| Luxury Rentals Manhattan

Proposed East Village Historic District Could Raise Rents…Again

Thu, 08/18/2011 - 9:54am

Manhattan Luxury Apartments - East Village Historic District Once a part of a larger, broader Lower East Side, the East Village is one of New York City’s trendiest neighborhoods. Adhering to Manhattan’s street grid unlike its former namesake, the East Village has a vibrant student, immigrant, and artist population, and demand in the area has skyrocketed as a result of being the place to be in Downtown Manhattan. Now, to the chagrin of basically everybody but landlords, rents might increase yet again, but for a completely different reason: the Landmarks Preservation Commission has its sights on the East Village.

In its conspiracy project to landmark all of Lower and Downtown Manhattan attempt to preserve historic architecture from the fate that belied much of the southeastern Lower East Side, the LPC has proposed a district centered on Second Avenue between East Second and Seventh Streets, comprising a wealth of 19th- and early 20th-century brownstones, walk ups, and federal architecture. The aim of this proposal is overwhelmingly positive, protecting a cherished neighborhood from even the smallest possibility of losing character. But what does it mean for rentals, specifically luxury rentals?

Finding Vacant Manhattan Apartments Becoming More Of A Challenge?

Mon, 08/15/2011 - 12:47pm

Manhattan Luxury Condos - Vacant Manhattan Apartments Looking for a rental apartment in New York City is definitely a challenge in the market today. In all of New York City only 2.8% of the city’s apartments are vacant and in need of tenants reported the Wall Street Journal. This can make it difficult for renters to find the variety that they would like when it comes to the housing market, but with a little help from a broker some finagling can be done to find the perfect vacant apartment for each renter, making landlords even happier than they already are for having few—if any—vacant apartments in their buildings.

Along with a decrease in vacant apartments, average rent in the city has increased in the second quarter of 2011, almost reaching a previous high from 2008. Apartments for rent are expected to pass this high throughout the rest of the year. Throughout this economic crisis, landlords have been offering incentives to attract renters: a free month’s rent, paying broker fees. Now that there are fewer vacant apartments available for rent, you’d think this has changed and it has slightly, but these deals are still around. Potential renters can take advantages of these incentives, making the process of finding a vacant apartment for rent in Manhattan more rewarding in the end, however Crain’s New York reported that only 7% of rental deals include a free month’s rent or payment of the broker’s fee compared to 25% of rental deals at the same time a year earlier.

Movin' On Up: Tips to Master the Tricky Manhattan Move-in

Fri, 08/12/2011 - 2:16pm

When it comes to the ordeal of moving to a new apartment, most if not all of Manhattan’s residents utter a collective, frustrated sigh as they ponder the various inconveniences that go hand-in-hand with this undertaking. This could of course be due to the fact that in New York City a host of extra complications arise, whether one is moving into a new luxury rental or a condominium, including but not limited to: street-cleaning restrictions, regulations concerning the use of the apartment building’s elevator, and of course, the oft encountered, always dreaded narrow doorways, most often associated with pre-war buildings. As Susan Stellin explains in her NY Times article, moving has, if anything, become even more complicated, transforming what had previously been an annoyance into an almost full-fledged problem.

An Inside Look at New York by Gehry at 8 Spruce Street

Thu, 08/11/2011 - 1:22pm

Manhattan Real Estate - 8 Spruce Street New York by Gehry, also known as 8 Spruce Street is one of the newest luxury rental buildings in Manhattan. It also has the distinction of being the tallest residential building in the United States. There has become a competition in New York and 8 Spruce may see its title as the tallest residential building in Manhattan challenged.

8 Spruce Street immediately stands out because of the building’s unique façade. Possibly even more impressive than the exterior of 8 Spruce Street is the interior of the building.

Because of the exterior of 8 Spruce Street, many of the rental apartments inside of it have floor plans that are unique. Just as the 8 Spruce Street twists and curves like a flame into the sky, residents can expect to find little nooks and crannies within the apartment that match with the building's exterior.

NYC Enacts New Green Laws

Mon, 08/08/2011 - 9:41am

NYC Luxury Condos - New Green Laws The people have spoken, and their cries for New York City to “go green” have convinced lawmakers to finally measure the amount of energy consumption in commercial and city-owned buildings. Eventually, residential buildings will also be subject to this law, allowing prospective tenants an easier -- and more objective and valuable -- time in searching green apartment listings. All of which means that it’s nearly time for landlords to choose between going green… or simply going. According to Crain’s New York, which scathingly calls over-users “energy hogs,” New York City’s new program, aimed to measure the amount of energy consumed in nearly 25,000 commercial buildings, requires landlords to report their energy usage numbers. More specifically, it is targeting buildings larger than 50,000 square feet, mandating the submission of their most recent numbers focusing on the consumption of electricity, gas, oil and water. City-owned buildings are placed under even more stringent requirements, having to turn in reports for those that are 10,000 square feet or more.

