The Observer's Luxury Rentals May 2010

8/9/2019 The Observer's Luxury Rentals May 2010

1/11

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Neighborhood Spotlight:

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Urban Edge:

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Inside this issue


2/11

Tis the season to

rent apartments,

or that is the

sounding chorus being sung

the real estate community.

ccording to The Real Estate

oups March rental report,

nts are up, and though they

ve not reached the March

009 level, brokers say the

ptick should last at least

rough September.

Trac is increasing

d serious renters are

suracing,says Jason

ohari, Associate Director at

he Moinian Group. Were

periencing an increase in

oth broker and walk-in trac.

ut Mr. Gohari admits that

One may contribute a part o

r current success at Dwell95d Ocean/1 West Street to the

ange in season.

The largest percentage

nt increase on average since

bruary was in non-doorman

ildings in Gramercy Park and

oorman buildings in the East

lage. Two-bedroom doorman

artments have seen the

eadiest recovery compared

with last years numbers.

Doorman buildings have

recovered more quickly than

those without, a sign that some

stratication in luxury prices

may be on the horizon. As

activity picks up this summer,

renters should anticipate a

return to paying a premium

or service,the March rental

report states.

And although rents are up,

but so are vacancies overall.

The Real Estate Group also

says that the increase in

vacancies can be a sign o

health in the market. Snezan

Cebic, o Mark David &

Company, agrees. Ive had

two applications all through

because the landlord either

decided to relist the apartment

without concessions or they

decided to list it a higher price.

And as the luxury market

heats up, concessions are the

rst thing to go. Glenwood

has stopped oering rental

concessions at their premiere

Midtown West property

Emerald Green. In act, weve

stopped them at hal o our

buildings,says Glenwood

Executive Vice President Gary

Jacob. Mr. Cebic sees this

trend as well. Tenants on the

high end are still asking or

and receiving rent reductions,

between 5 and 8%, but

landlords are taking away

many o our concessions.

Which hoods to keep an

eye on? Brokers say Midtown

West, Gramercy Park, and the

Upper West Side in Manhattan.

Non-doorman luxury listings...

the Westside in particular is

doing really well,says Mr.

Cebic. Scott Walsh, Director o

Marketing at TF Cornerstone,

says within our portolio, we

are 99% occupi ed.

Downtown Brooklyn, with its

many new towers, is still leasing

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3/11

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stalwart landing spot or young

proessionals new to the city.

Silver Towers, Emerald

Green, Ohm, 505 W. 37th and

other mid-range luxury towers

are snapping up the renters who

are looking to upgrade at the

last minute beore the economy

goes up again. Glenwood had

to close down the leasing

oce or the Emerald Green

towers or a month because the

company was overwhelmed by

demand, and 505 W. 37th, TF

Cornerstones latest Midtown

project, is doing more than two

deals a day, according to Mr.

Walsh.

Meanwhile on the UpperWest Side, The Corner

at 200 West, a glass

tower overlooking the 72nd

street transit hub, had a waitlist

beore it opened. We were

cautiously optimistic about

the rental climate when we

opened the doors to the leasing

oce our weeks ago. What

has happened since is beyond

our wildest imagination. [The

building] has been extremely

well received,says Jerey Kaye,

Vice President at developer The

Gotham Organization.

Things in Brooklyn are

looking up as well. New York

magazine recently christened

Park Slope New York Citys

most livableneighborhood,

and Cobble Hill came out

number our on that list.

Theres going to be a pop in

the rental market because o

the season. I interest rates

continue to rise, people will

be priced out o the condo

market again,predicts David

Maundrell, President o

Aptsandlots.com, a Brooklyn-

based brokerage. Maundrells

seven-year old company had

surprising success with their

most recent building- 150

Johnson - renting 17 units the

rst day. They also have high

hopes or the soon to premiere

175 Kent, a 170-unit building in

Williamsburg just down rom

JMH Developments waterront

gem 184 Kent.

And in a market with

eectively halted construction,

there are still exciting new

building openings on the

horizon. Mr. Maundrell says he

is as excited about 307 Atlantic,

on the border o Brooklyn

Heights and Boerum Hill, as one

o his own buildings- 74 Grand

in the Clinton Hill area. Back

in Manhattan, the amenity-

packed building The Ashley on

63rd has just begun leasing,

and Rose AssociatesThe Aire is

set to open in May.Will these landlords still

be paying the broker ee? Mr.

