SoHo      New York, NY 10013      SoHo ( stands for South of Houston - pronounced "How -Stun")   Soho is a premiere destination for the world's trendiest jet setters, New York's SoHo district has something to offer just about everyone. Bordered to the North by Houston Street, to the South by Canal Street, to the West by Sixth Avenue and to the East by Broadway. Soho is characterized by the imposing cast-iron architecture of the late 19th Century that was built for manufacturing and warehousing. The beautiful cast iron structures that characterize the area were New York's original skyscrapers, originally the City's tenderloin in the early 1800's.    As New York grew industry moved in. Many of the cast-iron buildings on the cobblestone streets were used as sweat shops. The sweatsh... 02/11/2007

The Setai in Miami is a 40-story ultra-luxury, high rise condominium tower. The residences feature a multi level-lobby, 163 units with panoramic views of the ocean, South Beach and the Miami skyline from floor-to-ceiling windows, and all of the finest amenities. The Setai offers one, two, three, and four bedroom units, two-story Townhouses, and spectacular Penthouse Villas.  NOW coming to NYC: Marketing has started for The Setai New York, located at 40 Broad Street in the Financial District. Prices range from 475 to 3,424 square feet and are priced from $645,000 to $6.75 million. Hopefully completed by the summer of 2007.  The Setai, New York will host a list full of ultra luxury and ultra posh amenities’.  For example...day spas for tenants, a rooftop lounge, with floor-to-ceiling gla... 02/07/2007

    New York City Building Terminology Rent Stabilized Building Rent Stabilization was established in New York City in the late 1960's to set limits on the amount building owners could raise rents and to set performance guidelines for both the landlord and tenant. Rent increases for one and two year leases are determined annually by the New York City Real Estate Advisory Board. Over the past five years, annual rent increases have been in the 3-7% range. Tenants are guaranteed renewal rights to stabilized leases provided they have fulfilled the terms of the lease. Introduced in 1993, luxury destabilization provides for lease-end destabilization of apartments that rent for over $2,000 per month when occupied by a tenant earning more than $175,000 per year. There are very few rent stabili... 01/31/2007

New York Apartment terminology A-Z Alcove: an area adjoining the living room which can be used for a dining area or be separated or closed off to make a bedroom, den or office. Classic: in a pre-war building, an apartment which has a formal dining room, and, in a larger apartment, one or two maids' rooms. A "classic six", for example, is a six-room apartment in a pre-war building that has a living room, formal dining room, two bedrooms, kitchen, maid's room, and 1, 2, or 3 baths. In the larger classics, it is common to find the smaller maids' rooms combined into one larger room. Frequently, pre-war buildings have been gutted and "rehabbed," but room counts and layouts will usually be listed according to their original configuration. Convertible, Flex or Junior: an apartment with an alco... 01/27/2007

 Due to my internet presence, I've been in the news recently. Last week I was interviewed by The Korean Broadcasting Network about Battery Park City the section of lower Manhattan that became famous on 9/11/01 because of it's proximity to The World Trade Center. Yesterday an interview I did ran in Metro New York about Battery Park City titled "On the Waterfront"Ive mentioned Battery Park City in previous blogs but this blog is devoted to the unique Manhattan neighborhood.Battery Park City is unique because it is on a portion of land that is leased by the city. Instead of paying real estate taxes, property owners in Battery Park City pay "PILOT" payment in lieu of taxes.The common charges and "PILOT" varies from building to building depending on when the buildings were built and the time... 01/26/2007

The Upper West Side extends north from Columbus Circle at 59th Street up to 110th St. and is bordered by Central Park West and Riverside Park. The Upper West Side is separated from the Upper East Side by Central Park.Between 72nd and 96th Street most of the buildings are not taller than about 20 stories and they are mostly pre war buildings. The American Museum of Natural History is located on a stretch of Central Park West between 77th and 81st Streets, The museum's new Hayden Planetarium is a galactic spectacular and is well worth the invested time. From 59th Street to 72nd St. is called Lincoln Square. The area developed around Lincoln Center with many High Rise Apartment buildings. The Lincoln Center complex is home to the Metropolitan Opera and Julliard School of Music, Avery Fishe... 01/22/2007

waterfront land is a sure keeper. let me know if you have any questions. 01/17/2007

