Apartment rentals New York with William Beaver House

High Five (Figures): Demand For Ultra High-End Manhattan Rentals Continues Surge

The Manhattan real estate market is a complicated thing, as any regular Luxury Rentals Manhattan visitor -- and anyone who has ever tried to find a rental apartment in Manhattan -- could tell you. But one of the most peculiar features of the ongoing turnaround in the Manhattan rental marketplace is just how much more quickly the market for high-end Manhattan luxury rentals has turned around than has, say, the market for $2500-per-month Manhattan rental apartments. Given that there are more people in New York capable of paying more modest monthly rents than there are those willing or able to cut five-figure checks on the first of each month, the turnaround would seem to be somewhat backwards. But this is Manhattan real estate, and the top-down turnaround has become both harder and harder to ignore and -- per a recent New York Times report -- even more pronounced in the early months of summer. The demand for five-figure NYC rental apartments has been higher than that for smaller, less expensive Manhattan apartments.  So, what exactly does this mean for Manhattan real estate?

Luxury Rentals: Still The Famous Person's Choice When It Comes To Manhattan Apartments

Regular readers of the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog know that it's a familiar refrain, and just about anyone who follows Manhattan real estate knows that it happens to be true, but let's run this up the flagpole one last time -- in today's Manhattan real estate marketplace, it is inarguably wiser to rent than to buy. (Here's visual proof, if you need it) Of course, if you're already browsing the Manhattan rental listings at Luxury Rentals Manhattan, you're already hip to this fact. But if celebrity endorsements are more your speed, you're in luck. Again, it's nothing new -- we were on this when Kings of Leon singer Caleb Followill joined NYC apartment rental community in May of last year -- but Curbed reports that some of Manhattan's best known residents are opting to rent rather than buy these days. (That handsome and extravagantly well-compensated fellow at left happens to be one of them)

Condo-Quality Redefined, or What's The Deal With Rental Listings In Luxury Condos?

When is a luxury rental apartment listing not a luxury rental apartment listing? Well, if you insist on getting technical about a rhetorical question, the answer is "never." But, for a new crop of Manhattan luxury rental listings, the answer is somewhat more complicated. Some of Manhattan's most impressive new luxury rental listings are either partnered with new construction luxury condos -- blockbuster midtown luxury rental The Ashley, for example, shares an amenity space, a developer, and a number of other commonalities with The Aldyn, a carbon-copy condo with which it was co-developed -- or, in such posh instances as Chelsea's promising Eventi rentals located on the upper floors of luxury hotels. For William Beaver House, a new luxury rental listing in the Financial District, the story is even more convoluted -- developed as a condominium, William Beaver House is still selling luxury condominiums. It just happens to offer some of the most luxurious rental listings in the Financial District, as well. And there is, of course, Frank Gehry's luxury rental at 8 Spruce Street in the Financial District, which ranks among the most luxurious luxury rentals in Manhattan real estate history. The phrase "condo-quality finishes" has never seemed more literally apt, and less like a real estate buzzword. While this new proliferation of condo-rental combos can make for some confusion when browsing Manhattan rental listings, one effect is clear -- it certainly has deepened Manhattan's already deep pool of high-end rental listings.