Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 31, 2010 Of course we are completely biased, as we were actively involved in the creation and marketing of 200 Eleventh Avenue. And while it may not be a huge compliment, we took it as one when CURBED.COM rated 200 Eleventh Avenue the BEST NEW BUILDING OF 2010. Kudo’s… [Read More]
TWO PRE-RECESSION WORDS RETURN: 1) MULTIPLE 2) BIDS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 21, 2010 Before the recession hit hard, MULTIPLE BIDS were the norm on many real estate listings. Those two words virtually disappeared from the vocabulary of New York real estate brokers: they are ba-ack! I have recently experienced a few of my own listings with more than one bidder,… [Read More]
THE WHITNEY: THE WEST SIDE DOWNTOWN CHANGES FOREVER
Posted on December 21st, 2010 by Leonard Steinberg With the recent announcement of the Whitney Museum’s new outpost planned for construction at the end of the Highline Park in the Meatpacking District, Downtown will be forever changed. The Renzo Piano (Think Pompidou, Paris)designed 55,000sf art museum will be a cultural anchor of historic significance that… [Read More]
BRACE YOURSELF: IS LUXE-HYPER-INFLATION AROUND THE CORNER?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 19, 2010 Downtown New York residential real estate inventories are now approaching the levels of 2005…..does this equate to the beginnings of a shortage? With new construction having ground to a virtual halt over the past 2 years, we should not expect any brand new DELIVERABLE quality ultra-luxury apartments for… [Read More]
HUCKABEE INSANITY? 90%+ FINANCING RETURNS, BUT ONLY TO POLITICIANS?
Posted on December 19, 2010 by Leonard Steinberg Sorry we have been MIA lately, so back to the BLOG: Potential presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is building an 8,224 sf, $3 million home on the beach in Walton County. The Arkansas Times reported that the building permit for the three-story house lists the projected cost of construction at… [Read More]
UN-THANKFUL? A THANKSGIVING REALITY CHECK….
Posted on November 24, 2010 by Leonard Steinberg Are Americans un-grateful, using Thanksgiving as a veiled attempt at appearing thankful? Here are some thoughts: 1) We have exited a HUGE recession, somewhat close to a depression within 24 months, and yet everyone is complaining how SLOW the recovery is. 2) Real estate prices,… [Read More]
TRADER JOE’S VERSUS FRESH DIRECT
Posted on November 23, 2010 by Leonard Steinberg. Because I have nothing better to do, the other day I decided to punch in the exact items of my shopping list to the FRESH DIRECT site that I had just purchased at Trader Joe’s on Sixth Avenue: the results were astonishing. Fresh Direct was about 50%… [Read More]
MARKETAINMENT – THE UNREALITY OF REALITY
Posted by: Leonard Steinberg, 11/21/2010 Have you noticed how markets have been reduced to entertainment in recent years? Did it start with Donald Trump who once upon a time was just a serious (seriously!)developer that morphed into a reality TV star? When did we ever think that picking stocks could be akin to a Wheel… [Read More]
SUPERIOR INK HOUSTON ROCKETS PENTHOUSE SELLS FOR (KINDA)RECORD
The penthouse at the Superior Ink building in Greenwich Village, New York, owned by Houston Rockets owner, Leslie Alexander, has sold for a record $ 31,5million according to the Wall Street Journal. But is it a record for Downtown? Yes and no. The quadruplex combination penthouse at 200 Eleventh Avenue sold for around $ 33… [Read More]
E.T. is the new I.T.
Did you know that the waste produced from burning coal can be re-used to create portland cement? Did you know that a incandescent light fixture replaced with a LED light fixture saves about 80% of energy consumption. So while the world seeks some miraculous new source of energy, the rest of the world has discovered… [Read More]