Condos

Brownstoner breaks down the number of Brooklyn condo and co-op offering plans filed with the state Attorney General over the last few years (1,393 plans for 28,499 new units since 2004) and quizzes developers on what's to come.

Not much, apparently:  read more »

The Real Deal reports that more New York condo owners are falling behind on paying their buildings' common charges:

Bruce Cholst, a partner at Rosen & Livingston who specializes in co-op and condo law, said he has seen an increase in the volume and frequency of warning letters sent to condo owners for fee delinquency over the past six months. He said many of those owners heed the warnings, but end up back in arrears a couple months later.  read more »

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Condo sales accounted for 56 percent of the housing deals closed in Manhattan in the first quarter of 2008. That's a striking percentage given recent history and the borough's housing stock.

Co-ops usually outnumber condo sales, though the two types of housing have gained a bit of sales parity in recent years. In the fourth quarter of 2007, for instance, condos accounted for 49 percent of the apartment deals and co-ops 51 percent, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel. In the quarter before that, condos accounted for 48 percent. In 2006, condos accounted for over 49 percent of all deals.

Such percentages come despite condos representing maybe 25 percent of the for-sale housing stock in Manhattan. The rest are co-ops (or townhouses).

Yet, now, condos have pulled well ahead of co-ops. Why? Any number of reasons but two probably matter more than most: new-condo development and co-op boards.  read more »

An unknown buyer has paid $11.77 million for Unit 9B at 15 Central Park West, according to city records. The same buyer purchased a $720,000 "suite"--the euphemism for staff accomodations at the building--on Feb. 22. Though we couldn't confirm the identity of the buyer, one of the names listed on the deed was Queens College graduate Betty Lau, the CEO of technology firm Applied Info. Partners.

I decided to do a little recreational house-hunting on Sunday afternoon to see if the Manhattan housing market is really as resilient as it's cracked up to be.

My experience hunting for a rental apartment downtown in August had been thoroughly depressing—I did not see a single inhabitable apartment for under $3,000 a month and even then, the choice was between living in a shoebox or in a grungy, amenity-free condo. After reading all the 2007 year-end market reports released by the brokerage firms during the past few weeks, I braced myself for the house-hunting malaise familiar to most New Yorkers. But it never came.  read more »

The owner of one of Williamsburg's biggest brokerage firms, Aptsandlofts.com, said that the Corcoran Group's 2007 market report was "wrong" in estimating that the average price of a condo in the neighborhood had increased 8 percent since 2006.

David Maundrell told The Observer on Friday afternoon that "there was no way" that the average price of a condo in the Williamsburg market had risen from $817,000 in 2006 to $880,000 in 2007, as the Corcoran report concludes.

"Their data is wrong. We've seen the market come down 10 to 12 percent across the board since it peaked in the beggining of 2006," he said.  read more »

Editor's note: There are corrections for this story at the end of it.

For Robert, life as a doorman at a new luxury condominium entails the usual mundane and managerial work for which members of his profession are known. He accepts deliveries for residents in his building, helps them move unwieldy packages and luggage, signs guests in and out, and sees to it that everyone is greeted with a smile.

But, in certain ways, the job is different for Robert. He is not unionized. He does not receive benefits, raises, or paid holidays from his employers. He gets overtime only “when they [the management company] feel like it.” He does not wear a uniform, apart from a suit he bought himself.

The biggest difference of all? Robert works in Brooklyn.

As New Yorkers fleeing Manhattan’s skyrocketing prices and congestion have streamed across the East River in the last decade, developers have scrambled to keep up, erecting pricey condos with names like the Lotus and Aqua in a play for residents who have brought certain Manhattan expectations with them. High on the list is having a doorman.  read more »

The developers of the new condo development at One Madison Park on East 22nd Street have selected the New York firm of Harvard achitecture and urban design professor Rem Koolhaas to design part of the two-building development. Mr. Koolhaas will design the 22-story part of the development (there's a 60-story building, too).

Press release after the jump.  read more »

The Wall Street Journal this morning asked the eternally burning question: Will Manhattan home sales drop like sales have been dropping in other markets around the country?

The Journal cites a Corcoran Group analysis which showed a 9.9 percent year-over-year September drop in the number of Manhattan home sales going to contract.

That got us to wondering: What do the borough's home sales usually do in September? The answer is they go up--or they go down.  read more »

Not every buyer at Fifteen Central Park West, the development du anneé, has ready cash to put down. Evelyne and Arthur Estey, recent buyers of Unit 7D, took out a $9 million mortgage to help pay for their $16.85 million condo, according to city records.

Both Mr. and Ms. Estey, of Bedford, NY, have raised funds for Yale (Mr. Estey is a '78 alum). And when he donated money to a Republican congressional candidate last year, Mr. Estey listed his occupation as a managing director at Lehman Brothers. We couldn't find a record of him at the firm now, though.

We just got an email from Shvo, the marketing firm run by the redoubtable Michael Shvo, to say that the condos inside the future W New York Downtown will go on sale Nov. 7.

