We love our church-to-condo conversions, but Harlem's 2056 Fifth Avenue—fka Rhapsody on Fifth—has found since sales began in early '07 that not everyone holds that view. (No, we don't get it either.) In February 2009, the building had its second appointment with the Chopper, bringing prices down to an average of $590/square foot. Some buyers found those numbers more to their liking, it seems, because the building's recorded six more sales since, at prices even lower than the Feb '09 special. Discounts range from an itty bitty 0.9 percent-er to a 15.2 percent cut on #5B, a 1,130-square-foot 2BR, 2BA that went for $550,000 (and six months of developer-paid common charges), down from a chopped ask of $649,000 (and an initial ask of $945,000). That's a sale price of $486/square foot, a Manhattan shocker. But, more pressingly, what about the units still left on the market?
There are four apartments still available, according to StreetEasy, and all are closely acquainted with our friend Chopper:
1) #2C: A 1,927-square-foot, 2BR, 2.5BA asking $950,000, or $492/square foot. Most recently chopped 14 percent in January, from an '09 ask of $1.1 million. 2) #PHB: A 1,503-square-foot 2BR, 2.5BR asking $950,000, or $632/square foot. It got a post-holiday chop of 10 percent, from last year's ask of $1.05 million. 3) #2B: A 1,800-square-foot 2BR, 2.5BA asking $850,000, or $472/square foot. This one also saw a 10 percent chop in January, from last year's $949,000 asking price. 4) #2A: A 1,481-square-foot 1BR, 2.5BA asking $650,000, or $438/square foot. It was chopped 13 percent in January, after sitting at $749,000 through most of last year.
Will these latest prices be enough to get the last four units moving, or is the ex-church's second floor just not in God's good books?
· 2056 Fifth Avenue [StreetEasy]
· 2056 Fifth Avenue coverage [Curbed]
One big piece of Harlem's hot development corridor of Frederick Douglass Boulevard is the new Aloft hotel opening this summer at 124th Street. A check of the brand's website shows that the opening of the 12-story building—which wraps around an old carriage house—has been pushed back from June 1 to July 1, but looking at Harlem Bespoke's construction shots of the barely-glassed building, we're thinking July might be a stretch. Harlem Bespoke also speculates that the Aloft might be the Central Harlem mystery location where celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson is planning his latest restaurant, Red Rooster. If memory serves us correctly, the 124-room hotel was supposed to have 44 apartments as well. Any word on the whereabouts of those?
· Aloft Races to Finish by July 2010 [Harlem Bespoke]
· Aloft Harlem [Starwood Hotels]
· Harlem's Aloft Hotel Revealed..Again! [Curbed]
It's a new month, which means it's time to sit down and ponder the crucial questions facing the real estate market, with your input, o Curbed readers. This month's topic: Harlem. As in Williamsburg, Long Island City, and other neighborhoods that seemed like a good idea at the time—the time being during the market boom—new condos that started construction in better economic days are just now hitting the market in Harlem. Like Livmor, Sedona, Metropolis, The Douglass, The Madera, and more. Even with lower per-square-foot prices than the rest of Manhattan, that's some stiff competition. How to deal? The Real Deal reports that developers are trying a pretty wide range of strategies, such as cutting back on green amenities to minimize costs, sticking to their starting prices even if buyers are slow to sign on, and simply being willing to accept lower profit margins after price cuts. But even if the market bounces back soonish, condo glut won't leave Harlem so quickly, and these projects aren't likely to hit the prices developers dreamed of in better times. So, commenters, time to try walking a mile in these developers' shoes. What advice do you have for them?