                                                                             The  Real Estate Market in Manhattan is HOT! The buzz in the real estate industry this week is coming from Inmans Real Estate connect in NYC.  New media moguls like Craig Newark of Craigslist and Matt Heaton of activerain are at the conference discussing blogging, web 2.0, the latest trends and technologies and the future of the real estate industry at panels and seminars and parties.   Right outside the Marriott Marquis in Hells Kitchen and from Washington Heights, to Harlem to Morninside Heights, the Upper West Side, Chelsea, Murray Hill, Gramercy, the West Village, Tribeca and throughout Manhattan there is another real estate buzz going on. The buzz in the trenches. The market buzz. The market is buzzing wit... 01/10/2007

Greenwich Village, West Village, Meat Packing District, East VillageManhattan's most famous neighborhood has always been a popular place to live. Greenwich Village is the city's largest historic district.The Village is bounded to the South by Houston Street, to the North by 14th Street, to the West by the Hudson River, Sixth Avenue divides The West Village and Greenwich Village and east of Broadway is the dividing line between the distinctively different, East Village.Commonly referred by most people that live in the Village: West of Broadway to be defined as "Greenwich Village", "The Village" or "The West Village" while the area to the East of the Broadway to be defined as the "East Village". So when discussing the "Village", it is commonly understood that one is speaking of the area W... 01/01/2007

A: The housing data came out today showing that existing sales were UP from last month (down year-over-year), but prices declined year-over-year. All in all it sends a mixed message as the # of sales increasing is somehwat suprising and will help keep inventory levels from expanding further which would certainly negatively affect housing fundamentals going into 2007. But the price declines from this time last year tell me that buyers are starting to jump in a bit and pick up bargains; a sign of general strength. While this data is lagging and is often revised at a later date, it should lead to a further psychological boost going into wall street bonus season in early 2007, and give sellers a few more months of healthy buyers to prey on. As for hopes of a rate cut, you can kiss that good... 12/29/2006

Harlem was established in 1658 by the Dutch and named Nieuw Harlem after the Dutch city of Harlem. This large section of Manhattan real estate has a deep spirit, culture and history. Harlem passed through several historic periods - as a high-society area of New York for wealthy upper class and middle class white residents...as a fashionable district for blacks during a period known as the "Harlem Renaissance"...as one of the hottest night club playgrounds for audiences who came uptown to see the all black revues to gangsters and entertainers in grand style at the famous night spots. Beginning in the 1870s Harlem was the site of a massive wave of development  which resulted in the construction of numerous new single-family row-houses, tenements, and luxury apartment houses, New York's bl... 12/06/2006

My last blog Starchitect Skyline was part of a series of blogs about Manhattan real estate in history/today. I wrote about the brand name glass tower apartment buildings of the new millennium that are changing the NYC skyline. This blog is about landmark buildings from another era and other uses that have been transformed or are being converted to luxury apartments. Old World Details - Meets Modern Amenities. Famous hotels, landmark banks, insurance company headquarters, factories, hospitals and even a former Police headquarters have been transformed into luxury apartments that offer unique spaces. This trend in real estate is not only taking place in Manhattan but in cities throughout the country. Throughout Manhattan landmark buildings are being converted to condos. Just as the Starch... 11/26/2006

"Starchitect" aka Star Architect, architect -branded designer buildings throughout Manhattan are changing the face of neighborhoods, lighting up the NYC skyline and turning apartments into Live-in Works of Art. Innovative designs, the move away from the standard cookie-cutter apartments, luxury service and views are attracting consumers that want everything taken care of for them. From valet parking, concierges, meditation gardens, infinity pools, electronically controlled sliding glass walls to restaurant service and room service. Recent record sales taking place around the city, a real estate trend that is breaking down the old neighborhood boundaries by allowing the new buildings to become destinations in and of themselves. From the glass Richard Meir buildings on the West Side Highw... 11/20/2006

Jeff Belonger's blog Top Trend Setters to Watch and Mariana Wagner's blog Secret Life of Generation X Consumer were both great and stimulated interesting comments and thoughts about marketing and positioning to these generational demographics. I thought about some of my buyers. What are their characteristics and which group are they in? How did I treat them and service their needs. Did each group have unique needs? Did they approach the buying process differently? I thought about their occupations.  There is an expression in New York: "You Are What You Do" You -Are-What-You-Do-For-A-Living.  A Buyers Behavior Is Usually In Sync With His Or Her Occupation And Generation. Wall Street/ Banker/ Financial Workers Financial professionals have real estate bubble phobia. They always think they... 11/19/2006

