The business of swimming -- or not swimming -- at 15 CPW

The business of swimming -- or not swimming -- at 15 CPW

July 01, 2011 07:00AM By Katherine Clarke

The pool at 15 Central Park West One of the selling points emphasized by brokers at the Edge condominium in Williamsburg is the major weekend scene at the pool, with lots of sunbathing, picnicking and socializing. At 20 Pine's pool in the Financial District, neighbors regularly practice yoga and host parties.

But there will be no pool parties at 15 Central Park West this summer. Even as the weather heats up, the atmosphere at the über-exclusive condominium remains subdued, residents say, and the pool area is often deserted.

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http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/the-business-of-swimming-or-not-swimming-at-15-cpw#

Big Apple to get a New Apple store at Grand Central Station

Apple has just signed a 10-year deal with the MTA to open the largest Apple Store ever in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. The maker of the iPhone and iPad have a few locations in NYC already, including the iconic cube store on 5th Avenue, but the coming Apple Store location at Grand Central is poised to be the most trafficked and possibly even the most attractive, given previous rumors regarding Apple’s plans for the 23,000 square-foot store.
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 http://www.intomobile.com/2011/07/25/apple-store-coming-grand-central-nyc/

Jay-Z snags buyer for record breaking Time Warner Center Condo

Clockwise from left: the apartment at the Time Warner Center, Jay-Z and buyer Taek Jho Low

The buyer of Jay-Z's former Time Warner Center pad has been revealed as an entity linked to Malaysian party boy Taek Jho Low, according to the New York Post. At $31 million, or more than $6,400 per square foot, Low paid more than anyone else has ever paid at the luxury site.

This is not an unusual purchase for Low, who has partied regularly with Linday Lohan, Megan Fox and Paris Hilton. He has owned various trophy properties, including a $33 million penthouse, formerly owned by Donald Trump, on Central Park West, which he sold for a $3 million loss last year.

Insiders told the Post that a "bevy of beautiful Asian women trailed by American men in suits" toured the glamorous 76th-floor condo several times during the negotiations. Low personally toured the property two years ago, when it was first put on the market. Raphael and Claudine De Niro of Prudential Douglas Elliman had the listing. [Post]
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Relocating or Moving to New York?

LANDLORDS in New York City can afford to be picky. With a vacancy rate in Manhattan of under 1 percent, apartments sometimes rent in hours, not days or weeks. Good tenants are not that hard to find. On top of that, evicting problem tenants can be expensive and time consuming.

So, most landlords here require a lot of information. They want to see a prospective tenant’s tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, proof of employment, photo identification, and sometimes, reference letters from previous landlords. Everyone will run a credit check (many Manhattan landlords look for a score above 700) and just about all, from big management firms to small-time landlords, want to know that your gross income is somewhere between 40 and 50 times the monthly rent

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/realestate/prospective-renters-have-much-to-prove-to-landlords.html?_r=1&ref=realestate

Bruce Willis sells Trump Place unit for $3.9M

Action star Bruce Willis has sold his three-bedroom, three-bathroom condominium unit at Trump Place at 220 Riverside Boulevard for $3.9 million, The Real Deal has learned. The sale of the unit, #20N, is expected to close tomorrow.

It is the only apartment in the 430-unit building with 11-foot ceilings and boasts en suite marble bathrooms and a jacuzzi.

David Salvatore and Chris Sileo of Town Residential had the listing. The buyers, a couple named Joe and Maria Luciania, were represented by Kristen Magnani of Rutenberg Realty in the sale.
Read the full story here>>>  http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/bruce-willis-sells-trump-place-unit-at-at-220-riverside-boulevard-for-3-9m

No Surprise...Manhattan Rents on the rise...

Manhattan rents rise, with room to go higher

July 08, 2011 12:00AM By Adam Fusfeld

The Manhattan apartment rental market has been heating up for months, and second-quarter market reports released today by residential brokerages Citi Habitats and Prudential Douglas Elliman show skyrocketing rents. Now, the question is how long the rent increases will continue.

The Citi Habitats report, which covers all transactions brokered by the firm in the second quarter and takes concessions into account, shows a year-over-year increase in price of about 10 percent for Manhattan apartments. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan was $2,672 and two-bedroom units averaged $3,757 per month, up 9.2 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively, from the second quarter of 2010. But three-bedroom apartments experienced the largest price increase over last year -- 11.3 percent -- and now rent for $4,985 on average.

The most expensive area was the West Village where one-bedroom rents reached $3,457, followed by Soho and Tribeca where one-bedrooms netted $3,454 on average. The least expensive areas were Upper Manhattan and the Upper East Side, where rents averaged $2,621 for a one-bedroom apartmen
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Understanding the pros and cons of purchasing property with a landlease

The invitation for the cocktail party at the Azure, a new Upper East Side condop building, called for a celebration—“Una Gran Fiesta!”—but it was really more of an entreaty. Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Jacky Teplitzky, who’s marketing apartments in the building, had learned that only a quarter of the calls inquiring about the project were coming from brokers and their clients. (Usually, it’s more like three-quarters.) Soon she discovered that a major issue wasn’t the pThe invitation for the cocktail party at the Azure, a new Upper East Side condop building, called for a celebration—“Una Gran Fiesta!”—but it was really more of an entreaty. Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Jacky Teplitzky, who’s marketing apartments in the building, had learned that only a quarter of the calls inquiring about the project were coming from brokers and their clients. (Usually, it’s more like three-quarters.) Soon she discovered that a major issue wasn’t the project so much as its underpinnings. The building has a land lease, meaning that residents pay rent for the ground on which it stands instead of owning it outright, as most co-ops and condos do.roject so much as its underpinnings. The building has a land lease, meaning that residents pay rent for the ground on which it stands instead of owning it outright, as most co-ops and condos do.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE>>> http://nymag.com/realestate/realestatecolumn/land-lease-buildings-2011-7/