· Bad timing hurts Harlem condos [Real Deal]
So there's this big empty lot that's been empty for a few years up at 5-15 West 125th Street in Harlem, between Lenox Avenue and Fifth Avenue. Harlem Bespoke thinks that the property was being targeted for a 252-room luxury inn called the Uptown Grand Hotel, before the economy sunk it (and besides, the Aloft is coming this summer). Those plans seem to have been replaced with a cheaper Hilton Garden Inn totaling 144 units, but we're also intrigued by the mysterious third candidate: An office building rendering from Curtis + Ginsberg Architects that was proposed at one time. If the eyesore does end up going hotel (or sitting empty for years), no sweat, just toss the idea onto the Harlem Park heap. Check out the architect's website for a little shot of the 126th Street elevation, "kept low to fit with adjacent brownstones."
· Inn or Office on West 125th? [Harlem Bespoke]
The on-again, off-again auction of the Riverton Houses, aka Harlem's Stuy Town, is on again. The auction will take place March 11, according to a weekend ad spotted by The Real Deal. Property owner Laurence Gluck has $240.6 million worth of debt to get rid of, after overpaying for the property during the boom in the hope of getting rid of rent-stabilized tenants and making a profit. [Real Deal; previously]
Here, at 151 West 122nd Street, we have what is apparently the only silver LEED-certified townhouse in New York. It earned that designation thanks to the efforts of Good Housekeeping, which put in the house's recycled denim insulation, thermal windows, and rooftop solar panels in partnership with community initiative "Go Green East Harlem." Despite a wave of press love, though, the listing hasn't exactly led a charmed life. It first hit the market in September '08 asking $4.05 million. Several disappearing acts, chops, and broker switches later, the ask is $2.79 million. But some critics still think the "totally sanitized" interiors are boring enough to outweigh even a zero-dollar electric bill. Agree/disagree?
After a brief foray to Hell's Kitchen for some new development news, we're back in Harlem. Blog Harlem Bespoke has some intel on the new housing complex going up at 130-150 West 128th Street. Name? The Dempsey. Stats? Eighty affordable housing units in a six-story building. And Harlem Bespoke, at least, is a fan of the architecture: "The design looks initially spare but upon closer inspection, contrast brickwork at the base of the building, windows with lintels, corner battlements and rooftop handrails that mimic balustrade are all modern renditions of later prewar designs....this development looks pretty updated for something that is affordable, well designed and contextual to the neighborhood...much better than the wasted space of the former parking lot."
· Introducing: The Dempsey Apartments [Harlem Bespoke]
Big holes in the ground surrounded by blue plywood are nothing new on boomin' Frederick Douglass Boulevard, but blog Harlem Bespoke is curious about one particular big hole in the ground surrounded by blue plywood. It seems like the gold rush along FDB has bypassed the lot at 2272 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, which has a plan but only a rendering and some expired work permits to show for it. Harlem Bespoke estimates the lot has been empty "for at least forty years now," but maybe this tortoise is just waiting on the start of another race. See you next real estate boom?
· What's Up with 2272 FDB? [Harlem Bespoke]
HELL'S KITCHEN—Did we speak too soon when we said Related's massive condo/rental tower at 440 West 42nd Street might end up matching the disavowed renderings of the project. A tipster writes: "I keeping a close eye on your coverage since that building's going to block my kick ass view. Attached is an aerial view of the construction. You can see it's not quite matching up to Related's 'leaked' plans." Still looks like the early stuff to us, with that setback above the stone-covered base. Are we seeing things? [CurbedWire Inbox]
HARLEM—Thanks to a wave of new development Frederick Douglass Boulevard has been called Harlem's Gold Coast, and every Gold Coast needs some fabulous, er, groceries. Enter the Best Yet Market, which one very enthusiastic tipster fills us in on: "You may want to check out the new Best Yet Market that opened Thursday afternoon on Fredrick Douglass and 118. Its a great grocery store and will mean all the folks in the new condos on Fred Douglass have a place to shop. Its large with 3 levels. Mezz level has coffee and desert bar with comfortable chairs and couches. It was already busy and folks are talking about it."
