THE NEW DEVELOPMENT RETURNS TO NEW YORK: A GIANT AWAKENS

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 13, 2011 After a 2 year hiatus, ‘New Development’, the darling of Manhattan high end real estate is coming back with a vengeance! We hear new buildings such as the Extell’s Park Hyatt building, Harry Macklowe’s Park Avenue tower, 250 West Street, the Rudin’s St.VIncent building are all moving… [Read More]

BUYING FROM FLOORPLANS: ARE THEY READY?

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 12, 2011 After 2008 showing prospective buyers of luxury property just the floorplans of a condominium with a model kitchen and bathroom virtually ceased. As construction and new projects ground to a halt in New York, the ‘new normal’ was all about showing a completed, furnished (staged) apartment to… [Read More]

OIL/INTERNET TYCOON-CARRIER? WATCH OUT INTREPID!

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 10, 2011 INSANE? The photo you above is just a mockup. But even with something just dreamed up in the mind of some crazed super yacht designer, you have to admit that it looks disturbingly appealing, in a Dubai-meets-Donald gawdy kind of way….. This creation is called “The Streets of… [Read More]

MANHATTAN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE LOOKS STRONG

  Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 8, 2011 Robert Knakal of Massey Knakal, a leading brokerage for smaller commercial buildings, just reported that Commercial real estate market conditions continue to exert upward pressure on value as an acute supply/demand imbalance leaves thousand of active buyers fighting over relatively few available properties. Coupled with an extraordinarily… [Read More]

LUXURYLETTER REPORTS ON 2010 END OF YEAR SALES RESULTS.

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Leonard Steinberg Downtown closed out 2010 with a bang: The volume of $ 5million+ signed contracts and closings was somewhat astounding, further re-enforcing the theory that the highest end of real estate in Downtown Manhattan is literally booming. Now we can officially say that the market has returned once… [Read More]

THE DINING ROOM FINDS NEW LIFE

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 31st, 2010 Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on alternative uses for the traditional dining room. As a broker I consistently hear the story of ‘the un-used dining room’…..its a story how everyone buying a home dreams of lavish dinner parties in their dining room surrounded by… [Read More]

200 ELEVENTH AVENUE: BUILDING OF THE YEAR?

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]