The Observer broke the news in March of Mr. Shvo's work on the tower at 123 Washington Street, which is being developed by Joseph Moinian. The tower will include 222 condos and 217 hotel rooms.

Shvo is also marketing the condos at 20 Pine The Collection, another financial district creation that's helping change the neighborhood, for better or for worse.

Men in pinstriped suits and women in little black dresses floated around the Sara Tecchia Gallery last night, at a party celebrating the near completion of 100 West 18th Street and the success of NBC4HD's new show "OpenHouse NYC." The guests were surrounded by the art of David Fried--images of bubbles floating in space covered the walls, interrupted only by the photographic renderings of the condo units on display.

The space was the epitome of all that is Chelsea--art and real estate overlapping.

The tone was celebratory, the hosts beaming. Their 10-story residential condo is set to finish in December, with occupancy beginning in January, and they are 60 percent sold. The Brauser Group has made it look easy, and Scott Aaron, the director of development, was all smiles. "The process has gone very smoothly," he said. "We have a wide variety of people." The Observer reported the breakdown of buyers here.

Mr. Aaron described the new building. The interior layouts are varied depending on the unit, a characteristic which Mr. Aaron said would give more flexibility to buyers. In addition, instead of designing another glass structure, this new development has a black stone facade, infused with iron ore.

"It's a more grown up design for Chelsea," Mr. Aaron said. "It's a cosmopolitan industrial look. Chelsea is such an incredible mixture of fashion and art--next to an art gallery is a meat-processing plant. It gave us an opportunity to do something a little different but remain true to the roots of Chelsea."

There to celebrate with Mr. Aaron was the architect, Garrett Gourlay, and the team behind "OpenHouse NYC," a new show about New York City real estate. "We're honored that LXTV and NBC were interested in profiling our building," Mr. Aaron said. "It validates the vision that we had from the beginning."

But the crew from LXTV and NBC had their own celebrating to be doing. "OpenHouse NYC" premiered this summer, and has received good ratings. Launched as a show for New Yorkers who are "buying, selling, improving, or just dreaming," it covers these processes both on the weekly broadcasts and on their corresponding blog.

David Hyman, vice president of programming and creative services at NBC4HD explained the show's success. "We found that real estate is the sexiest sport in New York," he said.

The guests were swept up in the excitement of both of these projects. Over by the sushi and edamame platter, Tamir Shemesh, the executive vice president of new developments at Prudential Douglas Elliman chatted with interior designer Andres Escobar, of the firm of the same name.

"It's not a glass structure in a mid-block location. They are on a corner, and there is a view but it's not like you're facing the water. People are concerned with privacy," Mr. Shemesh commented. "The location is wonderful, the product very nice. I think they will do very well."

The first sale at Fifteen Central Park West is official.

Unit 7C has closed for $9.67 million, according to city records. The buyer, listed as Carolina Real Property LLC, took its time closing. The deal went to contract back in September 2005 and did not close until just a few weeks ago. The true identity of the buyer could not immediately be determined, but we're guessing it may be NASCAR star Jeff Gordon, who has lived in North Carolina and who is known to have been an early buyer at the condo.

Fifteen Central Park West is one of the most anticipated new developments in recent city history. Developed by Arthur and William Lie Zeckendorf, the two-tower spread with 201 condos should record nearly $2 billion in sales when all is said and done.

Over the past two years, several notables besides Mr. Gordon have gone to contract for the spreads that average over $3,000 a square foot, including hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, who went to contract on a penthouse in November 2005 for a then-record $45 million. Other buyers in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed condo include musician Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, sportscaster Bob Costas, director Norman Lear, and actor Denzel Washington.  read more »

You waited too long, and now even the top edge of Central Park is ridiculously expensive.

The fancy condo 111 Central Park North opens this fall, and The Observer on Wednesday went inside and up to snap these glorious shots of Manhattan spreading south, courtesy of recent buyer George Hirsch. Will other luxury high-rises join the condo soon?

So far, the rumors of a Donald Trump-backed condo on the northwest corner of Central Park are greatly exaggerated.

Curbed related the rumor earlier this week that the Donald planned what would be one of the most significant residential developments in the city’s history because of its location along an edge of the iconic park that’s always seemed beyond the luxury pale.  read more »

Bond Street may soon be renamed “Condo Row.”

Self-storage king Adam Gordon recently told The Observer he plans to break ground on a nine-story condominium at 41-43 Bond Street later this year. Mr. Gordon’s Madison Development closed on the buildings located at that address earlier this week for $7.7 million, according to city records.  read more »

The much-anticipated showdown between Landmark West and Congregation Shearith Israel has been postponed.

As we reported last week, the Upper West Side synagogue Congregation Shearith Israel wants to build five stories of luxury condos on top of a new community house at 8 West 70th Street. Landmark West, an Upper West Side community group, has led the opposition to the development because it feels Shearith Israel is a non-profit organization trying to make a buck.  read more »

The battle between Congregation Shearith Israel and Landmark West is set to rage once again.

