We've written before about both our crush on Chelsea's High Line and the hugely salutary effect the beloved, beautiful Chelsea park has had on the apartments for rent near The High Line. For condominiums for sale near the High Line, that proximity has led to a spike in both value and demand. For the select few Chelsea rental listings lucky enough to be High Line adjacent, the effect has been the same. The good news, though, both for those looking for rental apartments in Chelsea and those of us who simply enjoy walking on Manhattan's loveliest new park, is that The High Line keeps growing. Which means that the number of apartment listings near The High Line keeps growing as well. The sound you are hearing is landlords, developers and Chelsea renters high-fiving one another. With news -- and pictures -- of the ongoing High Line expansion reaching the New York Times yesterday, you may have to fight the urge to high-five yourself. It's not easy for us, either.
In part, this is because we love us some High Line -- it looks great, it offers a unique perspective on one of Manhattan's most appealing neighborhoods, and if we're being honest, the novelty of a new park in Manhattan hasn't quite worn off yet. From a real estate perspective, though, The High Line is more than just a new landmark in Chelsea. The park has created a ton of value in Chelsea real estate, and the next leg of the High Line expansion -- from West 20th Street to 30th Street -- promises to do the same. The planned final leg, which is likely some time off, will run further west along 30th Street, around the West Side rail yards, and finally wrap up somewhere around the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Just in time, one imagines, for the planned subway expansion to West 34th Street. As we've discussed before, the expansion of the 7 train should do a lot to make Hudson Yards a viable, desirable 'hood. The arrival of The High Line could well put it over the top.
In the New York Times, Corey Kilgannon offers a tour of the ten-block High Line expansion that will more than double the length of The High Line. The outlook is, predictably, promising. "The second section is a whole other park, simply because it explores a different section of the city and because the rail line has its own changing shape and character," Kilgannon reports. "The new section feeds off both factors in its design, with new features at every block. There is an elevated stretch of grass — the High Line’s first lawn! — between 22nd and 23rd Streets, the fertile valley near 26th Street, and an elegant sweep of curved benches at 29th Street where the tracks turn westward. There are plans for a grating over 30th Street to allow users to peer directly down to ground level."
And out come the self-high-fives again. Perhaps the only people more excited about this than the real estate dorks here at Luxury Rentals Manhattan are people browsing Chelsea rental listings or signing multi-year leases at such newly High Line-adjacent Chelsea rentals as Port 10, The Ohm and The Tate.
