New York City Luxury Rental Blog

Without surprise, market reports released early in May revealed that Manhattan’s apartment rental rates are staying above pre-recession levels as they continued to climb throughout the month of April. As Luxury Rentals Manhattan has continuously reported, New York's lack of available rental units is the primary cause of these skyrocketing rates.

It's no secret that Roosevelt Island has always been Manhattan's stepchild. The 2-mile long island sits right across from the Upper East Side in the East River, but no one has ever confused the two. The Brutalist-style apartment complexes and limited retail and dining options couldn’t stand in starker contrast to the Upper East Side’s glamorous pre-war apartment buildings and high culture. But changes are happening as we speak. A joint venture between Related Companies and Hudson Companies is building a totally new neighborhood on Roosevelt Island called Riverwalk. Plus, Hudson Cos. recently took over the 100,000 square foot retail corridor from the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, a state agency that developed and manages the Island, and New York City’s best known chain stores are already moving in. What this means for Manhattan apartment renters is simple: luxury apartments on Roosevelt Island are a steal right now.

In recent years, converting office towers into luxury apartment buildings has been a popular way of freeing up rental inventory in Manhattan’s Financial District, especially since new construction has been so hard to finance. Metro Loft Management has led the way in this respect, and they've built their reputation on transforming business offices into high quality luxury rentals; they presently own nine converted buildings in FiDi. The 66-story high-rise at 70 Pine Street is their latest addition, and once it is finished it will be the tallest residential building in New York and the Western hemisphere.

Everyone knows that big changes are on the way for Hudson Yards. The old manufacturing area will be transformed in the next decade or two into an entirely new neighborhood, one replete with luxury apartment buildings, an ultra-modern office complex of angular high-rises, a new park, a new museum, a subway line, and even a new boulevard that will bisect the area. But if you were to look at the Hudson Yards site right now, it still looks much like it did ten or twenty years ago. Appearances can be deceiving though, because new development for luxury rental apartment buildings has thrived in the area over the past half-dozen years, and many newly constructed luxury rentals are already available. Considering that the Hudson Yards area has succeed in sustaining new construction at a time when such success is rare, this area is well-positioned to emerge as Manhattan’s next hot rental neighborhood.

The saga of 254 Front Street may finally reach a happy ending. After a developer purchased the property in 2004 for a mere $4 million, numerous setbacks and ownership disputes threatened the project’s completion. This may have been in part because the value of 254 Front Street was lessened by its direct proximity to the Brooklyn Bridge; traditional wisdom held that it’s difficult to ‘sell’ the bridge, which is why the old Jeremy’s Ale House Building was so cheap. In the eight years that have elapsed since then, this 40-unit, 8-story building switched from a condo-conversion to a luxury rental, and now this pre-war rental conversion is finally about to complete construction and hit the market.