LuxuryBlurb
Posts Tagged ‘One Madison Park’
Saturday, January 12th, 2013
 Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 12th, 2013
In the coming weeks and months, over 7,000 units of new construction LUXURY apartments will be coming to the market in New York……that is a VAST number of units and will significantly alter the bland inventory landscape we are currently experiencing. While one could argue that the record prices achieved by those few developers who actually had a building to sell were as a result of great product, the reality is those prices were also probably fueled by the lack of competition. How would pricing at One 57 have fared if 432 Park Avenue, the MOMA Tower, One Madison Park, the new Extell Tower and Michael Stern’s Tower on 57th Street were all on the market simultaneously?
Until recently most developers and their bankers speculated that every buyer is looking for a really large apartment with super-duper-luxury finishes and amenities. This theory will now be put to the test as we enter the chapter where the consumer will give us the ultimate reality check.
We are working on several new buildings Downtown in the West Village (150 Charles Street), Tribeca, West Chelsea, Soho and Noho: All will be thoroughly unique and special and distinctive: There is really no room in the ultra-luxury market for anything less.
Again, averages will be the curse of the market: Just because a certain AVERAGE price was achieved for the past 12 months, is that price applicable to all product? I think not. I firmly believe that the buildings in the best locations with the best balance of quality, design, structure and price such as 150 Charles Street in the West Village will win and I am afraid there will be some sore losers where a disturbing reality check will come to those developers whose pricing expectations simply are not based on reality. Excessive, overly ambitious pricing will be met with resistance I believe because no-one knows exactly the depth of demand. Yes, there certainly are a strong group of buyers who are waiting to buy these large, very expensive apartments…….but are there enough of them to absorb all this inventory that seems to be focused on the exact same profile buyer? Only time will tell. I believe the very best will win and be perfectly successful, but I think there are several rather average products coming out whose expectations of well-above-average pricing will be met with disappointment.
Moving forward, developers will have to be much more innovative: This week, I met with a mega-developer planning a rather exciting new building. It was refreshing to hear him talk about the need for innovation and beauty before dollars per square foot…..all are important, but the blind focus on pricing alone may prove to be a wake-up call to many developers and their bankers in the coming months.
Saturday, November 19th, 2011
 Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 19th, 2011
The other night I was invited to the launch of EXTELL’s newest addition to the New York skyline, One 57, the Christian de Portzamparc-designed 90 story, 1,000ft tall Tower located at 157 West 57th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Towering above the Time Warner Center, Trump’s One Central Park West, and certainly looking down on the neighborhood icon 15 Central Park West, the 135 residential units will rise above a 210-room Park Hyatt Hotel, offering un-obstructed panoramic views of Central Park and the entire tri-state region.
The occasion was a grand one indeed: Manhattan Brokerage Royalty came out in full force, immaculately attired in Prada, Louboutin’s, sequins and all. A string quartet greeted guests as they embarked from the elevators and led them through palatial double doors into the sales office/showroom. No expense has been spared in creating certainly one of the most dramatic showrooms ever, resplendent with floor to ceiling screens showcasing a movie of the building and environment, two mock-up kitchens and a master bathroom. Severely chic black, white and deep wood tones featured. The interior design is the responsibility of uber-chic Thomas Juul Hansen, one of New York’s premiere designer architects responsible for projects such as One Madison Park, One York, Jean Georges and Perry street to name a few. The quality of the Smallbone kitchens is immediately apparent, vastly superior to most of the designer name kitchens one sees regularly. I thought the floorplans were particularly strong, the perfect take on a classic apartment with a very modern, purist sensibility. The well proportioned, squared off rooms are reminiscent of One Beacon Court, another building many considered to be in a less-than-stellar location that has been hugely successful.
I thought the bathroom was rather beautiful and especially grandly scaled for highrise living. Architecturally, the look of the building is one of Severe Gotham Chic with definite Art Deco-inspired undertones, and should definitely appeal to many foreign buyers seeking a glossy New York experience.
