NYC Real Estate Update
Central Park Weather
Today: High 46°F Low 36°F Sunny
Tomorrow: High 46°F Low 42° Mostly Sunny
Residential headline news
- What are NYC Real Estate Buyers Looking For? |” When trying to match our clients with the perfect home, we ask a multitude of questions (over 65) about how important certain characteristics and amenities are to their search…”
- Archstone pays $131M for Kips Bay apartment |” The building, at 377 East 33rd Street near First Avenue, had been owned by Madison International Realty and RFR Holding, which bought it for an undisclosed price in 2007…”
- Are Some Metros Better for the 99%? |” Recently, the Occupy Wall Street protests have made me wonder whether the most prosperous metros – New York, DC, and San Francisco, for example – are really good places for the 99% to live. Despite the crash, housing prices and rents there remain high. Skilled professionals can probably earn enough…”
- Take the Fifth |” A trio of new East Side developments will now test whether buyers are willing to pay high prices for apartments near the top of Central Park. All three are located on (or just off) Fifth Avenue, facing the park and within walking distance…”
- Harlem Haven: Area near 145th Street is one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in NYC |” It has two parks, City College and a buzzing retail corridor on 145th St. with express subways to 59th St. in 13 minutes. Residents say it’s got everything. Especially change. Twenty years ago, the neighborhood was primarily African-American. Now, it’s also Latino, West African and…”
- Window Fixtures of Rougher Days Come Down |” Across neighborhoods long fortified against their own gritty reputations, steel and iron window guards, those often unsightly symbols of the bad old days, have slowly been receding from the city. Once a reliable visual marker of neighborhood borders…”
Commercial headline news
- City: Got a light? |” The city’s Economic Development Corp. yesterday announced a $1 million plan to place eye-catching light installations in the Financial District to enliven a neighborhood that now shuts down at night…”
- Storage Enters Stratosphere |” The prices for the 7-foot-high bins are another indication of the steady sales and soaring ambitions of developers in New York, at a time when the prices in the rest of the country are sagging…”
- City’s green zoning rules would loosen restrictions on energy saving building features |” The package of rule changes, dubbed Zone Green, would permit solar panels, green roofs, storm water detention systems, skylights and other green features on buildings, despite height restrictions, and would allow owners to install wind turbines up to 55 feet above rooftops on waterfront buildings…”
- Midtown Class A office vacancy drops to 11 percent in November |” In Midtown Manhattan, Class A office vacancy decreased in November to 11.1 percent, its lowest level since 2008, according to a monthly Manhattan office report from commercial brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle, released today. But despite the decline in vacancy rates, momentum seems to have generally slowed…”
- Free-standing retail building near Manhattanville hits market at $11M |” The 18,200-square-foot, rectangular building at 701 West 135th Street currently yields more than $400,000 in annual income from current leases, according to the listing, with one retail suite still vacant. Alternatively, the two in-place leases each contain terms to provide…”
Hospitality headline news
- Caffe Storico Opens at the Historical Society Tomorrow |” Tomorrow, Stephen Starr, the Prince of Philadelphia and the owner New York’s MePa big box restaurants Morimoto and Buddakan, will show off his cultural side with the opening of Caffe Storico in the base of the renovated…”
- The City Has 7,000 New Hotel Rooms in the Works, But Can it Fill Them? |” The city’s largest hotel project, a 68-story high-rise that will one day house twin Marriott hotels, is now rising along Broadway and West 54th Street. Closer to Eighth Avenue, construction is underway…”
- Taste for Adventure |” Catering company Pinch Food Design is the force behind this and many other buzzed-about culinary theatrics in New York. Since its launch in June, Pinch is already spicing up an otherwise stale hors d’oeuvres industry…”
- ‘Upscale’ Russian Karoke Coming Soon to Midtown |” How much do you know about Russian karaoke? Probably nothing. Don’t worry though, because all of that is going to change very soon when the Ginza Group…”
- STK Out Brings the Shake Shack Vibe to Bryant Park |” Ever since plans were announced for a giant location of glitzy female-focused STK right by Bryant Park we’ve known they were planning a “shack” with burgers, salads, and take-away items…”
