Apartment rentals New York with Luxury Rentals Manhattan

As we’ve written about before, West Chelsea is as hot a neighborhood as anyplace in Manhattan, largely because the High Line has exponentially increased its popularity. Ten23 is one of many newly constructed luxury condo buildings in West Chelsea, but unlike most of its competitors, it sits on top of the Highline, literally. Well, maybe not quite literally, but Ten23’s exterior brushes the Highline’s railing; it basically leans over the park, so passersby can look right into the building. Ten23 has actually used this as it’s best marketing tool. Relying solely on word of mouth, Equity Residential has signed 19 leases and has 5 commitments for the luxury building’s 111 units. What makes this especially remarkable is that Equity has asked all these renters for what is likely the most expensive nonrefundable deposit in Manhattan’s history; just to make a commitment, renters must pony up $1,000 that they know they won’t get back. If this doesn’t speak to the unprecedented strength of the Manhattan luxury rental market (especially in West Chelsea), then we don’t know what does.

Last week the Astor Suite in the Plaza on 768 Fifth Avenue hit the market for $165,000 a month, officially becoming the most expensive apartment in Manhattan. The Astor Suite is a 5,087 square foot 4-bedroom 6-bathroom luxury home. Jurgen Friedrich, the owner of Esprit, bought the Midtown West residence for $25 million in 2007, and turned it around the next year at an asking price of $55 million. We wrote earlier about how more New York residents are taking up an interest in the most luxurious Manhattan rentals. Maybe Friedrich saw the article because now, after three years without a buyer, he’s put up the apartment for rent at its current superlative asking price. We all know luxury apartments for rent at places like the Plaza don’t come cheap, but this story got us wondering what some of the other highest rental prices in Manhattan were. We looked around, and found that rental inventory starts to fall off a little before $100,000, but there are a few places that can compete for the title of "most expensive in Manhattan."

Catering to a city of renters, NYC real estate developers seem to design with the tech-savvy resident in mind. But as luxury Manhattan apartments get sleeker, perhaps the hottest amenities on the market aren’t wired at all—just childproof. Statistics from Property and Portfolio Research, a real-estate forecasting firm owned by CoStar, recently reported single moms were the largest group of new NYC renters from 2000 to 2010, comprising 30% of new-renters. But in addition to adding to the diversity of NYC renters, the wave of single-mother-residents revitalizing the NYC housing market scene has the potential to influence more family oriented features in a real-estate race where impersonating resort life has become the foremost objective.

Within NYC luxury real estate, it is often quite difficult as an international student to find a luxury rental apartment. It can be hard for most students, as well as many others without a long work history or established credit, to obtain a luxury apartment lease. But for international students searching through NYC luxury real estate listings, it can be even more of an ordeal, simply because they do not have the same opportunity to use a guarantor. Susan Tsang, for example, is a PhD student in biology who was born in Hong Kong. When she moved to NYC to attend school, she did not have any U.S. employment history, and therefore was in a position where she needed a co-signer. However, because her parents still lived in Hong Kong, she was confronted with a number of challenges, as dozens of landlords refused to allow for international guarantors. She was eventually able to find a studio in Manhattan’s Upper West Side neighborhood, but not before she was forced to deal with the roadblocks a great many foreigners have had to circumnavigate.

The people have spoken, and their cries for New York City to “go green” have convinced lawmakers to finally measure the amount of energy consumption in commercial and city-owned buildings. Eventually, residential buildings will also be subject to this law, allowing prospective tenants an easier -- and more objective and valuable -- time in searching green apartment listings. All of which means that it’s nearly time for landlords to choose between going green… or simply going. According to Crain’s New York, which scathingly calls over-users “energy hogs,” New York City’s new program, aimed to measure the amount of energy consumed in nearly 25,000 commercial buildings, requires landlords to report their energy usage numbers. More specifically, it is targeting buildings larger than 50,000 square feet, mandating the submission of their most recent numbers focusing on the consumption of electricity, gas, oil and water. City-owned buildings are placed under even more stringent requirements, having to turn in reports for those that are 10,000 square feet or more.