"On a 10 point scale, if Le Bon Marche in Paris is an 11, Whole Food Columbus Circle an 8.5, then this is a solid 7. Better than any Gristedes, C-Town in the city. Its better than the narrow and crowed Fairways which has good stuff but the crowds are a pain. It has a much bigger selection than Trader Joes - but more expensive. Price is the only draw back -- things were less expensive than Whole Paycheck but more expensive than Fairway or Trader Joes." [CurbedWire Inbox]
FLATIRON—Now that creamy-cupola-topped 141 Fifth Avenue is nearly sold out following its condo conversion and looong restoration, neighbors are taking notice. One writes, "So I noticed all the coverage for 141 Fifth and just an interesting point, that little building to the south is my office building and my friend's firm occupies the fifth and sixth (top floor). We also have roof access (which we use extensively for internal and client events). There are many windows along the 141 Fifth wall facing south and I wonder how residents will respond/feel when the weather warms up and we start partying up there daily?" Why do we feel like this won't be the last time we hear about this? [CurbedWire Inbox]
HARLEM—Add Harlem's 2280 FDB to the growing list of new developments that have applied for and received FHA approval. The 12-story building "will now allow qualified buyers to purchase a new home with a down payment between 5 and 10%," according to a press release. Remaining units in the Frederick Douglass Boulevard building range in price from $395,000 to $1.329 million. [CurbedWire Inbox]
Today's rental complex in the news for having an owner who overpaid during the boom in the hope of giving rent-stabilized tenants the boot and turning the place into a profit factory: Riverton Houses, aka Harlem's Stuy Town.The 1,230-unit property's last attempt at an auction was cancelled. But now the Times reports that a State Supreme Court judge has ordered the property to be sold at auction. The sale will clear out owner Laurence Gluck's $240.6 million load of debt, but, of course, there's no knowing in advance who the new owner will be. One contender: a group of investors headed by Jackson Management, whose president, Adam Holland, is the grandson of the man who sold the Riverton Houses to Gluck for $135 million in 2005. So perhaps the auction will also answer that pesky heredity vs. environment question once and for all.
· Justice Braun Orders Auction of Riverton Houses in Harlem [NYT]
· Riverton Houses coverage [Curbed]
The Museum of African Art may be patient, but we're not. So we were pretty excited to come across a set of photos of 1280 Fifth Avenue in the Curbed flickr pool. The forgotten Robert A.M. Stern project at 110th Street consists of 115 luxury condos above the museum -- which has spent about 25 years waiting for a permanent home -- and construction was supposed be done last year. That's, um, not quite the case. But according to the 1280 Fifth answering machine, the on-site sales office will open in "spring 2010." And in the meantime, we're kind of digging Bobby A.M.'s design for that facade.
· Official Website: 1280 Fifth Avenue [1280fifth.com]
· Museum of African Art Claims Its Corner [Curbed]
1) Finally, the answer to who's paying for all those thematic Empire State Building light shows: the tenants! They're now suing the building's landlord, claiming that their electric bills are far higher than the actual Con Ed costs. While it's illegal for residential landlords to profit from utility bills, there's no such law for commercial landlords, who often add 15 percent administrative charges to bills. A civil court judge ruled the building's owners have to turn over their Con Ed master bill, but the case is still making its way through the appeals process. ['Enraged Empire State Building residents blame landlord for sky-high electric bills'/NYP]
2) The Times weighs in on the when to buy question with a look at the possible pitfalls awaiting new development buyers: shoddy construction, iffy financing, and empty or never-completed buildings. But there are some deals to be had. Our old friend Warehouse 11 gets a shout-out as one example. ['Buying a Condo: Now vs. Later']