Competition to Build Manhattan's Tallest Residential Building Sprouts

Tue, 08/02/2011 - 11:30am

Manhattan Luxury Condos - Tallest Building NYC Bragging rights for building the tallest building in the world have been passed back and forth several times. The most recent country to own these bragging rights is Dubai with the Burj Khalifa rising 2,700-feet into the sky and it is likely they’ll have these rights for a long time; they’ve been passed over from New York to Chicago to Malaysia and then Taiwan. Everyone has their eye on the prize of being able to say that they had a hand in creating the world’s tallest building.

In Manhattan, it may be a while until we can take back the title of the city that owns the world’s tallest building, but builders in New York City have developed a friendly competition amongst each other, a competition to build Manhattan’s tallest residential building. Frank Gehry’s 8 Spruce Street, a luxury rental condominium currently holds the title of tallest residential building in Manhattan, soaring 870-feet into the Manhattan skyline. This year, 8 Spruce Street outgrew Donald Trump’s Trump World Tower as Manhattan’s tallest residential building, but it may not be holding the title for much longer.

Buying is Out, Renting is the New Trend

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 2:08pm

Manhattan Luxury Rentals - Buying/Renting

We've noted it before at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog, more than once and in ways both bloggy and worth-a-thousand-words visual. Of course, we have our reasons for this (the name of this blog is Luxury Rentals Manhattan, after all), but the numbers don't lie -- Manhattan rental apartments, now more than ever, are simply a better deal than Manhattan condominiums. While some of this owes to the price of those Manhattan condominiums, the trend away from buying and towards renting has been so dramatic, both in Manhattan real estate and in general, that it bears repeating.

Which is why we keep repeating it, and which is exactly what a recent report from Bloomberg -- the financial news people, not the tiny orange Mayor -- does, in numbers too striking to ignore. Thanks in part to epidemic foreclosures and largely to a national trend towards renting, the U.S. homeownership rate has fallen below the 60 percent mark, making it the lowest recorded homeownership rate. Before this year, the lowest homeownership rate recorded was in 1965 when the rate was 62.9 percent. The highest rate, by contrast, was 69.2 percent in 2004 when George W. Bush promoted an “ownership society” and banks offered two-for-one mortgages during happy hour. Now, just seven years later, the rate is 59.7 percent -- and the erstwhile ownership society, both in Manhattan and elsewhere, is looking disarmingly like a rentership society.

Cornell University Enters Race to Win Roosevelt Island Campus Spot

Mon, 07/25/2011 - 3:07pm

Manhattan Luxury Rentals - Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island has been getting a lot of attention lately, what with the Octagon taking huge strides in New York State’s green building practices and Riverwalk Court and Manhattan Park offering luxury apartments for rent in an extremely unique Manhattan neighborhood. Roosevelt Island, currently undergoing development, has been enjoying a burst of popularity and has slowly been climbing the charts when it comes to Manhattan’s “neighborhoods to watch” list. Now, Roosevelt Island gives us one more reason to take a close look at this tiny island on the East River: a competition amongst some of the world’s largest engineering and applied science programs for space to build a campus on the island.

Last week, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city is offering up to $100 million to the development of a major engineering and applied science campus on Roosevelt Island. Cornell University is among the colleges looking to grab this offer and strengthen their (already notable) New York City presence. The Ivy League school isn’t the only school, however, that is hoping to get their hands on this deal. Stanford University and other international schools are competing for the spot as well. But one thing's for sure: whatever school secures the campus grant will bring a new demographic to Roosevelt Island of grad students and college kids, likely spurring the development of this growing section of Manhattan.

Summer Trends: Closing the Gap Between Doorman and Non-Doorman Buildings

Fri, 07/22/2011 - 2:34pm

NYC Luxury Rentals - Summer Trends As July nears its end, New Yorkers are passing the halfway mark of a sunny, sweltering summer. With dizzying heat waves crossing the country and sending miserable New Yorkers a-scramble for sunblock and the nearest air conditioner, a bit of (semi-)good news would not be amiss. So we at Luxury Rentals Manhattan are happy to report that -- once again -- our past predictions for the summer have come to fruition, despite our recently tempered views. The summer Manhattan rental season has continued to grow in strength according to July’s rental market report, with rents climbing across the board. And while only last month we touted the price benefits of non-doorman buildings, July sings quite a different tune. The prices of doorman and non-doorman buildings are slowly drawing even as the market buffs up and rents rise, closing June’s price gap between the two types of rentals.

New Media, Not Investors, Investing in Rentals. What?

Tue, 07/19/2011 - 10:37am

NYC Luxury Condos - Media Investing in Rentals

New York City, ever known for taking the real estate and rental advice from the rest of America and throwing it out the window, is now going through a more unexpected demographic change. When we think of who actually rents luxury rentals, the first group that comes to mind is usually investment bankers, mainly those in their 20s and 30s who fill the tangled streets of Lower Manhattan early in the morning and seemingly beat rush hour both to and from work. That was true until recently, and while financiers still comprise the largest portion of renters, they no longer form the majority that they used to be. Instead, an eclectic tech-savvy generation has usurped traditional business, and in turn, the rental market.