Is Downtown Manhattan the new New York SUBURB?
With 200 Eleventh Avenue, you have a garage attached to your own apartment……many full-full service buildings are becoming similar to suburban ‘gated communities’ affording even more conveniences than their suburban counterparts….think 101 Warren Street with its own Whole Foods, Bed Bath and Beyond and Barnes and Noble IN the building….in the suburbs you have to drive to those chains. Bicycle use has doubled in the past few years. Millions of trees have been planted, and parks are sprouting on every corner.
New York is becoming more suburbanized. You’ve got Home Depot, Costco, all the amenities that used to be reserved for the suburbs. The younger generation wants to live in Brooklyn, Hoboken, Chelsea, Tribeca, Soho and the Lower East Side, not in Westchester and Connecticut. Transportation from these areas to downtown is actually easier than to midtown. So when the decision makers are the next generations, it is likely that the importance of Grand Central to the decision makers will decrease relative to today. Advantage, downtown. It is fashionable to live and work Downtown….think VOGUE moving from Times Square to the Wall Street area.
“Convenience is the new luxury,” says Leonard Steinberg, publisher of LUXURYLETTER and managing director of Prudential Douglas Elliman, New York’s leading real estate brokerage. “Downtown dwellers love being able to walk to work. Walking is the one thing suburbs don’t allow. Downtown used to be all about manufacturing and finance offices: gentrification has changed that forever. A walk down a typical downtown street will include commercial lofts transformed into elegant homes, a doorman greeting guests…..tree lined streets, sidewalks with Mom’s or nannies with strollers, several Starbuck’s, only Downtown there is a strong infusion of unique boutiques and restaurants with an edgier flavor than Uptown,and certainly more interesting than the mix offered in Greenwich, Alpine or White Plains.”
Walk up Tenth Avenue from 14th Street and spot new condominiums and rental buildings by the dozen mixed in with hip, cool offices. Hudson Square surrounded by Tribeca and Soho features a substantial volume of media company office. Cross the street from Goldman Sachs and you land in Tribeca….stay on that side of the highway and you’re already in Battery Park City, and area that has grown tremendously in desirability. And all of this comes with greenery once only promised in suburban life.
Cut a commute from 1 hour a day to 30 minutes, and that adds up to more than a 5 day vacation per year…..