3) This week's hunters got tired of their limited all-hour options in Boston, and after a few too many 7 a.m. visits to Target for lack of anything better to do, decided to pack it all up for New York. The West Village didn't seem child-friendly, but a $1.225 million UWS apartment felt just right. A building going up across the street will obstruct part of their view, but hey, it probably won't be finished for another 47 years. [The Hunt/'These Hunters Were Won Over']
4) The Post checks out the New York Inn, voted the city's grossest hotel by Tripadvisor.com users. The verdict? Among other things, "musty mold, strange hairs in the bedsheets and muck-encrused windows with views of neighboring cement walls." At $84 a night, better/worse than renting? ['The dirt on "filthiest" of NY's hotels'/NYP]
5) Making you feel like a complete underachiever is this week's Habitats column, about the family inhabiting a hundred-year-old limestone townhouse in Harlem's Sugar Hill. Dad's the VP of an online gaming company, Mom's a writer and former war photographer who does her own carpentry, and Son #1 played the psychopathic star of the 2007 thriller "Joshua." Do you have a poster from your child's latest film in your living room? Didn't think so. [Habitats/'Tea and Uncertainty for a Busy Family']
The hopes of boom-price-paying buyers and condo developers both have been hanging on a rarely applied 1968 law, and the early results are in. Things aren't looking good for the buyers. In one of the first decisions to be handed down in New York involving the Interstate Land Disclosure Act (ILSA), Brick Underground reports that a U.S. District Court Judge has rejected two buyers' attempts to get out of their contracts at Harlem's Fifth on the Park. The decision was filed this morning and shot down the efforts of two buyers, one who wanted to cancel a contract on a $999,999 unit and get a $49,999 deposit refunded, and another who wanted to get back a $143,000 deposit and cancel a contract for a $1.4 million unit. On what did the judges' decision hang? The building's lack of sales.
The buyers argued that the developer had not filed the ILSA-required property report before contract signing. But the court found that the developer needed to have sold at least 100 units for the report to be necessary. And only about 90 units at Fifth on the Park have sold. A number of local ILSA cases are still pending -- including a few at Fifth on the Park and at the 505 -- but it looks like down in the dumps developers finally have a reason to smile.
· Breaking news: Ambivalent condo buyers suffer serious legal blow [Brick Underground]
· State o' the Market Report: Will Buyer Backouts Succeed? [Curbed]
· Fifth on the Park coverage [Curbed]
A tipster, pointing to a listing in our very own Curbed Marketplace, recently wrote, "$187/sqft in Manhattan?!" Turns out the referenced 1,060-square-foot co-op asking $199,000 is in Flatbush (a common mistake!), and that price isn't so out of the ordinary for the location. But it got us thinking: What's the cheapest Manhattan listing when it comes to price-per-square-foot? We think we've found it, aided by the broker's claim on StreetEasy that this 1,200-square-foot co-op at 100-106 West 141st Street in Harlem is, in fact, the "Lowest price per square foot in Manhattan!" The apartment is asking $175,000, or maybe less? The actual listing says the price is $165,000, or just $137.50 per foot. It's an HDFC property so there are income restrictions ($110K per person), and as you can see it's a, uh, fixer-upper. Did we mention it has four bedrooms?
After a few years in the news for harassing rent-stabilized tenants, Vantage Properties might finally be getting sued, The New York Times reports. Vantage paid out more than $2 billion at the market's peak in '06 and '07 for 125 buildings in Queens, Washington Heights, and Harlem, with the expectation of taking 20 to 30 percent of the apartments out of rent-stabilization by the end of 2008. (Oh, real estate boom, how we miss you!) Shockingly, the turnover didn't quite meet Vantage's expectations, even with "deceptive and misleading" eviction notices filed against tenants. (Nor did the tenants fail to let Vantage know they were unhappy.) State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has told Vantage he'll file a lawsuit in five days unless the company stops harassing tenants and coughs up damages. Between Stuy Town, rulings against rent increases, and Vantage about to be sued, it seems the tide might finally be turning back in favor of rent-stabilized tenants. And all it took was global economic meltdown!
