Apartment rentals New York with New Construction Rental Buildings

For many Manhattan residents, finding a New York City apartment can seem like a near impossibility, as rents are currently at historic highs. However, several new rental buildings are beginning to surface, with 2,596 new units joining the Manhattan market in 2012. Although vacancy rates are at all-time lows, these new Manhattan rental apartments will surely provide renters with a fresh array of options. This is good news in the long-run too: more inventory means that all that pent-up demand for Manhattan rentals will finally have an outlet. If this trend of new construction and pre-war conversion continues, it will definitely help Manhattan’s sky-high rents come down to earth.

The National Association of Home Builders, in conjunction with Wells Fargo, released their monthly Housing Market Index last month, and the report, which gauges builder confidence in the housing market nationwide, provided some promising new information. Nationally, builder confidence in new construction is higher than it has been since before the market crash, and while the index number is still relatively low—standing in February at 29—it is on a consistently upward trajectory, and is now the highest it has been since May 2007. While the report does not touch on individual markets, it does imply good news for builders and renters of apartments in Manhattan.

The Mercedes name conjures up images of luxury and grandeur. These same images that are associated with the car company are associated with Mercedes House, which gets its name from the fact that it houses the Mercedes-Benz of Manhattan showroom. It is safe to say that this is one of the few opportunities in Manhattan to live above a car showroom. Unfortunately, it will not be like Oprah, where everyone gets a free car, but there are many other reasons why this building is being talked about.

One of the more notable things about the Mercedes House is its interesting design. The building rises up with a step-like pattern, one section being a story higher than the next. At one end of the lot, the building turns and continues its step-like like ascent into the skies.

This spectacular rental condominium building in Clinton is nearing completion. There is only one section of the building that needs to be completed, but condominiums are already on the market. Mercedes House is one of the newest condominium buildings with luxury rental listings to hit the market in New York City. A truly unique building is a seemingly perfect fit for the unique city that is Manhattan.

We'll admit it: there are better places to go for economic analysis than the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog. Which is fine, since we're mostly about point people towards no-fee rental listings and NYC rentals and less about detailed microeconomic position papers. Everyone's cool with that. But it has been interesting, during the tenuous but ongoing comeback in the Manhattan rental market, to se basic economic fundamentals getting a real world star turn -- and behaving more or less as the textbooks say they should. If you've been reading the blog -- or even just following Manhattan real estate -- you've seen it, too. From the way that prices have spiked as vacancies have gone down to the near-disappearance of concessions and incentives on NYC rentals, Manhattan real estate has been exceptionally logical of late. Not always kind, and certainly enough to send many renters looking back wistfully at the good old days of the renter's market, but logical. But if there's something reassuring in that logic, there's also something somewhat menacing about it, considering that what looks like a possible inventory crunch in the Manhattan rental market could send prices spiking in months to come. Economic rules: can't live with 'em, can't... well, you know the rest.

It's a pretty common refrain here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog that the return of the Manhattan rental market to something like its old gangbusters status is a good thing. That's because, in a macro sense, it is. But it's also because we're working on talking ourselves into it. The renter's market of the great Manhattan rental market slump was tough on landlords and developers, but it was great news for those browsing NYC rental apartments, who suddenly found themselves faced with a wealth of no-fee rental listings and landlords seemingly eager to give away months of free rent and other other concessions. Now that the Manhattan rental market is healthier, the renter's market is generally a thing of the past -- a fondly remembered silver lining surrounding an ever-shrinking cloud, if you're a metaphor type, and a casualty of economic trends if you're more literally inclined. But, as we try to remind readers (and ourselves), there are still great deals to be found on Manhattan rental apartments. There are still plenty of no-fee rental listings out there, for instance, and there are also plenty of Manhattan luxury rentals offering concessions on leases. The surprising part, though, is the identity of those concession-granting Manhattan luxury rentals. From The Ohm -- a new construction luxury rental in Chelsea pictured near these words -- to a host of other new construction rental listings in various Manhattan neighborhoods, some of Manhattan's most concession-friendly rental listings happen to be at some of Manhattan's hottest new construction apartment buildings. No, really. More after the jump.