- NY hotel gets listed by luxe group |” Relais & Châteaux, the upscale hospitality association, has, for the first time in nearly 20 years, added a Manhattan hotel to its listing of luxe properties around the world. The Surrey Hotel & Spa, an Upper East Side boutique that recently…”
- Largest Mistletoe in NYC Prompts Flatiron Kissathon |” Staffers from a new dating website called FindYourFaceMate.com suspended massive balls of the kiss-inducing greenery from oversized candy canes in the pedestrian plaza at East 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue…”
Retail headline news
- By Robert James Is Now the Largest Men’s Store on the LES |” Up until recently, By Robert James occupied 72 Orchard Street, but this fall it moved next door, taking over the home of Swedish digital media school Hyper Island and relinquishing its former location to tough-guy jewelry shop The Great Frog. The new, 3,500-square-foot shop…”
- New York’s jewelers dangle on the costs of carats |” Big-name retailers such as Tiffany & Co. can pass along rising diamond and metal prices to customers with nary a complaint, because many shoppers are international tourists seeking brand-name cachet, according to small independent jewelry shop owners. For Main Street-style businesses in New York…”
- Madison Avenue Luxe Businesses Band Together to Help Sales |” Her shop, at 1162 Madison Ave., for instance, which is offering 20 percent off pillows and $20 off purchases of $100 or more, will be throwing a wine reception on Dec. 15…”
Mortgage Rates as of November 18, 2011
Mortgage rates Nov 18 2011
A guide for foreign nationals trying to rent in New York City
This is a featured guest blog post written by Jariel Dagan, a rental agent currently working at MNS. Jariel has rented countless apartments to international clients from over 32 countries and discusses the steps a foreign national would likely go through in order to rent an apartment in New York City. He is an expert on Upper East Side Rentals and is familiar with every neighborhood in Manhattan.
I hope his insights on renting to a foreign national help you in your apartment hunt.
Enter Jariel:
I’d like to start with a true story…
In late 2010, a 22 year old girl from Germany contacted me to help her find an apartment. She is a descendent of a royal family and money was no object for her. She explained to me that her budget is $7,000 and that she was looking for a pet-friendly one bedroom in the downtown area.
A week later she arrived to New York and came to my office to meet with me for the first time. I explained to her the procedure for renting an apartment and everything went straight in one ear and out the other. We went downstairs, where I had a driver waiting and started our search. That day we went to see 20 apartments but nothing matched her needs. I explained to her that she needed to increase her budget to $10,000 and she agreed. The next day, after seeing a total of 35 apartments, we found exactly what she was looking for. It was now time for her to apply…
The leasing agent filled out the application form with her which was left half blank. Her social security number would not arrive for another three weeks, she had no credit history, and she had no bank accounts in the US. She provided a letter from her banker in Switzerland showing that she had over $1,000,000 cash in the bank, and over $40 million worth of Real Estate in Germany that was producing a large monthly income. The building rejected her application stating that she needed a US Guarantor.
The next day she found a billionaire guarantor, Mexican national who had a business in the US. She brought his application, a letter from his US CPA and his two most recent US bank statements that showed he had over $200,000,000 liquid cash in a US bank. The building rejected him as a guarantor because he did not have a US social security number.
My client tried to find someone who was qualified in the US and could not. Even though she had enough money to buy the building she wanted to live in, she was rejected over and over. In the end she was forced to use a company called Insurent, which is an insurance company that guarantees your lease and charges one month of rent. Her final bill at lease signing was $57,000.
The point of this story is that the essential application information for renting an apartment in the US will vary for international residents. Landlords in Manhattan understand that the information a foreigner will be able to provide will vary from the standard documentation. As such, most landlords require all the following documents:
- A valid visa that indicates you have legal alien status¹
- A valid passport
- A Social Security Card or proof that you are currently applying for one¹
- Two most recent US bank statements²
- Employment verification letter stating your annual salary is greater than or equal to 40 times the monthly rent.
