Apartment rentals New York with Manhattan Apartments

That Spring Bump In Manhattan Rental Prices? It's Late, But It's Here.

Studio vs 2 Bedroom Rental PricesHere at Luxury Rentals Manhattan we’ve kept an eagle-eye on the recently-calm state of the luxury rental market for you, although we'll admit that at times it was like watching paint dry. Month after month, and well into the anticipated warm-weather boom period, Manhattan rental stats remained boldly, brazenly blah -- up a healthy percentage over last year's counterparts, but inching up only a fraction of a percent month to month. Sure, we warned that a bump in Manhattan rental prices was coming -- we're a blog about Manhattan real estate, and as such know what's coming. But after months of the same warnings, a sort of a chicken little vibe became almost inescapable. As we’ve previously noted, rents barely rose month-to-month this year as landlords have remained prudent, hedging their bets on a a strong spring eliminating the last vestiges of ennui from the market. And now, as June dawns in a flurry of sticky 90 degree days, it seems like spring has finally sprung in the Manhattan luxury rental marketplace.

Cell High: Roosevelt Island Luxury Rental The Octagon Scores Unique Green Honor

First things first: The Octagon, on Roosevelt Island, is one of the elite new luxury rental listings on Roosevelt Island -- which is a distinction that increasingly means something. But The Octagon is also more than that -- something simultaneously both more futuristic and more historic than the average Manhattan luxury rental, and another sign of Roosevelt Island's rise as a neighborhood worth watching on the Manhattan real estate scene. The Octagon New Yorkers know today -- a 500-unit luxury rental building that's also one of the greenest green rental buildings in New York City -- was built in 2006, around a (yes) octagonal building with a much longer story behind it. The octagon that forms the hub of The Octagon dates back to 1841, and was built then by Alexander Jackson Davis as a blue octagonal entrance building to what was known then as the New York City Lunatic Asylum (Today, of course, we no longer say "lunatic asylum," and instead use the term "Port Authority Bus Terminal.") That the space has since become one of the most luxurious rental listings on Roosevelt Island -- after 55 years of service as a 19th-century mental hospital, if you're just joining us -- is notable enough. But with the installation of a new, energy-efficient fuel cell that makes The Octagon the first green apartment building in NYC and New York State to be so-powered, The Octagon also has a claim to being one of the greenest green rentals in Manhattan.

Roosevelt Rising: Heard About the Roosevelt Island Population Boom?

When most people begin looking for a luxury apartment rental in Manhattan, several districts tend to come to mind immediately. There's the sought-after high-gloss, high-culture vibe that comes with SoHo apartment listings, the famed luxury of Upper East Side rental listings, and the perpetually trendy East Village and its apartments for rent. But there's one New York City area of rapid growth and expansion that twenty years ago wouldn't have been on anyone's apartment-hunting list: Roosevelt Island. Once saddled with the less-than-flattering nickname "Welfare Island," this former backwater in the middle of the East River is an afterthought no longer, as a boom of new construction condos and luxury rentals on Roosevelt Island suggests. But here's the biggest sign of Roosevelt Island's rising prosperity: People are actually moving there. Quickly and in serious numbers. Seriously.

Get Your Own Door: Are Doorman-Free Luxury Rentals The Biggest Value in NYC Real Estate?

There is something to be said for the Manhattan doorman rental apartment, especially for the New Yorker coming home late at night, or returning from a Whole Foods or C-Town expedition loaded down with groceries. But while most Manhattan luxury rental listings are doorman rental listings -- it comes with the "luxury" part -- there's nothing that says that you need someone to open the door for you, even after an evening on the town or an afternoon at the supermarket. Chances are that if you've managed to find your way onto the internet, let alone to Luxury Rentals Manhattan, you're probably pretty accomplished in tasks such as opening and closing doors. Which is to say that, if you're browsing luxury rental listings in Soho or searching for a rental apartment on the Upper East Side, would it really matter to you that much whether the aformentioned luxury rental in Soho or rental apartment on the Upper East Side came with a doorman? Well, apparently a great many people do -- which means that doorman-free rental listings in those most desirable Manhattan neighborhoods are notably cheaper than their be-doorman'ed counterparts. Is this the sort of market efficiency a savvy apartment-hunter could exploit to his/her advantage?

New York, Burger City: Two Manhattan Neighborhoods Snag Beloved Burgerterias

At Luxury Rentals Manhattan, we are not unaware that people browsing Manhattan rental apartment listings are often looking for different things. This is why we've built our search so that NYC apartment hunters can find apartments near subways and rental listings near parks and so on. It's our hope that a more focused and specific way to search Manhattan apartments will lead to a more satisfying and successful experience. That said, there is not currently a search function at LRM that enables you to find an apartment located near a delicious hamburger. For that, we use the LRM blog. No, seriously: we've covered Shake Shack pretty extensively in the past, and we're not going to stop doing that. We do it for you, readers. And also we do it because we're hungry, and because Shake Shack is delicious. And so it is with no small amount of delight that we inform Luxury Rentals Manhattan readers that rental listings in Battery Park City will very soon be rental listings near a delicious hamburger.

