THE American property market might be awash with worrying signs of slowdown
but you would be hard-pressed to notice it in New York. The city is as busy
as ever, with a cheerful industry that envelops all social groups, including
the poor and ethnic minorities who have been worst affected in the sub-prime
mortgage market implosion. Boldly designed developments are redefining New
York’s most desirable neighbourhoods, with the median apartment price now at
£395,000, up 7 per cent in a year. The weakness of the dollar is, according
to S. Lawrence Davis, of the SDS Investments real estate fund, making the
present market for overseas buyers “like going into Harrods and discovering
everything is 50 per cent off”. Better still, the new stock is almost all
condominiums, with none of the distaste of the traditional cooperative’s
board for second-home or buy-to-let owners.
The gritty district of West Chelsea has been cleverly rezoned to encourage a
regeneration that will allow contemporary art galleries, now resolutely
priced out of SoHo, to thrive. And thrive they do: 260 art dealers are open
for business, and their ever more confident shopfronts have created an
open-air gallery, thronging with students, critics and buyers. Developers
have swooped in, where city planning rules allow, and are not wasting the
chance to develop new buildings on former industrial sites. Jean Nouvel has
several apartment buildings in development, and Richard Meier and Frank
Gehry have had commissions realised here.
One firm, Della Valle Bernheimer, is out to prove its credentials in
delivering architecture as art. Its new development, 245 Tenth Avenue,
angles out over a landmark new park, the High Line. Stainless steel panels
in the building’s skin are each uniquely stamped with a light-reflective
diamond pattern, and windows are scattered geometrically, giving each of the
19 units (priced from £888,000 for a one-bedroom, one-office apartment) its
own arrangement. Inside, ebonised oak floors and exposed concrete ceilings
create a gallery feeling, which provides an open invitation to owners to
show off their art purchases.
The first stage of the High Line, an architect-designed elevated esplanade on
a former freight railway, will from next year meander mid-block into the
Meatpacking district, where öberclubs and boutiques jostle for space with
the last food delivery firms. The campaign to save the High Line and its
urban wilderness of self-seeded trees and grasses drew all eyes to West
Chelsea.
Farther downtown, the financial district is proving another surprisingly
vibrant residential area. The September 11 attacks, which forced
corporations to relocate, sent rents plummeting. Daniel Libeskind’s Freedom
Tower will rise in 2012 in a remade neighbourhood. The 26,000 residents, up
from only 2,000 seven years ago, have found the area more habitable since
the opening of a private school and news of the expected arrival of Whole
Foods Market, Hermes and Tiffany’s, which has long been faithful to its
landmark Fifth Avenue store.
André Balazs, the upmarket hotelier, is ready with the Wall Street dream that
is William Beaver House. The 47-storey tower, occupying the corner of
William and Beaver streets, is a lone new-build amid precious landmarks.
With a yellow mosaic-style exterior, drive-in lobby and private cinema, it
is proving popular with overseas buyers, especially those from Latin
America, willing to pay £485,000 for an 812 sq ft, one-bedroom apartment in
what one observer calls “a very funky aprãs-ski lodge”.
Just a few doors away, the Setai provides another vision of city life. Fresh
from its successes in South Beach, Miami, the firm is bringing its
ultra-indulgent spa formula to the city in the form of a private club and
residence with 44,000 sq ft of amenities — including an 18,000 sq ft
Eastern-inspired Setai brand spa. Residents — who must pay £469,000 for a
one-bedroom unit — will have access to a butler service, two-storey library,
restaurant with private dining rooms, wine gallery and sky lounge.
The desirability of such developments threatens even the ascendancy of the
Upper East Side, with its luxury shopping and Central Park access. But even
here times are changing. Miraval, a spa company of a different type, is
extending its resort formula from the Arizona desert to a 41-storey former
rental apartment building on 72nd Street. The Miraval Living complex boasts
a 20,000 sq ft terraced private garden, one of the largest in Manhattan, an
Olympic-size pool, and Miraval advisers who will direct residents through
100 of the resort’s most popular programmes, including Zen Boot-camp, Equine
Experience and Board-breaking. Miraval Living, with its family-friendly
apartments, from £793,000 for three bedrooms, is serious business: it is
owned by Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, and came here because so many of its
worn-down, high-achieving visitors hailed from the old-money 10022 postcode.
For the first time foreign buyers can take their pick between a stake in Old
New York, or one in New New York — without having to compromise on the
luxury features that ensure a second home is a real holiday-maker. Contact
Hamptons International, 020-7758 8447, www.hamptons-int.com
THE UBERCLUBS
New Yorkers are not afraid to work hard at living well. Show you know how to
party at some of the city’s hippest nightclubs: PM, 50 Gansevoort St:
A-listers line up to party in this massive lounge, which is designed to look
like a tropical paradise. APT, 419 W 13th St: this club appears to be a
nondescript apartment building, but inside the hottest DJs can be found
performing to droves of clubgoers. Cain, 544 W 27th St: perfect for the
entrancing rhythm of bongo drums and a bit of model-watching. Bungalow 8,
515 W 27th St: a stylish hotspot where celebrities let off steam. Pink
Elephant, 527 W 27th St: this club is located inside the old Prop Room at
CroBar. Clubgoers mix their own drinks. Club Aer, 409 W 13th St:
ultra-modern place with design elements that threaten sensory overload. ANTHONY
SERRANO
I am a successful stock broker in London and a few years back to decided to head across the pond to buy property. Of course I bought in Orlando, as it was the law for Brits to do so some 10 years ago. I have often thought about indulging the New York property market, That was until I went there. To me New York is just a newer version of London (although you wouldn't think it) on steroids. The city is grey, the people are rude and abrupt, and the weather is horrible. So, basically London. I knew I wanted to keep my money in Florida, where the weather is warm and the people are incredible. However, Miami is more for the younger person and Orlando is now over-run with Brits, it looks like Blackpool. But a few weeks back I came across a city in the NW of Florida called Pensacola. Sugar white beaches and emerald green oceans of the gulf coast are beautiful. I have invested in a property there, and I would advise anyone to do the same. There is a place called Perdido Cove, well worth a look.
Charles Milner, London, Great Britain