- Three most recent paystubs (if you have these)
- A letter from a US landlord stating that you pay your rent on time (if you can provide this)
¹ Many landlords will not permit a lease to be signed without these two pieces of documentation.
² Although you may have considerable assets in your native country, a landlord will not typically take foreign holdings into consideration in evaluating your qualification for an apartment, as they are not easily accessible. Upon arrival, it is strongly advised that you open a U.S. bank account and transfer holdings as soon as possible.
Please be advised that, many times, a landlord will ask for additional security to be held in escrow for the term of your lease. Additionally, if a guarantor is needed, he must be a resident of the United States with a valid Social Security number and is required to make 80x the monthly rent. If you cannot find a US guarantor that meets these requirements you will most likely be required to purchase Insurent.
15 Central Park West (CPW) Home for sale $88M….. Owned by former Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sanford Weill
I bet Occupy Wall Street going to be pissed over this one….
From left: Former Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sanford Weill and 15 CPW Former Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sanford Weill is putting his 15 Central Park West penthouse on the market for $88 million, more than twice what he paid for it in 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported. Weill and his wife plan to donate the proceeds to charity and downsize to a sixth-floor apartment they own in the building.
The Weills paid $43.7 million for the 6,744-square-foot apartment in 2007, or more than $6,400 per square foot, then a record for price paid per square foot. The current price per square foot record holder is another penthouse in the building, which William Zeckendorf sold for $40 million, or $9,940 per square foot, in December 2010, according to the Journal. If the apartment sells near its asking price, the Journal said it would set a Manhattan price record. The apartment, which also has a 2,077-square-foot terrace, is in the smaller of the two structures that comprise 15 CPW and is being marketed by Kyle Blackmon of Brown Harris Stevens.
The Journal quoted brokers and appraisers who say a record-breaking sale is possible, considering the demand for that building, the relative strength of the ultra luxury market and the fact that the top three sales per square foot in Manhattan have all occurred in the building. [WSJ]
Town Daily
Central Park Weather
Today: High 65°F Low 51°F Sunny
Tomorrow: High 66°F Low 55°F Sunny
Residential headline news
- Christine Quinn, political bigwigs rally for rent-control tenants on brink of eviction; call for protections against greedy landlords |” Rent-stabilized tenants in the building pay about $200 to $300 a month, making them clear targets for eviction, a lawyer for the tenants said. With the five families scheduled to be kicked out on Tuesday, a host of elected officials…”
- NYC multi-family sales increase, prices drop |” The pace of New York City multi-family sales remained strong in September, according to a report from Ariel Property Advisors released today, with 41 transactions citywide, totaling $402 million…”
- Mann Realty set to put next batch of Gramercy Park condos on the market |” Sales launched at the 51-unit former rental building, between 20th and 21st streets, in 2010, even as Mann continued to do interior renovation work on the circa 1908 building. Buyers paid about $2,200 to $2,400 per square foot for unrenovated…”
Commercial headline news
- Visiting The Secret Train Platform Beneath The Waldorf-Astoria |” The mysterious track, known as Track 61, still houses the train car and private elevator, which were both large enough for FDR’s armor-plated Pierce Arrow car. Legend has it that the car would drive off the train, onto the platform and straight into the elevator, which would lead to the hotel’s garage…”
- It’s curtains for this nonprofit theater |” Founded in 2000, the Manhattan Theatre Source has given opportunities to nearly 10,000 artists to work on around 1,000 stage productions. The bulk of these shows have been new works by emerging artists, some of which have gone on to significant commercial success…”
- Goldman’s BLDG buys UES retail condo from Chetrit Group |”The retail condo, with ground-floor and lower-level space and occupied by Capital One bank, is in the 34-unit, 18-story residential building at the corner of 79th Street and Second Avenue…”
Hospitality headline news
- The Lost Art of Buying From a Butcher |” He’s not the only one. Butcher shops, once a vestige, are opening in many New York neighborhoods where buying meat has often been reduced to…”
