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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
TWEET NOTHINGS!
I just returned from a Real Estate Conference that addressed the future, existing technology, and new technology, and how all this will impact our lives as real estate brokers. About 500 people attended. So here I am blogging…. The most annoying aspect of this conference was the strong encouragement of that recent phenomenon called TWITTER…. [Read More]