· Landlord Faces Lawsuit for Harassment [NYT]
· Vantage Properties coverage [Curbed]
A few months ago the city's Department of Buildings began emergency demolition work on the Mount Morris Bank Building, the Harlem landmark at Park Avenue and East 125th Street more popularly known as the Corn Exchange. The long-neglected building—where the recent owner's plan for a culinary school fizzled, followed by a judge's ruling that the city could repossess the property—was deemed unstable, and it was decided the top floors of the 125-year-old building had to be lopped off. Blog Harlem Bespoke reports that the dirty deed is done and the scaffolding has come off the red-brick Corn Exchange, where only a couple of floors remain. Harlem Bespoke is hoping that the city is storing some of the lost architectural elements and that any plans for the building include a complete restoration. More pics of the battered landmark in the gallery above.
· The Corn Exchange Building Revealed [Harlem Bespoke]
· CurbedWire: Harlem Landmark Dismantled [Curbed]
Harlem historians, correct us if we're wrong, but Gateway II—the mad-genius-like plan to construct a pair of new buildings on Frederick Douglas Boulevard and have them spread out horizontally over existing buildings—has been a headscratcher since 2007 or so. By then the project's first phase, the renovation and conversion of the buildings on both sides of the lot, was sold off, and plans for part two were barreling ahead (here are some good "before" shots). The Gateway has had many stops and starts ever since, but broker-blogger Andrew Fine's visit to the site does show some progress since last summer, when there was a flurry of permit activity. There's an updated Schedule A approved just last week that Gateway fans can attempt to decipher, but we've given up on trying to figure this place out. We couldn't track down any listings (or a website for that matter). Little help?
· LoFreDo: Gateway Phase 2 Rises From The Development Ashes! [A Fine]
· Will Harlem's Gateway II Spreads Its Wings? [Curbed]
Lenox Terrace, the preferred housing of NYC's rent-stabilized politicos, is the latest rental complex to grasp at Stuy Town's coattails. A group of tenants has filed a lawsuit against owners the Olnick Organization, with the now familiar claim that the landlord raised rents illegally while receiving tax benefits. What could be in it for the tenants? Somewhere between $400,000 and $6 million, or $2,000 to $30,000 per each of the 200 or 300 individual tenants affected, according to the lawyers who filed the suit. Governor David Paterson would get a piece of the rent rollback pie, but Charlie Rangel, whose 480 apartments in the complex appear to still be rent-regulated, would not. This is only one of the few of an expected flood of post-Stuy Town lawsuits to be filed so far. But the attorneys are the same ones involved in the London Terrace Gardens rent-stabilization case, so any complex with "Terrace" in the name should watch out. You might be next!
· Suit accuses big Harlem landlord of wrongful rent hikes [Crain's]
· Lenox Terrace coverage [Curbed]
Adding to the recent flood of market examinations is the REBNY fourth-quarter market report, prepared by industry group the Real Estate Board of New York and soon to be available on its ResidentialNYC listings search site (the huge PDF will bring Curbed to its knees if we upload it). We're not going to find much doom-and-gloom in a report put out by the gatekeepers of the industry, and sure enough, the report's summary points out many of the same positive market signs as the brokerages' reports, including an uptick in sales activity and a slowing pace of price declines. What makes the REBNY report a bit different is that it compiles stats for the entire city in one place. This leads to unearthing all sorts of fun factoids by housing type, neighborhood and/or borough. For example: The total value of all residential real estate sales last quarter was $7.9 billion (up 18% from last year), and Manhattan sales accounted for 55% of that total, to the Bronx's 3%. Wanna hear more?
REBNY reports that the number of sales citywide in the fourth quarter jumped to 11,691, up 20% from the previous quarter. Based on those sales, the average price of a home (condos, co-ops and 1-3 family buildings) in the city came out to $679,000, while the median was $450,000. In terms of average price-per-square-foot, Manhattan real estate went for $1,040/foot, Brooklyn $385, Queens $302, Staten Island $257, Bronx $237.
