West Village Record Smashed and Financial District Flop?

For years, the most new development inventory has been concentrated in the Financial District. But an analysis of public records found unsold buildings in the area accounted for more than 20 percent of Manhattan’s unsold units. An ill-timed development influx has left overpriced units piling up in Lower Manhattan.

One unit that was sold in Downtown Manhattan was a West Village condo owned by Harsh Padia, CEO of HAP Capital. The sale of the unit for $60 million in an off-market deal represented a record for the most expensive condo in the area.

The Real Deal explored the story of the tiny townhouse at 19 West 46th Street, a Midtown Manhattan relic that may be the third-narrowest in the entire borough. Glance down at your phone — maybe to look at a TRD alert — and you might miss it!

It stands in sharp contrast to the Hub, a 55-story rental tower in Brooklyn. Steiner NYC took full control of the property back after buying out JPMorgan Chase in a $420 million recapitalization of the 750-unit mixed-use building at 333 Schermerhorn Street.

This week brought the reveal of one of Manhattan’s newest “It” buildings. Zeckendorf Development and Atlas Capital Group’s luxury project at 80 Clarkson Street in the West Village is expected to quietly start sales this month. The most expensive unit with pricing available is a $63 million five-bedroom condo on the 31st floor.

As for more development? The concentration of projects in select neighborhoods is driving an important conversation: the rhetoric of the NIMBY movement may be fueling the city’s housing crisis in a real way.

This week, Senate and Assembly Democrats released responses to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget, with both proposing more restrictions on institutional investors of single-family homes and higher tax rates for the state’s top earners.

The state budget is due in less than three weeks.