NYC athletes have it easy in a competitive real estate market

Perhaps you caught Michael Strahan’s 25 Murray Street condo on HGTV’s “Selling New York” last night. It hit the market in November at $1.85 million and recently endured a $100,000 price cut. But what you might not know is that before the former Giants star purchased his 1,911-square-foot apartment at the building known as Tribeca Space in 2008, he had tons of incentive offers from developers who wanted him in their building. Ultimately, he settled on the $1.64 million pad, which, according to the New York Times, went to him for below that year’s median price per square foot for the building. Brokers say discounts for famous athletes like Strahan are the norm in New York City. In Tiki Barber’s case, when he found out the marketers at 515 East 72nd Street were pitching buyers on having the ex-running back as their neighbor, he used that information to negotiate the price of his own apartment down to $4.8 million from $6 million. [WSJ]