- Bettors Stampede to new Queens Racino |” In its first 10 days of operation, bettors pumped a hefty $15 million into the slot machines and electronic table games, sources told The Post. That’s an average of some $1.5 million in business per day — not including what customers spent on drinks and food…”
Retail headline news
- Retail Rumblings Near the George Washington Bridge |” SJM Partners, one of the developers working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has cut deals with the discount retailer Marshalls; a new no-frills gym chain, Blink Fitness; and a Fine Fare supermarket
- Retailer Express eyes 4 Times Square |” Sources said the chain and landlord the Durst Organization are close to a deal for Express to take a mammoth 45,000 square feet on four levels. The floors overlooking the tourist-trampled corner were previously rented to the ESPN Zone theme restaurant, which moved out last March…”
Town Daily…
Central Park Weather
Today: High 52°F Low 36°F Partly Cloudy
Tomorrow: High 49°F Low 39°F Sunny
Residential headline news
- Old Nolita carriage house hits market as condo |” The Brewster Carriage House was once home to carriage manufacturer Brewster & Co. and later a canvas manufacturer, according to previously published media reports. In 2005, developer Ross Morgan purchased the 26,000-square-foot building for $9 million under an LLC named Little Red House…”
- Volatile, shmolatile: Serious buyers not deterred by market’s ups and downs |” The average monthly rent for a New York City apartment is now $3,267 per month, according to a rental market report by RentJuice released last month. In west Soho, the city’s most expensive neighborhood…”
- Google’s Chelsea Building Inspires Condos, 38-Foot Flower Pot |” At one point, a Harlan Berger of Centaur Properties was planning to build a “Google House” across the street from Google New York. Due to zoning restrictions, that plan never materialized. But another building of Mr. Berger’s, the black, angular condo building at 305 W. 16th…”
Commercial headline news
- Costas Kondylis Thinks His Buildings Are Like Benzes |” But the architect, to whose credit it must be said has built far more in the city than probably all Pritzker winners combined, sees his conservative style of construction as more in line with the great car makers of the world…”
- Epic LLC to buy Vornado retail properties for around $80 million |” Originally the portfolio also included a 25,000 s/f retail condo that Vornado owns at 201 East 66th Street that is currently filled by The Gap and Sephora. But The Gap is set to soon vacate its space and offers for this portion of the portfolio came up short of Vornado’s pricing expectations…”
- Brookfield raises forecast, leasing exceeds record |” Brookfield Office Properties Inc., the landlord of the site of the Occupy Wall Street protests, raised its cash forecast for the year…”
- 1 World Trade gets its glass pedestal |” The architect of One World Trade Center has finally devised a way to clad the concrete base of the tower in shimmery glass. The breakthrough comes after technical problems forced designers…”
Hospitality headline news
- Trainers Give Last Minute NY Marathon Tips |” They’ve logged dozens of miles during months of training, but now it’s down to the last few days of preparation for the 45,000 runners competing in the New York City Marathon this Sunday…”
- Flatiron Business Stores Baggage for Tourists and Shoppers |” So was aware of baggage storage places in foreign countries, where tourists and residents can leave their shopping totes or suitcases while they go about their day and then pick the luggage up…”
Retail headline news
- Best part of Uniqlo’s Fifth Avenue design is its towering escalator |” As for the store’s façade, it presents itself as a gleaming three-story curtain wall whose glass is so clear that you almost feel you are inside the store even from across the street. The exterior is most conspicuously adorned…”
- The Dylan’s Candy Pop Up Will Have a Giant Gingerbread House |” there will be a life-size gingerbread house. WWD also adds that it will be “covered in lollipops, gumdrops and candy canes.” Customers will also be able to decorate a candy Christmas tree…”
Town Residential opens its fifth office this weekend……
From left: Wendy Maitland, a managing director at Town, 45 Horatio Street (credit: PropertyShark) and Eric McCarthy, another Town managing director
Less than a year into its existence Town Residential is opening its fifth office this weekend in the West Village, the brokerage told The Real Deal.
The firm signed a lease for a 16-foot wide, three-story townhouse at 45 Horatio Street between Hudson and Greenwich streets. It will be managed by Wendy Maitland, who also serves as the managing director of Town’s Flatiron office at 110 Fifth Avenue, and Eric McCarthy, who previously served as a downtown managing director at Citi Habitats. Maitland will have a presence in both offices.
