?
Last week there were 10 contracts signed at $10 million or above according to the Olshan Report. This is the highest total of the year. So is now the time to jump in the market considering many luxury Manhattan apartments have seen their original asking price chopped?
Manhattan market downturns do not last long at least of late. So where is the bottom? Well that is like trying to pick or guess what the Stock market will do next. What we do know is that the amount of permits pulled and amount of luxury properties that are in the pipeline has diminished tremendously and will continue to do so over the next couple years. This will give the current glut of luxury properties a chance to be absorbed into the market. Developers who can sit on their sites will do so and those who can not, will sell or lose them to the next guy. Financing is very difficult now for new construction developments and EB-5 visas is not the panacea that it once was due to pending reform.
Now can be the right time to negotiate a prime Manhattan luxury property but you need to do an analysis of the price per square foot as well as what the neighborhood has to offer. Sellers’ expectations are coming down to reality so if you can find a luxury property and negotiate a fair market price, now may very well be the best time to purchase.
Jennifer Lawrence condo shopping in TriBeCa
Jennifer Lawrence was spotted condo shopping and reportedly was checking out a condo in Manhattan’s TriBeCa nabe in the 443 Greenwich street condo conversion. The building has an underground garage which makes it paparazzi proof according to LINK.
If she is in that area looking for a condo, one block away and with water views is 70 Vestry which is a ground up condo construction which features a porte-cochere, swimming pool and many of the apartments have water views. This building is designed by Robert A.M. Stern and features the interior design of Daniel Romauldez. Prices start at $7mm.
Silverstein backs off on West side mega tower
Larry Silverstein, the developer of the World Trade Center, backed off on plans to build perhaps the tallest residential tower in Manhattan at about 1100 feet. The site falls under the Hudson Yards district so it would be have been necessary to build office space as part of the building but the developer was in negotiations with New York City officials to get a variance to build just residential/commercial. The feeling was that the site was closer to Midtown west and it would make more sense as primarily residential. Negotiations were also over the amount of affordable housing that make up part of the building. Apparently, an agreement was reached over the affordable housing component but then Silverstein decided to put the site for sale instead with CBRE.
This makes sense because by the time this property would have gone to the market, it may be too late for the luxury market. Additionally, 40th street and 11th avenue is a location that will probably be more desirable in another 10 years as it becomes more difficult (read impossible) to find sites. This site as a buy/hold would make sense and/or to build rental housing at this time.
Read the full article on Crain’s
Yorkville condo boom-Is now the time to buy?
Yorkville, which runs from 72nd street to 96th street east of Third avenue, is seeing a luxury building boom right now according to NYPost. Property values for condos are less in Yorkville per square foot than west of 3rd avenue Upper east side. Buyers priced out of the Upper East side are now venturing east of 3rd avenue and the mix of offerings can be surprising. There are boutique condos to super luxury developments. One such luxury development is The Charles which made headlines with a sale of its top 6 floors for $59 million. The Charles is located at 1355 First avenue and has 27 units spread over 32 floors. Only 4 units remain available.
Several developers are planting stakes including Extell which recently purchased the site of Gristedes at 86th street and 1st avenue for $100million. That site is part of an assemblage that will allow them to build a large condo tower on the site.
Developer fine-tunes Upper West side condo strategy
Developer Mike Naftali certainly learned his lessons from his development 210 W. 77th street. Originally, when sales launched no units sold. After an intelligent reboot, sales were much more successful and now the building is 70% sold. Now the developer will use the feedback given from buyers on the first building to customize his offering for his next condo on the same block at 221 W. 77th street. One of the things they adjusted was making the kitchens more homey and less hotel like according to NYDN. They found that families on the Upper West side wanted more comfort and less hotel like finishes. Additionally,he added in a couple of 2 bedrooms and 5 bedrooms as well whereas the other Upper West side project had no 2 bedrooms and only a handful of 5 bedrooms. Both condos are located on West 77th street between Broadway and Amsterdam avenue. Prices will start from $4.85 million to $23 million for the new condo.