New York City Luxury Rental Blog Archives for December 2012

Winter Slow Down Seen in Manhattan's Rental Market

Recent reports on the rental market in Manhattan have said that rents in the city have seen a decline over the past few months; a decrease that is consistent with the market slow down that is traditionally seen around this time of year. After a summer that saw rental prices in the city shoot through the roof, the statistics for November show that there has been a third consecutive decline in prices being asked for rental apartments in Manhattan.

Compared to Sales, the Rent in Manhattan Ain’t Bad

Manhattan Luxury Rentals SkylineWhen compared to the cost of buying an apartment in Manhattan, rental prices in the borough aren’t actually that bad. A study released on Friday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says that apartment prices in New York City have risen considerably faster than rents have in recent years. This split has raised some serious questions about the outlook for housing prices in the city as well as the sustainability of current prices. “Manhattan price-rent ratios, although off their 2008 highs, are still up dramatically over the past two decades, suggesting less financial ‘value’ today in an apartment purchase there,” said New York Fed economist Jason Bram, writing in the bank’s Current Issues in Economics and Finance.

Scott Stringer: We Need More Affordable Rentals

During the course of this year, New York City has been on a campaign of sorts to champion itself as a place where the country's burgeoning tech industry can both incubate and grow itself. The city has, for the most part, succeeded in this initiative with many tech industry giants like Facebook and Tumblr setting up shop in the city. The city has also promoted the creation of the Cornell University's tech campus on Roosevelt Island, thereby ensuring that New York will now be perceived as a strong rival to the current tech industry oasis of Silicon Valley. So if you work in New York’s tech industry in New York, the city sees you as an incredibly valuable part of the city and is pulling out all stops to make sure you stay on in the city.

New Luxury Rental Coming Up in Murray Hill

Murray Hill’s unique location in Midtown Manhattan has made it one of the more desirable neighborhoods to live in New York City. After all, residents here are near the city’s famous hotspots, be it the bright frenzy of Times Square or the refined elegance of Gramercy Park. But Murray Hill itself has its own particular charm, made apparent with the variety of retail and dining options available in the area. As a result, the neighborhood has been attracting Manhattan home hunters by the dozen, a fact that has not been missed by New York’s real estate developers. This could therefore be one of the reasons why Manhattan-based real estate investment firm Atlas Capital Group has bought the Eastgate Tower Hotel at 224 East 39th Street, with the intention of converting the 147,000-square-foot property into a 190-unit luxury rental building.

Manhattan Rental Report Shows Big Drop in Inventory in November

As the year draws to a close, the latest rental report from MNS for the month of November reveals that rents in Manhattan have fallen again, hence following the trend seen in the borough’s rental market since fall began. However, the decrease seen in November is a very small one, with the average decrease across units reported as only $19. However, professionals following the real estate market closely over the past few years will probably not be too surprised by these values, because decreases in rents are traditionally seen during the same time as temperatures fall in New York City. Besides, the rents here had been on an upward spiral up till September, and had also plateaued at really high values. But November’s report is noteworthy because of the drop in the city's inventory, thanks to a market that was already short of apartments and Superstorm Sandy shuttering many of the new buildings as well.

Pier 57’s First Stage to Begin with Shipping Container Mall

First conceived of in 2009, the Pier 57 makeover, located across from the Westside Highway at 15th Street, is finally underway. The first stage of the development, headed by developer YoungWoo and Associates, will take the form of a mall made of shipping containers. YoungWoo and Associates will set up shipping containers as stores for approximately 60 retailers with an expected completion date of this April. The Hudson River Park Board and community advocates chose Lot-Ek and YoungWoo as the designers for the new Pier 57 over competing designs from the Related Companies and the Durst Organization. What they liked about Lot-Ek and YoungWoo’s design was the provisions for green space, reductions in vehicular trips, and the respect for the pier’s industrial history. One of the only questions is whether or not rents will go up in West Chelsea again once the project is completed.

17 Displaced Renters of Atlantic Yards Headed Back to the Neighborhood

The Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn was one of the most contentious real estate developments seen in New York City in recent times, with critics lashing out at the 22-acre project that would see commercial office space, residential housing and a swanky sports arena arrive in Downtown Brooklyn. Of the three components of the Forest City Ratner project, the Barclays Center arena opened up a few months ago, and now, the next in line seems to be the housing units, with the first Atlantic Yards apartment building scheduled to be open by summer 2014.