Several brokers muttered that there are not enough Russian buyers to buy all these units: I suspect that sales will start to take off mostly once buyers have the ability to witness the views on site, and it may be challenging at the $ 5,000+/sf pricing not being directly on Central Park: 57th Street is not exactly Fifth Avenue. I also believe the true value of these apartments may only be realized once the building is completed and buyers have the ability to walk through the spaces, getting a feeling not only for the bathrooms and kitchens, but also the light, views, volume of space and the other finishes so critical to this price point. Hopefully the finish quality takes its cues from One Hyde Park, where this profile of buyer was willing to spend the extra dollars knowing the apartments did not have to be gutted. This building is for those that love super-highrise living, want spectacular views, grand spaces, full services, tight security, a central location, sleek, modernist design (the opposite of the Plaza or 15 Central Park West) and do not want to renovate.
It was heartening to see luxury Manhattan New Development spring back to life: this will be one of several new modernist buildings for the uber-rich coming to the market over the next year or so, including Macklowe’s 1,300ft + tall Drake building on Park Avenue at 57th Street and One Madison Park. Other, more humanly scaled buildings are coming too, so the mix and variety will be outstanding, bringing an end to the very limited inventory of top-notch apartments currently available. I believe the quality bar will be raised dramatically by this level of competition, and it will be an exciting time in New York real estate for sure.
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
 Posted by Leonard Steinberg on September 28th, 2011
With the development of new high end residential buildings such as Extel’s One 57, 150 Charles Street, the Rudin’s St. Vincent’s buildings, One Madison Park, 212 West 18th Street, etc roaring back to life in Manhattan, the question always arises at the marketing meetings: what is the next great amenity?
In the past ten years we have seen sleek gyms with swimming pools, rock climbing walls, playrooms, guest suites, En Suite Sky garages, pet spa’s, concierge’s…..so what could be the next big amenity? Maybe its high security……and here is why:
1) The financial crisis has not ended for many, and there is a strong argument to be made that for some it has only just begun. This inevitably results in lay-off’s. Wall Street banks are talking of TENS of thousands of lay-offs. BUt most of those people have safety nets. What about those kitchen staff who lose their jobs because there are not enough bankers frequenting the restaurants?
2) Politically, there is a much greater awareness than ever before at the vast and growing inequality between the rich and the poor, with the middle class eroding daily. Politicians will continue to broadcast this message loudly: On the right they will say how divisive the left is being and on the left they will say how unfair the system is. Both may be right, but the result will be division.
3) Most of our political and religious systems thrive on division: this drive towards anger is supposed to create loyalty to ‘the brand’. Anger is manageable when expressed in words, but it becomes a much greater threat when it heads to the streets.
4) Our ‘system’ has created an entire generation reliant on government support: take away any medicaid, social security, government jobs, unemployment benefits, etc and you could have a large chunk of people become very angry as we have witnessed in Greece where the culture is about wealthy people who do not want to pay taxes and another class that simply don’t want to work. That leaves everyone inbetween paying the bills…..and very angry. Now because of a crisis, raise and enforce taxation on the rich and reduce state-sponsord benefits and you have THREE very angry groups of people.
5) Many of the jobs lost over the past 3 years (and coming years) will simply never return. Machines, technology and longer work hours for remaining employees have replaced those jobs forever……and corporations LOVE the benefit to the bottom line. This leaves many unemployed for long periods of time and is possibly the most damaging consequence of a bad economy. With our education system ranking amongst the lowest of first world countries, re-educating these people for new careers does not seem to be the priority of any political movement, even though it should be.
6) Over the next 10 years almost 50% of all school kids will be minorities: Minorities do not have the culture of highly disciplined education and governments have neglected their education dreadfully. Culturally kids are encouraged to grow up to be a reality TV star, rapper or sports star, even though there are less than a handful of those positions available. We should learn from the Chinese about discipline: they too are a minority yet no-one talks about their incredible achievements in this country in spite of the traditional hardships associated with being a minority immigrant. Worse, many young college graduates are not finding jobs….these are the people who went nuts in Egypt and Spain.
7) Our immigration policies do not create the best environment to attract the best of the world. Those immigrating legally are tortured by the process and those who run across the border illegally often do not add much to the economy and are often a drain on federal and state resources.