Spring, Unsprung: NYC Rents Once Again Way Up Over 2010, But Barely Budge Month-To-Month

Every month, the statistics on Manhattan luxury rentals tell the same story. Which means that just about every post we do on that topic reads pretty similar to the one before. At the risk of getting intolerably meta-bloggy, here's a quote from a recent Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog post on February's rental stats. "While increased demand should have led to a serious spike in Manhattan rents, it hasn't... yet. A pair of recent studies show that rents are up a robust 8 percent over 2010 figures, but rents are still essentially flat month-to-month, just as they were last month." You'll notice that "last month" links to another Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog post that says almost exactly the same thing. And so you see how this works, and has worked -- demand has stayed strong for Manhattan rentals, and is growing stronger as the traditional NYC real estate boomtime of spring approaches, but prices have barely budged month-over-month. That was the story in March, and it may yet be the story in April. It's the waiting for it to change part that has people nervous.

Middle of Manhattan, Top of the World: New Luxury Rental MiMA Looking Like A Blockbuster

Manhattan real estate is the land of acronyms and abbreviations, and from Soho apartment listings to FiDi rentals to apartments on the LES, it's one that New Yorkers speak every day without even noticing it. So, in a certain sense, MiMA -- a hybrid new luxury rental and condominium building from The Related Companies whose name is short for Middle of Manhattan -- fits right in. In just about every other way, though, MiMA stands out -- for its location on 42nd Street and 10th Avenue, at the heart of booming Clinton; for its stellar suite of amenities; for its luxurious (and not-at-all cheap) apartments for rent. MiMA is as ambitious and extravagantly amenitized a new construction luxury rental development as Manhattan has seen since... well, since Midtown West neighbor The Ashley, probably. But MiMA is also further proof that Manhattan's high-end rental market is returning to robust health -- Manhattan rental listings don't come much more luxurious than this.

The Hold Steady: Manhattan Rents Way Up Over Last Year, Barely Up Over Last Month

That the Manhattan real estate market is in a better place now than it was 12 months ago is looking more and more like an objective fact. But while each month seems to bring more news that the marketplace for Manhattan rental apartments is back on its feet, there's an odd, uneasy addendum to what looks like good news. Well, two -- one is that what's good for the Manhattan rental marketplace is usually good for landlords, not those searching rental listings. But the more novel issue this time around is that, while the Manhattan rental market seems to be tilting in landlords' directions and the old renter's market appears to be on its way out, numbers suggest that things should really be a lot worse for Manhattan renters. While the number of no-fee rental listings in Manhattan has shrunk, there are still plenty out there. While landlord concessions have diminished, they're still out there to find. And while increased demand should have led to a serious spike in Manhattan rents, it hasn't... yet. A pair of recent studies show that rents are up a robust 8 percent over 2010 figures, but rents are still essentially flat month-to-month, just as they were last month. For now, at least. So you see the "uneasy" part, presumably.

All-Whirled: Architecture Critics Flip For Gehry's New Financial District Rental at 8 Spruce Street

Gehry Financial District Rental Luxury Rentals ManhattanWe've never been afraid to say it here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog: Frank Gehry’s new Financial District rental at 8 Spruce Street is jaw-dropping. The Spruce Street project -- formerly known as Beekman Tower and still kind-of-known as 8 Spruce Street -- is called New York by Frank Gehry. Not only is the new Gehry rental the the tallest luxury residential building in New York City, it is also one of the most-celebrated new construction apartment buildings the city has seen in years.   If you move around the tower the shape changes constantly. Why? Well, because of its rumpled stainless skin, its curved windows and, perhaps, the vertiginous 76-story height that makes it look something like the Transformers’ headquarters. In short, 8 Spruce Street sits on the northern edge of the Financial District; west of Cass Gilbert’s 1913 Woolworth Building, east of McKim, Mead & White’s 1912 Municipal building, and at the top of any list of new Manhattan rental listings worth celebrating.

A Blockbuster On The Border: The Continental Is One Of Manhattan's Hottest New Rental Listings... But Where Is It?

We know what The Continental is -- it's a new luxury rental at 32nd Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and it has been one of the most popular luxury rental listings on Luxury Rentals Manhattan since it began leasing in mid-January. What's harder to pin down about The Continental is what neighborhood it's in. By our guidelines at Luxury Rentals Manhattan, the new luxury rental at 32nd Street and Sixth Avenue is filed under Chelsea rental listings, and that categorization passes the initial shrug-test. But The Continental is a shorter walk from the Empire State Building than it is from The High Line, and nearer to Madison Square Garden than Chelsea Market, which could see it filed under Garment District rentals or Clinton rental listings. In this sense, The Continental has something in common with Emerald Green, a blocbuster rental listing on 38th Street that appears to exist in several neighborhoods at once. One thing that is not subject to debate about The Continental, though -- and another thing that it has in common with Emerald Green -- is that it belongs on any list of Manhattan’s most intriguing new luxury rental listings. Wherever it is, The Continental is a hit.