Jacobs doesnt think so. When

the market gets better, rst

concessions stop, then, the

next show o strength is that

building owners will stop paying

commissions,the Glenwood

Executive Vice President says.

But we havent reached that

point just yet.

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4/11

Beore recently,

the last shred o

Manhattan below

0th street that had not

een developed was the

estside corridor between

e 30s and the mid 40s.

he Hudson Yards, as the

ea was dubbed, was

vored by the Bloomberg

dministration or myriad

asons and benet rom

crative tax incentives or

uilding. But this was not

thout controversy, skeptics

diculty. The extension o

e 7 line has taken orever,

ew York City did not get the

012 Olympics, and the citydministration eventually cut

d ran on the tax subsidies.

ut somehow the transitional

eighborhood has emerged

om the recession vibrant.

What they were going to

y to be in a th foor walk-

p they can now pay and be

a building with a reputable

veloper, says Scott Walsh,

rector o marketing or TF

Cornerstone. Walsh says they

have had no trouble leasing

at their 835-unit project

in the area- 505 W. 37th.

Hudson Yards as a brand

needs additional time to take

o, concedes Mr. Walsh,

but the developer sees the

neighborhood as a long-term

investment. In act, they have

to see it as one- We dont sell

our buildings, says Mr. Walsh.

The area, particularly

on 37th street, has a lot o

construction, says Gary

Jacobs, Executive Vice

President at Glenwood,

a developer which has

traditionally, and wisely,

ocused on rentals and had

a large role in the Midtown

West areas development.

Now there is competition.

At 37th street and the

corner o Ninth Avenue is

a Lalazarian project, which

will open within the month.

Nearby Emerald Green and

Silver Towers are rising rom

what was once the ashes

o a blighted section o

Manhattan.

The area is growing,

becoming more established,says Mr. Jacob, whose

company is drawing up

plans or a project on 39th

between Eighth and Ninth

avenues. Glenwood, noted

or being consistently

nancially sound and never

using mezzanine lenders, will

likely use the markets timing

to buy up more inventory in

the area.

The posh 288-unit Ohm

in West Chelsea lls out

the Westsides successul

portolio. The building, rom

Douglaston Development,

has public perormance

spaces and luxurious

perks. It ts well with a

neighborhood replete with

cultural amenities, like the

Baryshnikov center and

various strips o haute-

cuisine.

And these buildings may

do particularly well given

the lack o inventory in the

pipeline. These buildings

were all conceived and

started [construction] beorethe market dropped o.

Since then there has been

little nancing. There is no

421-a program anymore,

says Mr. Jacob. Not many

people are willing to go

orward with a rental building

right now. [Developers] will

need to be ortunate enough

to get 20/80 bond nancing,

and that is in limited supply.

Midtown West

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5/11

Anyone who has

ever looked or an

apartment in New

ork City has had this

xperience. The one where

ou tour a studio apartment

th the shower in the

tchen, where the bed has

be moved each time you

pen the ront door. Thepartment that the broker

aid was going to be a

erect t, or you. Thats

hen you have undoubtedly

ought to yoursel there

as got to be a better way.

Ilana Schwartz and

on Tallerman o Online

arketing Group Inc.

gree. Their new site,

rbanEdgeNY.com, is a

ee listing service created

th the intention o

inging owners directly

consumers, and at the

ast streamline the oten

umbersome process o

nding an apartment in

is city. We dont want to

iminate brokers exactly

e want to help people

arket their properties,

ays Ms. Schwartz, and

r ree. Ater all, as Mr.

allerman points out, the

ternet is about ree.

Yes it is. And those

ee services can be

ighty disappointing.

rbanEdgeNY oers paid

ervices as well, such as

earch engine optimization.

essence, they oer

nd-to-end marketing or

partment owners, a more

comprehensive service

than a broker provides.

Ultimately, the goal is to

narrow a renters choices

and give both the consumer

and the owner more control

in the apartment rental

process.