The opening comes just as Town’s Flatiron office and its Financial District office at the corner of Greenwich and Rector streets have reached capacity at 110 and 32 agents, respectively. The brokerage also has its headquarters at 730 Fifth Avenue and opened an office on Astor Place this summer. In total, it employs about 250 people.
“With our Flatiron and Financial District offices at capacity, this is the perfect time for us to be launching our next downtown location,” CEO and founder Andrew Heiberger said.
The new office will house about 25 agents that the firm will hire in the coming months. The office will include a high-end lounge, a fireplace, a concierge desk and a conference room. According to PropertyShark.com, the building is 2,700 square feet.
Though the townhouse office is unconventional in size, the firm said it wanted a West Village presence, especially on the northern end of the neighborhood near the Meatpacking District and the High Line’s southern entrance. – Adam Fusfeld
Extell’s One57 pricing steep….
Source: Extell Schedule A pricing data for One57 obtained by The Real Deal
Slated to be New York’s tallest residential tower, Extell Development’s 90-story One57 is one of the more ambitious condominium projects under construction. With presale prices ranging from $3,000 to $8,285 per square foot, it’s also one of the priciest (see pricing chart above). And while the units may fetch those sums, experts said, the location and the uncertain economic future are working against Extell.
“It’s a very rich price per square foot they’re asking there,” said Charlotte Van Doren, a Stribling & Associates senior vice president who has worked in the area, handling numerous sales at the Centria at 18 West 48th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. “This will be a really interesting test of the resilience of the luxury market and just how far that luxury market can be pushed.”
As The Real Deal first reported, Extell began shopping units at 157 West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues to select brokers earlier this month. The 1,000-foot building will house 95 luxury condo units and a Park Hyatt hotel on the first 30 stories.
Extell is asking up to $4,000 per square foot for one-bedrooms; up to $4,150 per square foot for two bedrooms; up to $6,580 per square foot for three bedrooms; and up to $8,413 per square foot for four bedrooms, according to a copy of the Schedule A, or pricing list, provided to The Real Deal. Also up for grabs are a 4,603-square-foot five-bedroom with an outdoor terrace for $16.75 million and two massive duplex penthouses priced at $90.5 million and $98.5 million.
“We don’t think the prices are that steep in this market,” Gary Barnett, president of Extell, told The Real Deal.
It’s tough to appraise a building without knowing all the details, but One57 has a number of attributes to justify the steep price tag, among them the offer of hotel services for residents and the promise of dramatic city views.
Jonathan Miller, CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel, noted that One57′s price per square foot is within the range of other high-end properties: lower than 15 Central Park West and comparable to the nearby Time Warner Center, where a two-bedroom listed at $8.25 million, or about $4,500 per square foot, sold earlier this month, according to real estate listing site Streeteasy.com.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they can achieve these numbers if the high end of the market continues improving the way it has been,” Miller said. “But we’re in a world where there’s so much turbulence, it’s hard to say.”
Extell’s biggest obstacle for nabbing those prices is its location, on a retail corridor that does not front Central Park, insiders said. Though the property faces Carnegie Hall, 57th Street west of Sixth Avenue has long been considered a “stepchild” compared to the more favored blocks slightly farther north, Van Doren said.
As of today, the median listing price for a one-bedroom in a new development in Midtown West is $990,000, while on Central Park South it is $1.95 million, according to Streeteasy.com data.
“There’s nothing currently in the marketplace to substantiate those dollars” at One57, said Jacqueline Urgo, president of the Marketing Directors, noting that she did not have firsthand knowledge of the offering or the building’s finishes.
For those asking prices, one would expect to be on the park, Urgo said.
She contrasted One57 to the Sheffield, down the street at 322 West 57th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues, where her firm took over marketing in March of last year.
At the Sheffield, one-bedrooms on the upper floors are going for $1.5 million, Urgo said, less than half the price of One57′s cheapest unit. And that’s after a 25 percent building-wide price cut last year at the Sheffield.
