As we’ve written about before, West Chelsea is as hot a neighborhood as anyplace in Manhattan, largely because the High Line has exponentially increased its popularity. Ten23 is one of many newly constructed luxury condo buildings in West Chelsea, but unlike most of its competitors, it sits on top of the Highline, literally. Well, maybe not quite literally, but Ten23’s exterior brushes the Highline’s railing; it basically leans over the park, so passersby can look right into the building. Ten23 has actually used this as it’s best marketing tool. Relying solely on word of mouth, Equity Residential has signed 19 leases and has 5 commitments for the luxury building’s 111 units. What makes this especially remarkable is that Equity has asked all these renters for what is likely the most expensive nonrefundable deposit in Manhattan’s history; just to make a commitment, renters must pony up $1,000 that they know they won’t get back. If this doesn’t speak to the unprecedented strength of the Manhattan luxury rental market (especially in West Chelsea), then we don’t know what does.

In honor of the new year the Real Deal solicited a group of real estate experts and industry insiders to get their opinions on where the Manhattan rental real estate market is headed in 2012. The experts agreed almost unanimously that conditions will be similar to how they were in 2011. Apartments for rent, they said, will still be in the grip of a strong market, and ultraluxury rental apartments will do particularly well. There was general consensus that average rent will either stay the same, or increase slightly over the year. Many experts said that high and stable rents will force condo and co-op prices upward, and most agreed that the rental market would overall be steadier than the purchase market.

In an unexpected twist, Related Cos. elected to switch the luxury condos in MiMa, their 63-story glass high-rise on 42nd Street and 10th Avenue in Midtown West, to luxury rentals. Related planned for over 3 years to sell the 151 units as luxury condos, all located above the 50th floor of MiMa. The 663 luxury rentals on the lower stories were always been designated as rentals, but this sudden reversal to an all-rental building rather than a mixed sales and rentals building is more telling than it appears, though not in the way we might initially assume. This is not a case of desperate landlords panicking and using the luxury rental market as a safety net. Rather, this is a calculated decision based on the strengths and weaknesses of the rental and sales markets. If Related is making a smart decision, and it certainly appears that way, then MiMa's move to rental bodes well for the luxury rental market in Manhattan.

Last week the Astor Suite in the Plaza on 768 Fifth Avenue hit the market for $165,000 a month, officially becoming the most expensive apartment in Manhattan. The Astor Suite is a 5,087 square foot 4-bedroom 6-bathroom luxury home. Jurgen Friedrich, the owner of Esprit, bought the Midtown West residence for $25 million in 2007, and turned it around the next year at an asking price of $55 million. We wrote earlier about how more New York residents are taking up an interest in the most luxurious Manhattan rentals. Maybe Friedrich saw the article because now, after three years without a buyer, he’s put up the apartment for rent at its current superlative asking price. We all know luxury apartments for rent at places like the Plaza don’t come cheap, but this story got us wondering what some of the other highest rental prices in Manhattan were. We looked around, and found that rental inventory starts to fall off a little before $100,000, but there are a few places that can compete for the title of "most expensive in Manhattan."

When it comes to nicknames, acronyms and word blends, there are no shortage of them in Manhattan real estate. Investors and developers alike often generate and promote catchy neighborhood names such as NoMad (North of Madison Park) in order to generate buzz around new construction developments and micro-neighborhoods. While long time neighborhoods such as Soho (South of Houston Street), TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal) and FiDi (Financial District) have slowly but surely crept into our everyday vocabulary, others are just beginning to emerge and fighting to stay relevant in our (sub)consciousness. The newest addition to this trend is Chumbo in Lower Manhattan.