LuxuryBlurb
Archive for December, 2010
Friday, December 31st, 2010
 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 prized furnishings, accessories and artwork, only to realize years later that the room is hardly ever used.
We have seen over the years how the dining room is being re-invented: the paradigm is that a large table surrounded by chairs is for dining alone….the reality is a large table with chairs can be used for a host of other things, including a large work desk that converts to a dining table when needed. We think this is a brilliant solution to a decades long issue. A large table can be used for a host of other uses besides dining: conversation, casual entertaining, work space, etc, etc. It is only once we look at these ‘problem areas’ in homes with new eyes that solutions are formed. Maybe dining tables are hoisted up into the ceiling, and stored there when not in use?
Most New York homes require as much flexibility as possible, even the larger lavish ones. As the cost of space rises, the need for clever engineering increases. We see a huge future in space ENGINEERING, rather than mere design. With so much time spent on I-pads, laptops, etc, sitting at a ‘dining’ table sounds much healthier.
And now to come up with a name change: If not DINING ROOM, then what? The FLEX-ROOM? I-ROOM?
Friday, December 31st, 2010
 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 to Annebelle Selldorf who has not yet received the (well deserved) recognition for the architecture of the building, not just the En Suite Sky Garage that made it famous. With it’s gracefully curved terracota-clad base and stainless steel tower, the contextual contemporary architectural style represents a significant departure from the dearth of flat glass buildings constructed in the first decade of the 2000′s.
The building, located at Eleventh Avenue and 24th Street, in West Chelsea, New York, has set record pricing for the area: A recent sale produced pricing in excess of $ 3,700/sf.
We agree with Curbed 100%.
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
 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, and I am hearing chatter throughout the industry of the same thing happening. While most multiple bids are not over the asking prices, they are shifting selling prices upwards. This may be a short lived phenomenon, but with shrinking inventories, and 2 years of virtually zero new construction, I think multiple bids will be with us for quite a while. We predicted this several months ago in LUXURYLETTER.
TIme will tell…..
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
 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 will forever alter the fabric of the area, more recently famous for restaurants, fancy boutiques and slick hotels. The Highline Park will provide a connection between a world-class museum and the world’s strongest concentration of contemporary art galleries, making the West Side a cultural destination unlike any other anywhere in Manhattan, or the world. And it will fuel New York real estate.
With 3 million visitors in its first year alone, the Highline Park in itself has been a huge draw: but with a limited span open, its true ‘facebook-style’ connectivity effect has yet to be felt when the extension opens up the park from 20th Street to 28th Street, the streets where the bulk of the galleries are located. I leave it to your imagination what else will follow, but I predict that within 5 years, the area will be unrecognizable from its current state. I suspect a strong retail element will follow, as well as continued residential construction to add to the already superb mix from architects such as Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Annabelle Selldorf, Neil Denari and Frank Gehry. The very best may be yet to come.
Sunday, December 19th, 2010
 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 at least 2 years. This may result in two scenarios:
1) Sellers who have been waiting for pricing to recover to sell their homes may list now, thus producing the quantity of inventory to keep the markets balanced.
2) Because rebounding new construction will only be able to deliver product in about 2 years, pricing on ultra-luxe buildings could escalate, possibly dramatically. Ultra-luxe is in pretty limited supply regardless with only a handful of buildings that qualify. New ones are on the way.
In the past weeks we have seen numerous prize apartments sell at premium prices: Wendy Maitland just sold a prize unit at 40 Mercer in Soho for over $ 3,200/sf. Raphael De Niro just sold the penthouse at 166 Perry Street in Greenwich Village, and this is on top of units at Superior Ink, 200 Eleventh Avenue (West Chelsea) and 100 Eleventh Avenue (a non-top-floor penthouse was recently sold by Holly Parker for a premium price, $ 2,700/sf, although the press focused exclusively on the discount off the asking price). With these units gone, sold at premium pricing, and not that many left of this caliber, the next few months could prove to be very interesting indeed. Are we entering an era of LUXE HYPER-INFLATION?
Sunday, December 19th, 2010
 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 $2.2 million. This is in addition to the cost of the land, which Walton County most recently appraised at $853,062.
We have no issue with someone building a house in Florida, but how on earth could a fiscally conservative POLITICIAN build a house like this with a $ 2,8million mortgage? More than 90% financing? Didn’t we just experience the worst economic meltdown because of this very activity? Is Huckabee crazy? Surely we have learned SOMETHING from the past 2 years and one lesson was not to over-leverage homes, especially second homes? Which bank is financing this when they have difficulty justifying financing 70%? Does this kind of fiscally irresponsible behaviour set a good example?
We think this is disgraceful behaviour from a very likeable guy: Please Mr. Huckabee, as a potential President of the USA, how do you justify to your conservative (and non-conservative) flock more than 90% financing in 2010? Granted this is not Charlie Rangel-style abuse, but…..please help us out here.
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