For those who aren't up to date with Upper West Side land-use gossip, here's the skinny:

Upper West Side synagogue Congregation Shearith Israel wants to build a new community house at 8 West 70th Street, and then build five stories of luxury condos on top. Shearith Israel claims that the new building is necessary in order to address "the physical obsolescence and the ill-configured floorplans" of the current structure. Landmark West, an Upper West Side community group, has led the opposition to the development largely because they feel Shearith Israel could easily rebuild the community house without the condominium floors, and thus not violate any zoning laws.  read more »

Last night's talk with 48 Bond architect Deborah Burke pretty much had it all. Bellinis, check. Lamb kabobs, check. 48 Bond chocolate bars, double check!

Perhaps the only thing missing were other architects to hear Ms. Burke speak.

"I don't see many right now," a PR rep for Rubenstein Associates noted shortly before the talk. "I see a lot of brokers, though."

In fact, the room was filled with brokers. Apparently word spreads rapidly among the closers when the food is top-notch.

"A lot of times you will see brokers calling other brokers if the food is good at these things," someone whispered to The Observer.

Ms. Burke's talk was being held in the sales office at 48 Bond Street, her first major residential condominium project in New York. The fact that she was chosen to design the development is a feat in many ways, but mainly because female architects of note are rarely commissioned for projects this big. Ms. Burke admitted to The Observer that at the moment it is really just her and Annabelle Selldorf.  read more »

The Observer reported last week that an apartment in the Plaza Hotel had sold for at least $50 million.

Well, The Times reports this morning that an apartment did, indeed, sell at the Plaza for at least $50 million--for $56 million to be exact.

But, here's the problem, as The Times' Josh Barbanel notes:

Last week, the online edition of The New York Observer reported a sale at the Plaza in excess of $50 million, but brokers familiar with the building could not confirm whether that report referred to the same sale or a second sale in the same price range.

So, we have, then, either one apartment for at least $50 million--or two separate apartments for at least $50 million. One or the other, or both, would, individually, represent the most expensive single-apartment purchase by far in New York City history. Confused? Anxious?

It's understandable. What's not so much is why the Plaza's handlers--including Stribling & Associates, the icon's exclusive sales agent--won't share details of what are already deals (or a deal) in contract. Why the modesty? Why not bask in a glow so bright as to eclipse even a red-hot residential real-estate market?

Stay tuned...

 

“He looks like he could use a drink,” said one gray-suited visitor to the broker reception of Platinum, SJP Residential’s 43-story luxury condo high-rise at 50th Street and Eighth Avenue.

He was pitying a muscle-ripped, nearly naked man caked in silver paint from his eyelashes to his toenails standing on a plastic cube at the entrance and holding one of those inflatable yoga balls on his shoulder like he was about to collapse under its feather-light weight.  read more »

As The Observer reported first last week, a condo at the renovated Plaza Hotel has gone to contract for at least $50 million, making it the biggest New York City apartment sale ever. It joins an exclusive club of city properties, one with a membership fee of at least $30 million and one that opened just in the last few years:

4 East 75^th Street. J. Christopher Flowers bought the 20,100 square-foot Harkness Mansion in 2006 for $53 million.

15 Central Park West. Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb purchased a 10-bedroom, 10,700-square-foot penthouse here in 2005 for $45 million.

834 Fifth Avenue. Rupert Murdoch purchased the 8,00- square-foot, three-story apartment in this fabled co-op building in 2004 for $44 million

Time Warner Center. British moneyman David Martinez bought both the 76^th and 77^th floors of the south tower, totaling 12,000 square feet, in 2003 for $42.25 million

1009 Fifth Avenue. Known as the Duke Semans mansion, cab driver-cum-Russian oil mogul Tamir Sapir bought this property in January 2006 for $40 million.

810 Fifth Avenue. Blackstone Group cofounder Pete Peterson bought David Geffen's 12-room duplex at 810 Fifth Avenue in May 2007 for $37.5 million.

2 East 63^rd Street. Russian businessman Lee Blavatnik purchased this 20,600-square-foot mansion for $31.25 million in 2005.

Has a metropolis ever had such a lengthy era of debauched prosperity? Will the bubbly prices of hard-boiling uptown real estate ever simmer down? No. According to a source, a condo at the newly-refurbished Plaza Hotel has gone to contract for at least $50 million, which quite easily makes it the biggest apartment sale ever in New York City.  read more »

A considerable chunk of Manhattan’s condominium projects proposed for 2007—nearly half—will be constructed above 86th Street, and many of them will be built by first-time or little-known developers.As reported in this week’s Observer, some 30 of the 65 planned condominium projects submitted to the State Attorney General’s office, between Jan. 1 and May 7, are above 86th Street. And a vast majority of those will be above 110th Street.

But instead of having backers with names like Zeckendorf, Trump or even Padeh, these $20 million new-construction and conversion projects—like the one going up at Seventh Avenue and 127th Street—are being built by outfits like NYC Designs Inc., the Poko Partners and Mann Realty. A $27 million conversion at 1890 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard at 114th Street, for example, is slated to be built by something called Tahl Propp Equities.  read more »