Ms. Schwartz

background as a personnel

trainer in real estate, and

Mr. Tallermans as an

account services executive

in advertising, combine

orces to ocus on the online

potential that apartment

owners may not know how

to ocus. With craigslist.org

as an online emblem o the

tragedy o the commons,

and alternative sites, such

as nakedapts.com, charging

a ee to market apartments

online, this duo may have

ound the simplest and

yet most helpul site New

Yorkers could want- a ree

apartment matchmaking

service. Its not a brilliant

idea, concedes Mr.

Tallerman.

And it might not be the

most popular idea in the

real estate community- a

service that potentially

eliminates brokers.

UrbanEdgeNY eatures

sel-produced videos o

slimy brokers showing a

dirty apartment in a terrible

neighborhood while saying

to the prospective renter

over the phone that the

place has character, the

area is going to come up

any second now. This

horrible abuse o buzz

phrases is not such an

unamiliar scenario to any

renter outside the Park

Avenue South echelon. And,

in Mr. Tallermans mind,

the market will not support

unscrupulous brokers

orever. He sees them as

unnecessary. [Apartmentbrokerage] is not a separate

industry in Minneapolis.

Ms. Schwartz puts it more

sotly- We ound that there

was an inefciency online.

When the pair met up,

Tallerman pitched the idea

to Ms. Schwartz who replied

immediately: thats my

idea! They do not have

investors, so they have a

huge incentive to succeed.

In this market, landlords

and renters alike may be

willing to eschew traditional

brokerages. The key or

UrbanEdgeNY is their

willingness to work with

all levels o income- rom

a walk-up in Brooklyn

to a penthouse, as Mr.

Tallerman says. They are

willing to do low-income

housing as well. In the

uture Mr. Tallerman hopes

to add shares and sublets.

Realizing this may sound

overambitious, he pauses

and adds squatters too.

Well, as long as you are

revolutionizing an industry...

Only time will tell how

this business model plays

out, but the sentiment

seems quite solid.

UrbanEdgeNYringing owners directly to

onsumers and streamlining

e process o nding an

partment in NYC

Don Tallermanand IlanaSchwartz rollthrough theFlatiron District.

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6/11

bserver: So, youre rom

ondon?

cie Holt: Yes, rom London

d moved here in 1995.

nd I didnt start with Citi-

bitats until 1997 actually,

ecause when I rst got here

tarted a company called

opher Realty and then that

mpany was bought by

udential Douglas Elliman.

o Ive been with Citi-

bitats or about 12 years,hich is a long time with one

mpany.

How did you get into

al estate?

Well, Ive been in the

dustry since 1995. I had

eviously worked in London

a mortgage broker, came

New York and jumped

ght in when the market

wasnt what it is today. And

here I am what? 13 years

later?

Q: And you said when you

started Citi-habitats had

only two oces, where it

now has, like, 13?

A: By the time I got there

they might have had three,

but yes, we were a very small

company.

Q: So what has it been like

seeing the landscape o

the industry change?

A: Well, when I started

people werent buying like

they are today, but thats

how I got going. [I worked

or] a lot o people who had

probably just graduated and

got their rst job, rst-time

renters coming to New York

or the rst time rom all

over the country, all over the

world. And thats how my

business grew. They went

rom their rst apartment to

their second apartment and

then had a baby.

Q: So needs changed and

so did apartments.

A: Yes, eventually they are

buying. Thats maybe even a

13-year span, right?

Q: Yeah! So you had lots o

returning clients.

A: Yes, lots and lots, and

its great because Ive seen

them grow, get engaged,

have amilies. Its amazing;

thats what I love about my

job. Somebody who in 1995

was resh out o school,

and maybe they didnt get

married, but they are at a

better place in their job, so

maybe they started at a

$1700 studio and now they

are buying something or

$3M.

Q: What are the biggest

changes in the market in

the last ten years?

A: Im going to say, rom

1999, that people caught

on that perhaps they werethrowing their money away

with renting. Slowly the

market started changing.

There is obviously still a lot

o renting, but rom 99 to

about 2006, 2007 the sales

market grew considerably.

New construction grew, but

unortunately we know what

happened ater 2007.

