Apartment rentals New York with NYC Rental Apartments

Finding an apartment to rent has often been portrayed as one of the most difficult things to do in New York City. Many a television sitcom has capitalized on the theme of New Yorkers navigating their way through the supposedly murky rental market here; a motif which has now become accepted as fact by many newcomers to the city. However, what is important to realize is that such horror stories of apartment searches are usually caused by a lack of preparation and readiness in securing the ideal apartment. If you're willing to put in a little time, planning, and preparation, then finding an apartment in one of Manhattan’s neighborhoods won’t be strenuous.

 When it comes to the ordeal of moving to a new apartment, most if not all of Manhattan’s residents utter a collective, frustrated sigh as they ponder the various inconveniences that go hand-in-hand with this undertaking. This could of course be due to the fact that in New York City a host of extra complications arise, whether one is moving into a new luxury rental or a condominium, including but not limited to: street-cleaning restrictions, regulations concerning the use of the apartment building’s elevator, and of course, the oft encountered, always dreaded narrow doorways, most often associated with pre-war buildings. As Susan Stellin explains in her NY Times article, moving has, if anything, become even more complicated, transforming what had previously been an annoyance into an almost full-fledged problem.

Deja vu? Maybe a little bit. But while regular readers of the Luxury Rentals Manhattan already know about the end of the renter's market for Manhattan rental listings -- in part because we wrote about it a few weeks ago -- it's impressive to watch the evidence of the Manhattan real estate market's recovery continue to pile up. Impressive, and maybe just a little bit depressing -- as we wrote earlier this month, the NYC rental market is at its most renter-friendly when it's at its weakest. A stronger rental market means fewer concessions and other goodies, and makes sought-after no-fee apartment listings that much tougher to find. But while the most recent report from The Real Estate Group New York offers a vivid example of just how far the Manhattan rental market has come since the dog days of 2009, it's not quite as bad for renters as it sounds. There are still good deals to be found for those searching for Manhattan rental apartments. It just makes the search that much tougher. So, now that the soothing is over, what does the report actually say?

As a general rule, a luxury rental apartment in Manhattan is something of a prize. Some Manhattan rental apartments are more prized than others, and more prized by some NYC dwellers more than by others -- no fee NYC rental apartments are both rare and money-saving, which gives them some obvious value; the appeal of green rental apartment listings is no less obvious. But with New York City sweating out what is turning out to be one of the hottest summers on record, a new type of Manhattan rental listing has surged to the top of the list of most desirable NYC rental properties. In the New York Times, Sam Dolnick describes the appeal of the ultilities-included rental apartment, in which the absence of apartment-specific electricity monitoring enables round-the-clock air conditioning blastage. So, is the utilities-included rental apartment the new holy grail of Manhattan rental listings? Or is it just an especially inefficient way for some NYC dwellers to create a huge, 66-degree carbon footprint for themselves? Who says it can't be both?

No, we're still not going to call the rising residential neighborhood in West Chelsea and West Clinton -- Hudson Yards, to some -- by the name real estate types have tried to hang on it. But just because we're not going to call "The Linc" The Linc doesn't mean that we won't call it one of Manhattan's fastest-growing markets for luxury rental apartments. While it's unclear whether we should classify the apartments for rent in greater Hudson Yards as Chelsea rental listings, Garment District apartment rentals or Clinton rental listings, the fact remains that the bumper crop of new construction luxury rental buildings in the neighborhood, highlighted by superstar LEED-certified rental Emerald Green, have helped turn this formerly desolate stretch of Midtown West into one of the more interesting places to rent an apartment in Manhattan. With news that the second phase of The High Line will reach Hudson Yards' southernmost regions and that an expanded 7 train could make it increasingly accessible to the rest of the city, the future seems bright for Hudson Yards. In that sense, then, perhaps the announcement of an impressive new luxury rental apartment building in Hudson Yards shouldn't be too surprising. Still, by any standard, the just-finished Townsend -- a 569-unit luxury rental building at 350 West 37th Street -- is a pretty cool development, and another sign of how hot Hudson Yards has become.