Posted by Leonard Steinberg on August 2nd, 2013

Have you noticed how many buildings that sell very high priced apartments in Manhattan are neighbors to the projects and low income housing, yet co-exist quite perfectly?

This phenomenon was highlighted a few years ago when many building in Chelsea started to get built on those blocks with all the projects. Buyers feared the worst, but their fears have been proven to be mostly un-grounded. A building such as the CALEDONIA abuts a seemingly harsh project, yet apartments here sell for as much as $ 2,800/sf. Even more impressive is how the addition of these new luxury buildings seems to have elevated the quality of life for those living in the projects by introducing more pedestrian traffic and more security awareness. The streets look cleaner. Better stores and services come to the neighborhood. Overall it improves the quality of life for all.

So can the have’s and the have-not’s exist side-by-side in harmony? It appears so. Only in New York?