Since its inauguration in the last couple of years as an epicenter for young families, developers in the Financial District have sought to mold it as a toddler-oriented mecca, a sort of southern Tribeca for clans that can afford it, the Observer reported. The $4.5 million Imagination Playground and good public schools continue to attract families, as do the European-feeling streets that are quiet as soon as the closing bell rings. But the “baby boomlet,” as the New York Times called it in 2009, seems to have crested in FiDi, with luxury rentals now more likely to be converted to hold roommates than playpens. According to resident Angela Tai, a creative recruiter originally from Taiwan, each FiDi high-rise has its own identity. Her own building, at 2 Gold Street, is in the mid-range — somewhere between 99 John Street, which is teeming with young children and families, and 200 Water Street, which is “like a “high-end dorm,” she says. Her own building is a good mix of people like her: “childless, but with some money — and dogs,” she says. In addition to the families and singles, amenities for older folks keep popping up in FiDi as well, such as Todd English’s Libertine at the Gild Hall hotel, and Bayard’s Blue Bar. [NYO]

[more]

Downtown office vacancy chart, click image for larger version (source: Cassidy Turley)

The vacancy rate for Downtown surpassed the vacancy rate for Midtown
for the first time in nearly two years as several large blocks of
space were returned to the market in Lower Manhatt [more]

Wendy Maitland of BHS and 88 Greenwich

Last week, 88 Greenwich in the Financial District closed on its 407th
unit, making it more than 90 percent sold, a milestone for the
452-unit condo conversion that’s been on the market since 2007,
according to the New York Post. Developed by Andrew Heiberger’s Button
Real Estate, many industry insiders originally thought the project would not succeed.
But the building, which has an additional 10 units in contract,
decided to do its conversion in pieces. Units on the top floors were
spruced up with luxury finishes and, as construction wound down, the
existing rentals on the first three floors were vacated and sold off.
Overall, sales prices have been relatively modest, with apartments in the
building getting less than $1,000 per square foot. The remaining units
are, for the most part, being sold untouched, with prices between
$449,000 and $1.05 million. One exception is the 2,086-square-foot
two-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse, which had been rented for
$15,000 per month until a few weeks ago and is now listed for $4.175
million with Wendy Maitland of Brown Harris Stevens. [Post]

[more]

Wendy Maitland of BHS and 88 Greenwich

Last week, 88 Greenwich in the Financial District closed on its 407th
unit, making it more than 90 percent sold, a milestone for the
452-unit condo conversion that’s been on the market since 2007,
according to the New York Post. Developed by Andrew Heiberger’s Button
Real Estate, many industry insiders originally thought the project would not succeed.
But the building, which has an additional 10 units in contract,
decided to do its conversion in pieces. Units on the top floors were
spruced up with luxury finishes and, as construction wound down, the
existing rentals on the first three floors were vacated and sold off.
Overall, sales prices have been relatively modest, with apartments in the
building getting less than $1,000 per square foot. The remaining units
are, for the most part, being sold untouched, with prices between
$449,000 and $1.05 million. One exception is the 2,086-square-foot
two-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse, which had been rented for
$15,000 per month until a few weeks ago and is now listed for $4.175
million with Wendy Maitland of Brown Harris Stevens. [Post]

[more]

Broker Stephen McArdle and District

It’s been a long road for District, the Lower Manhattan condominium that became synonymous with the excesses of the condo boom when it hired nightclub queen [more]

The Financial District has seen a residential boom over the last decade, according to the Wall Street Journal, due in part to a perceived abundance of bargains, real estate insiders say. The number of permanent residents below Chambers Street has ballooned to 55,000, according to the community organization Alliance for Downtown New York, more than double the 24,400 residents in 2000. Even so, Charles Rutenberg Realty agent Danielle Lewis McLaurin said that the neighborhood has a long way to go before it can be considered a residential hot spot. “It’s still quiet, but it’s not as quiet as it used to be,” McLaurin said. “Before, it was just desolate.” [WSJ]

[more]

A 42,000-square-foot private college just opened on the 16th floor of 25 Broadway in the Financial District, the Downtown Express reported. The Albany-based Mildred Elley college, offering two-year health sciences and nursing programs, opened Monday as a result of a recession-induced demand for new career training, said a college administrator. The Empire Education
Corporation shelled out $2.5 million for the space to accommodate the 105 students who enrolled this week. Harry Krausman, managing director of Cassidy Turley, the real estate firm that negotiated the deal on behalf of the school, said the
three-month negotiation process was a bit turbulent, as the college was bumped from the original floor they signed off on and had to redesign the space on the 16th floor to fit its needs. But he said the landlord was very receptive to the school. [Downtown Express]

[more]

From the April issue: Positive signs in the market are attracting the attention of the many New Yorkers who wanted to sell their apartments, but took them off the market last year in the midst of the recession. With the market now showing signs of improvement, many of these homeowners are considering relisting their homes. “Sellers feel the market is stronger than it was last year,” said Kyle Blackmon, a vice president at Brown Harris Stevens. Their decisions could have far-reaching consequences for the Manhattan market in the coming months. Inventory has declined for the past few quarters (see “The inventory squeeze”), which has helped to create urgency in the market and prevent further price drops. But a large number of units reentering the market at once could reverse some of that progress. [more]

The vacancy rate Downtown rose sharply as Goldman Sachs’ former headquarters building, the 1.1 million-square-foot tower at 85 Broad Street, was officially added as available to the leasing market, commercial services firm Cassidy Turley said in its monthly Manhattan office leasing report released today (click here to see full report).

The vacancy rate Downtown rose by more than a percentage point to 12.2 percent in March from 11.1 percent in February because of the addition, the report says.

The building also drove Manhattan’s Class A vacancy rate to its highest level in 13 years, the report says, reaching 12.8 percent in March. TRD [more]

Click image for larger version

From the February issue: The fourth-quarter market reports revealed that the recession’s worst-hit Manhattan neighborhood isn’t newly gentrifying Harlem or even the recently residential Financial District. Midtown — one of the city’s most well-established neighborhoods — saw the sharpest price decreases, the most price cuts and the longest days on the market. What happened? Experts say Midtown West, in particular, fell prey to a hotbed of speculation during the boom, fueled by an abundance of new condos, and the area is now paying the price. During the mid-aughts, thousands of new condo units were built in Midtown and quickly snatched up by investors eager to flip them for six-figure profits in the wildly escalating market of the time. Now, while overall market activity is on the rise again, falling prices have dampened demand from investors, leaving Midtown with an oversupply of condos — and absentee owners frantically trying to unload them. Around 42nd Street, “there are large, monolithic new development buildings, with a lot of investors and pied-à-terre buyers who are now desperate to sell,” explained Sofia Song, vice president of research at StreetEasy. [more]