Apartment rentals New York with MiMA

The Beginning of the End: Airbnb

Airbnb
There has been much controversy lately over the room-sharing startup Airbnb which has recently awakened the argument over innovation vs. regulation. Airbnb has been presented itself as one of the most visible players in the “sharing economy” - ahead of services such as Vrbo and Flipkey. These short-term rentals are allegedly depleting the scarce housing market.

5 Best Buildings By Amenities

From excellent concierge service to a pet-oriented experience center, an extensive amenity space is always something to look forward to.  Here are five of Luxury Rentals Manhattan's top picks for best amenity spaces.

Landlords Continue to Push Rents Higher and Higher

Rents for luxury rental apartments in Manhattan on the riseIt’s time to throw traditional conceptions about the winter rental market in Manhattan out the window. With ideal conditions for raising rents in luxury apartments in Manhattan – high demand, restricted inventory, and low vacancy rates - landlords have spent the past 6 months doing exactly that, which is why the average Manhattan rent in February was just $18 off its all-time high. Even in the best of times, winter is traditionally known for concessions, high vacancy rates, and lower rents, but the exact opposite has happened this year, which is why many buildings are opting to switch from condos to rentals. And in the absence of the usual ebb in market activity, spring and summer will likely push the average Manhattan rent even higher, especially in new apartment developments. Overall, the Manhattan rental market has risen 14% since its nadir in 2009, largely because many wealthy Manhattan residents are reluctant to buy luxury apartments out of fear that they will depreciate in value, creating a large pool of potential renters of luxury apartments in Manhattan who aren’t hesitating to forgo concessions and pay higher rents.

New Developments Make Hell's Kitchen Hotter Than Ever

Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen is burning up these days as a host of new construction condo developments have helped the once warehouse-full neighborhood earn its status as one of the most in-demand neighborhoods in Manhattan real estate. Hell’s Kitchen is saying goodbye to old patches of cement meant for parking lots and boarded-up buildings that waste space, and those browsing Manhattan rental listings can attest to the fact that the new Hell's Kitchen rentals that have risen from those formerly vacant lots are very appealing indeed.

The Wall Street Journal traces the rise to popularity of this once-underdeveloped -- and poorly named: we, and you, should be calling it Clinton these days -- neighborhood, thanks in large part to a bumper crop of new construction luxury rental developments. And with these new apartment complexes comes a demand for more commercial business to move into the area; Hell’s Kitchen's future looks bright not only in terms of new luxury rental housing, but in terms of the commercial development that will follow on behind.

Are Manhattan Rental Apartments Now A Rich Person Thing?

Rich people things: New York City is full of them, from the hundred different takes on seared foie gras to the chilly boutiques of Soho and so on up and down the market. While our media has done a good job of making sure that New Yorkers are up on the latest trends among very wealthy New Yorkers -- and we've certainly done our part here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog, at least insofar as noting the popular renting-a-condo trend among the city's  star athletes -- there's a sense, at least for those of us still living in the actual-existing economy, that these are trends not worth chasing. Which makes it all the more appealing that, albeit at the highest of high-end price points, the wealthiest New Yorkers are now making like everyone else in NYC. Where most of us live in Manhattan rental apartments, the richest New Yorkers long turned to ultra-exclusive co-ops. Now, though, with uncertainty the word throughout the economy, New York's rich are opting to do what everyone else does -- and rent. Yes, they're renting the highest of high-end Manhattan rentals, but for the wealthiest New Yorkers as well as everyone else, renting seems to be the move. The reasoning behind it, unsurprisingly, is proof that -- at least when it comes to finding a place to live in NYC -- the rich are not so very different from you and I.

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.