Q&Awith

Lucie Holtucie Holt is an Associate Broker

ho ranks among Citi-habitats 10

p-producing agents and has earned

early 20 company awards and

cognitions such as Highest Earning

ales Agent or her ofce, 2003; Most

osed Sales Transactions 2004; and

ost Reerred Agent, 2005.

The Observer speaks with two leading agents to getan insiders view of todays market.


7/11

Yes, yes we do.

We also had a little dip

ter 9/11, but it made less

pact than we perhaps

ought it would. But ater

at it just went crazy and

u just couldnt keep up

th the market. The banks

ere giving money and

me people lucked out and

nortunately some people

dnt. The biggest change

as that people decided that

erhaps renting was a big

aste o money and now is

e time to buy buy buy.

And now you are seeing

resurgence in rentals?

Yes, but I think that it s

alanced itsel out. Theeople who waited just

aited and now that the

arket is a bit lower, those

eople that were sitting on

e sidelines ended up with

ot o cash. And there are

nly so many places you

n put cash. We also had

e oreign money coming

And now the rental

arket is a little sot. Im

oing to say that its not,

ou knowlandlords cant

arge whatever they want

nymore. In act some

eoples rent went down

2009. Which is a good

ing.

It was a proper

orrection?

It needed to correct

sel. The rentals market

nd the sales market- both

e in a better place than

ey were a ew years ago.

ust dont think that could

ave lasted.

Its sad i you are on the

rong end, but, what can

ou do?

Well, you put your money

the stock market or in

al estate. Either way you

lost. But the act is, renting

is expensive, and buying is

expensive. In New York, there

is no cushion.

Q: Has the dip bottomed

out?

A: On the rentals side, I

honestly do think that the

market has bottomed out,

but I think there is less

inventory or good stu at

the high end. I have people

looking or specic stu at

the high end and cant nd it.

Q: There are just a xed

number o apartments at a

certain level.

A: Its always been hard to

nd three, our-bedrooms.

Most apartments are

studios, one-bedrooms.

Its always been hard to

nd a good three bedroom

and [when they nd them]

people stay in them. Once

you have a amily, why

move? I dont know that that

has changed.

Q: I certainly hear things

to that efect, but there

arent that many brokers

who deal with the super

high-end, so its all kind o

anecdotal.

A: Absolutely. I had a really

high-end rental last year in

Gramercy Park, and it rented

quite quickly because it

was a premium apartment

and it was beautiully done.

Whereas had it not been

renovated or in a prime

area...

Q: But with the

apartments that were

maybe supposed to be

condos and are now luxury

apartments, in buildings

with say 800 units, do

you think the market has

stabilized or them?

A: A lot o the big, big

buildings- the units are all

the same. They might not

have character, might look

quite boxy. They have to be

fexible, and they are being

fexible. That market has

probably bottomed out. But

I think i an apartment is

unique, then regardless o

the size, i its a little studio

or a our-bedroom it will rent

quickly because its dierent.

I you have an apartment

with 20-oot ceilings and

a beautiul English back

garden, it will rent ast.

Q: What unique

apartments have you seen

recently?

A: Well the one in Gramercy

was beautiul, top o the line

everything and looked out

onto the park; balcony over

the park. Imagine having

a balcony over Gramercy

Park. So that rented

quickly. I saw a beautiul

three-bedroom on lower

Fith Avenue, a true three-

bedroom, looking out over

treetops, with high ceilings.

That rented pretty ast.

I think the lot buildings

with high ceilings, exposed

brick, working ireplaces,

outdoor space, all o that

packaged into a studio or

a three bedroom will rent.

Brownstones too.

Q: So you rent apartments

in Brooklyn as well?

A: In Brooklyn, not as much

as Id like. With the market

having dropped, a lot o

people in Brooklyn are

coming into the city now.

A lot o my clients that

were going to move out to

Brooklyn have decided they

dont really need to do that

anymore.

Q: Thats cute.

A: It is cute. So not as much

Brooklyn as Id like to.

Q: So is there a particular

neighborhood in

Manhattan you eel is

overlooked and about to

come up?

A: Well, I would be biased

because Im going to be

living there mysel, but I

would say that Harlem is

denitely still on the rise. On

the Westside its so beautiul.