With all this said, combined with Mayor Bloomberg’s recent warning’s of impending potential social unrest, I believe tight security will become one of the most desirable amenities in any high end residential building. A doorman alone will not cut it. And security that makes a home feel like a prison won’t cut it either. With many rather dubious characters with very new (substantial)wealth from foreign nations buying in these buildings, security will be even more critical. One Hyde Park in London is an example of a building that has fully recognized this new security threat. Some Russian oligarch’s employ their own personal security staff (one has reportedly 200!) for protection. These are the buyers of tomorrow of these super-luxe apartments, and buildings had better be prepared for their arrival; They’re here already.
Friday, July 8th, 2011
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 8th, 2011
The past few weeks have been a hive of activity with developers snapping up development sites throughout the city: yes, the new development market is waking up and it is waking up with a LOUD BANG.
These are some of the projects in the pipeline: The Drake Hotel site, One 57, 150 Charles Street, One Madison Park, 1107 Broadway, The Seminary building, The Hudson Yards multiple buildings, 508 West 24th Street, 212 West 18th Street, The St.Vincent’s site, 130 West 12th Street, One Abington Square, 220 Park Avenue South…..and the list goes on. What all this amounts to is a HUGE, unprecedented, simultaneous demand on the construction industry. Break that down further and look out for increased labor costs, lower unemployment, increased costs for commodities, increased costs for fixtures and finishes, additional traffic and congestion, over-worked lawyers, engineers, architects, ad agencies, brokers…..
All this could give a tremendous boost to the New York economy, but this boost will have a down-side too.
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
 Posted by Leonard Steinberg on June 30th, 2011
The Witkoff Group won in the bidding for the Toy Building, the Madison Square Park landmark once slated to be condominiums by developer Yitzhak Tessler.
Supposedly the bidding was fierce with competitive bidders S.L. Green and Macklowe losing out on the purchase of this magnificent structure that boasts spectacular frontage onto Madison Park, not to mention Eataly as its next door neighbor. (The Mathematics Museum is coming too!) Architecturally it stands in sharp contrast to its neighbor across the way, One Madison Park, the all glass tower still suffering from the pains of the recent economic meltdown that left both buildings in trouble. If the Toy Building was a ‘troubled asset’, the market has certainly recovered very nicely considering its selling price rumored to be just under $ 200 million.
This building located at 1107 Broadway is exactly what the market is calling for now: elegant, well scaled apartments in a prime, convenient location, fronting a park, in an architecturally grounded, regal pre-war structure with large windows and strong ceiling heights.
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
  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 forward aggressively. Almost completed buildings One Madison Park shows strong signs of life and 245 Tenth Avenue is back on track for a Spring launch.
Everywhere we hear chatter of brand new projects, old projects coming to life, and buildings in limbo being resurrected. Based on the dreadful supply of quality apartments, this is happening out of necessity. The big questions are:
1) How will the banks view financing these projects? What will interest rates be by the time they close?
2) How soon can they actually be delivered to prospective buyers: do buyers have the will or the guts to commit now to a property that may only be delivered 18 months to 30 months from now?
3) With the expiration of the 421-A tax abatement program, will those buildings that don’t have a tax abatement have monthly carrying costs so high they scare off buyers or are unfairly dis-advantaged next to those buildings that do have the abatement because they were secured before the program ended?
4) Will buyers be equipped to buy again from floorplans? (see previous post).
5) What kind of pricing can developers realistically expect? Lets face it, the record prices of 15 Central Park West were only achieved when buyers could physically tour the building, completed, up and running. The value of the finished product should not be under-estimated.
6) Some developers of new developments in New York were culprits of delivering buildings that fell far short of the promises made in their sales offices: have buyers of New York property forgotten this already? Or have developers been forgiven and has trust returned? With the power of the blogs, I believe those developers that screwed up in the past will have to provide much greater assurances and incentives to provide sufficient confidence in their ability to deliver a quality building. Those that did deliver quality, will be handsomely rewarded.
7) Pricing: Labor and materials and land all cost less now than at the peak: will these savings be passed on to the consumer for the first group of buyers to incentivize momentum? I see no way around this. Those who take the biggest risk should be rewarded for doing so.
8) Will the weak dollar save the day as foreign buyers view New York’s prices as ‘good buys’? Lets face it, in China the recession was a very brief moment…..these buyers are still quite used to buying off floorplans.
We believe the beginning will be tough, but will improve as buyers recognize the opportunity for buying a quality existing property is slim with the current limited supply.
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