On a more micro level, the cheapest homes in Manhattan are found in uptown 'hoods like Inwood (median sales price was $304,000 in the quarter), Washington Heights ($384,000) and Morningside Heights ($465,000). Soho, with a $2.068 million median in the quarter, is the golden goose. The average condo sales prices in the West Village was a jaw-dropping $4.367 million, thanks to 29 sales of $4 million or more at Superior Ink.
Over in Brooklyn, homes in East New York had a median sales price of $244,000, while their friends to the west in Dumbo paid around $1.238 million. Greenpoint ($745,000) had a higher median than Williamsburg ($558,000) and speaking of the Burg: "Condo sales in Williamsburg doubled quarter on quarter, most likely due to more attractive prices. There were 120 sales in the neighborhood during the fourth quarter and the average price was $590,000. The condo building with the most sales was 72 Berry St, with 24."
Harlem's Frederick Douglass Circle has been in the "almost but not quite done" file for six years now. Today, broker-blogger Andrew Fine files some photos showing that the Harlem Gold Coast street project is still, well, not quite done. But it's getting there! Fine reports: "The gate was open and I didn't see any signs about trespassing...The circle looks great. There are numerous granite slabs to sit on engraved with quotes and facts...The latest work seems to be on the 60' wall that should serve as a fountain as well....Everything else seems ready to go." Any bets on how long that last little bit will take?
Welcome back to Tuesday Townhouse: A look at a new-to-market townhouse that is rocking our world. Today we head to Harlem.
This one isn't just a townhouse. It's a 3,176-square-foot "store townhouse" with a bistro, bar, and garden on the ground floor at 458 West 145th Street. The listing says it's "ideal for Live/work," so what about that Live part? On the second floor there's a formal dining area with a lounge space, on the third floor there's a party lounge, and on the fourth floor, there's, yup, a floor-through party space. It can all be yours for $1.1 million, but remember to factor in the cost of all the family get togethers you and your fully-equipped commercial kitchen will be on the hook for.
Location: 2131 Frederick Douglass Boulevard or 301 West 115th Street Size: 73 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units Prices: $460,000 to $980,000 Architect:Hugo Subotovsky Architects Developer:Joy Construction Sales & Marketing: Prudential Douglas Elliman Lowdown: Hitting the market this month is Harlem Gold Coast development Livmor. The amenities list on the building's website includes a fitness center, media lounge, tax abatement, and energy efficient design. So, the usual. But the building will also house a 17,500-square-foot church. For that, we give the project our blessing. Prices are coming in around $600/sq. ft. on the early crop of listings. A sign of things to come in Harlem?
· Livmor Condominium [livmor.com]
· Listings: Livmor [Elliman]
· Livmor coverage [Curbed]
It's a new month, which means it's time to sit down and ponder the crucial questions facing the real estate market, with your input, o Curbed readers. This month's topic: Harlem. As in Williamsburg, Long Island City, and other neighborhoods that seemed like a good idea at the time—the time being during the market boom—new condos that started construction in better economic days are just now hitting the market in Harlem. Like 
So there's this big empty lot that's been empty for a few years up at 5-15 West 125th Street in Harlem, between Lenox Avenue and Fifth Avenue. 
After a 
FLATIRON—Now that creamy-cupola-topped 141 Fifth Avenue is 
Today's rental complex in the news for having an owner who overpaid during the boom in the hope of giving rent-stabilized tenants the boot and turning the place into a profit factory: Riverton Houses, aka Harlem's Stuy Town.The 1,230-unit property's 
1) Finally, the answer to who's paying for all those thematic Empire State Building light shows: the tenants! They're now suing the building's landlord, claiming that their electric bills are far higher than the actual Con Ed costs. While it's illegal for residential landlords to profit from utility bills, there's no such law for commercial landlords, who often add 15 percent administrative charges to bills. A civil court judge ruled the building's owners have to turn over their Con Ed master bill, but the case is still making its way through the appeals process. [
The hopes of boom-price-paying buyers and condo developers both have been 
After a few years in the news 
Lenox Terrace, the preferred housing of NYC's 
Adding to the 