                                $36,000,000,000 Economists estimate around 50 percent or more will end up in Real Estate   Goldman Sachs; Morgan Stanley; Merrill Lynch; Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns are about to reward their 173,000 employees with $36 billion in bonuses. That's a 30 percent increase from last year's record, and it doesn't include the billions more that will be paid by Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the three largest U.S. banks, as well as the hundreds of hedge funds and private-equity firms that constitute the financial industry. Bonuses range from $150,000 to over $20 million. Managing Directors bonuses range from $700,000 to $7 million.New York City cut the estimate for its budget deficit by 87 percent last week, in part because of the invest... 11/17/2006

We all know how the internet has changed our lives in so many ways. Since I started blogging and through reading fellow blogger posts many hot internet issues have come to the forefront of my thoughts. It's still the WILD WILD WEST A-SOLDIER-IN-THE COPYRIGHT BATTLE by Lenn Harley and others have written about copyright infringement. Cut and past and plagerism is a big issue for REALTORS, bloggers and webmasters. TLW "The Lovely Wife" ...  Blog Back Worthy inspired me to write this post when we were box chatting last night about Authors and publishers and Universities suing Google for scanning their books. Google's recent acquisition of You Tube might make Google an even bigger target for copyright law suits.The whole Web 2.0 movement empowering individuals to tell their own story but m... 11/13/2006

Real estate is a local business driven by local market conditions and bought and sold (mostly) by local people.How about a market that is fueled by an industry that has experienced steady wage/earnings growth since 2003 and is about to have its best year in ten years?   That would be the securities industry and that industry is headquartered in New York City.This article, published today in the Wall Street Journal, highlights that investment bankers, traders, and brokers have experienced a boom this year.  They're about to be rewarded in early 2007 with HUGE bonuses!  Where do you think those bonuses will go?  Art?  Maybe.  Fancy Cars? Well, maybe but parking is so tough it seems almost silly to buy a Bentley in NYC.  Exotic Travel?  Maybe, but it's hard to believe that the investment b... 11/07/2006

The real estate board of New York annouced yesterday that it is developing a web portal that will incorporate all it's members listings in a public website. REBNY is the major real estate board in New York that all the major brokerages 318 firms are members but it is not an MLS. Member firms cooperate. There are brokers in NYC that don't belong to REBNY or MANAR.(The Manhattan Association of Realtors®)   The Manhattan Association of REALTORS® with 30 members and 25% of the listings is the only MLS in Manhattan already has a public website, it's members have IDX and share each others listings on their websites. The members share closed sales data. MANAR was formed because some REBNY members never wanted to share data. It was my company Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy and our President Davi... 11/02/2006

Recently I've had clients call that need a rental usually a short term rental during a renovation or as an interim until they buy something. Often they will say "I don't want to pay a Broker Fee. I'm a broker, broker's get a fee. I tell them to look on Craigslist. In the past I have had exclusive rental listings when the rental market was not as tight as it is now. I would have the owners pay the broker fee so I legitimately could advertise "No Fee". Scroll through rental advertisements on Craigslist, you will notice many "NO FEE" alerts with asterisks and exclamation points for maximum visibility. Unfortunately most of these postings are not for real they are bogus. A city council report released last week warned that about a third of brokers who list no-fee properties are lying. In S... 10/31/2006

BROADWAY MALLS: The Centerpiece of BroadwayFrom 60th Street to 168th Street, lies a history filled median of greenery and flowers called The Broadway Malls. The Malls were established in 1904 and have been a New york City park since 1904. Having lived on Broadway for the past 15 years, I've often admired the Malls and love how wide Broadway is with thousands of merchants and residents facing Broadway these 10.5 acres of parkland serve as our front yard. Around this time of year Broadway is Light Up at Night.  The Broadway Mall Association with support from businesses and residents will illuminate fir trees about every 10 blocks on Broadway. Last year they wrapped crab apple and magnolia trees and chain link fences with lights. Each Mall costs approximately $2000 to $4000. to light. If y... 10/15/2006