But if One57 has the same kind of high-end touches as the Time Warner Center, 15 Central Park West or Superior Ink at 400 West 12th Street, it could command those lofty prices, experts said.
Plus, it has an advantage as one of the only new luxury properties on the market, and with financing to boot, experts said. Other competitors could include One Madison Park or the 1,300-foot condo planned for the site of the Drake Hotel, but sales at the former were stalled by legal disputes over ownership and broken contracts, and the latter has reportedly not yet secured financing.
“If you’re the only major new development with something really hot right now, then you’re going to be the honey for the bee,” Van Doren said. “Those bees are all going to come buzzing over to where you are.”
Elliot Bogod, managing director of brokerage A&I Broadway Realty, has pitched the property to several clients, among them New Yorkers and foreign nationals from Eastern Europe, Canada and Israel. So far, no deals have been signed, he said, although one client is considering purchasing there.
“It’s not going to sell overnight, but it will sell,” Bogod said of the building.
The project is set to open in June 2013 but, as Miller noted, “A lot can happen between now and when those [condos] are ready for inspection.”
provided by Katherine Clarke.
Gramercy 19 Almost Sold Out 148 East 19th Street
GRAMERCY—Here now, an update on 148 East 19th Street’s tumorish Gramercy 19. Fifteen of the building’s 16 units have been sold, according to building reps, all at asking prices. The odd one out is a 1,409-square-foot 3BR penthouse asking $2.65 million. That penthouse appears to be on the marketalready, but the formal unveiling comes next week. Not bad, Block Beautiful.
$ublet ‘hotels’ very homey
They’ve turned prime New York City rentals into cash cows.
Locals struggling to make ends meet are raking in as much as $10,000 a month by illegally subletting their rental apartments.
When Tony Chavez, 26, lost his job at a hedge fund in January, he couldn’t afford to pay rent on his $2,500-a-month, three-bedroom apartment on the Lower East Side.
He also couldn’t afford to give up the amazing deal.
“I had to leave the apartment, or deplete my savings,” recalled Chavez. Instead of breaking his lease, Chavez crashed on a friend’s couch and started renting out his pad for between $250 and $350 a night, raking in $10,000 on a good month.
ALEX RUD
CASH INN: Tokunbo Anifalaje (left) rents her Brooklyn apartment — often at nightly rates — for big profits.
He hardly missed his job after realizing that he could turn a $60,000-a-year profit just by moving out of his apartment.
Tokunbo Anifalaje, 35, a graduate student in urban planning at the Pratt Institute, moved out of her Brooklyn apartment in July and started renting it out to bring in extra cash.
“I’m an entrepreneur, and I saw this as another opportunity,” said Anifalaje, who offers her renters car service to and from the airport. “I’ve been booked for the past month and a half, save for a few nights.”
Anifalaje now lives in New Haven, Conn. “I drive into the city, or I sleep on friends’ couches,” she said.
She pays just under $1,000 a month rent on her Brooklyn pad and sublets to tourists for $100 a night, turning a $2,000 profit in a good month.
In order to legally sublet an apartment, renters are required to obtain written permission from their landlords, according to state law. It’s also illegal to charge more than 10 percent above the rent.
The vast majority of rental apartments in New York City are also considered Class A apartments, and it is illegal to sublet them for less than 30 consecutive days.
But thousands of New Yorkers sublet on the sly, hiking up their rents to turn their leases into nightly moneymakers.
Critics say the main problem is security.
“You have to be concerned about the comings and goings in the building, and you need to know who you’re renting to,” said Councilwoman Gale Brewer. “If people need help making ends meet, they should work on getting a roommate.”
But more than 1,500 brazen New Yorkers are subletting their apartments — many on a night-to-night basis, like hotels — on AirBNB.com.
Some New Yorkers said they’ve even signed leases on other units.
Lee Chen, 37, who was laid off in January from a job programming software, started renting out his $2,800-a-month one-bedroom in the Flatiron District.
The plan was so lucrative he leased another apartment in the neighborhood that he now rents out nightly. Between his two leases, Chen said he brings in $6,000 a month.