There are buildings going up

that are renting and selling.

The east village still is very

popular, but I think they

are already there. Are they

already there? [Laughter]

Q: Yes, I think they are

already there. What do

you think a luxury two-

bedroom apartment rents

or in West Harlem?

A: One o the newer

buildingsUpwards o$3,000 Im sure. Depends on

how big it is.

Q: What area do you

consider Harlem?

A: I would say 100 th street

and going up into the

20s and 30s. There are

brownstones, and lots o

condos going up there. Lots

o new rental buildings. Its a

lot o activity.

Q: Someone was telling

me once that someone

they knew bought one o

those brownstones or

$10,000 in the eighties.

A: I can believe that.

Q: And now its worth

A: Probably a million and a

hal, two million. No, I can

believe that. When I rst

started you could probably

get one o those. They were

shells. You could probably

get one or $100,000. Youd

have to put in $200,000 or

$300,000 though.

Q: Foresight.

A: They did have oresight,

because when I got here in

1995 I didnt have anyone

going into Harlem. I mean

think about how its not that

ar rom Central Park. And

the north end o the park is

beautiul. So rugged.

Q: Its such an articial

northern barrier. I dont

understand why people

were going to Brooklyn

instead o to Harlem. You

can commute to downtown

Manhattan so quickly.

Did you work in real estate

beore coming to New

York?

A: I was a mortgage broker,

but there the mortgage

broker would sit in the real

estate oces. So its one-

stop shopping with themortgage broker in-house.

Q: Is it really hard to get a

mortgage in the U.K.?

A: Well, like in the U.S., they

tightened up. It used to

be, like, i you had a pulse

you could get one, but now

you have to go through the

hoops just like you do here.

Q: I just think o real

estate in London as being

so expensive.

A: The thing is its probably

just as expensive here but the

cost o living is lower. So you

can buy the apartment but

still eat out and buy clothing.

Q: Yeah, its hard to explain

to people how high the

cost o living in London is.

A: But the real estate is on

par. The dierence is there

are more unique apartments

there. There arent as many

tower blocks and high-rises

as there are in Manhattan.

When I get Europeans here

they always ask me to show

them unique apartments.

They want something that is

in Paris, and hello! It doesnt

exist.

I think i an apartment is unique,

then regardless o the size, i its a

little studio or a our-bedroom it will

rent quickly because its dierent.

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8/11

4

bserver: How long have

ou been in residential real

state in New York City?

enad Ahmetovic: In New

ork City, this is my twelth

ar.

And beore that?

Beore that I was actually

Germany. I was involved

property management in

ermany and that is actually

ow I got involved in this

hole industry. I ell in love

th it ever since. I came here

om Germany in 1997, did my

ntinuing education at NYU.

e never even switched

mpanies. I am one o those

w lucky ones. I ound mysel

ere, and I didnt need to

ange

Thats really nice.

Yes, it is.

Q: What sort o properties

do you generally work

with? What sort o range?

A: I do actually a wide range

o properties, I do the high-

end rentals, you know,

16 to 20 thousand [per

month]. But I also have, in

my portolio, studios that

are around, say $2,000. So

various price ranges, and

people rom all kinds o

backgrounds, and budgets.

Q: What neighborhoods

do you nd exciting right

now?

A: Well, it depends what

you are looking or. People

looking or bargains, there

are a couple places that stick

out. I would say Murray Hill

is still very aordable. And

the past couple years it got

really fooded with the young,

vibrant crowd. You can nd

some great deals there.

Q: Any particular buildings

that have been exciting to

see launch?

A: Well I am an exclusive

broker or a building on Park

Avenue in Murray Hill, so I

do most o the deals there.

Thats how I see trends

changing, by doing a volume

o transactions in one

building in particular.

Q: And what trends do you

see?

A: Its really been anybodys

guess up until now. Its

obviously very dierent

than the downturn ater

September 11th, 2001. Its

taking longer to recover.

However, its looking good;

its changing slowly. These

last several months weve

seen inventories shrink,

especially the high-luxury end

o the market. Thats a good

indicator, because we are

seeing some o these $16,000

plus rentals going up.

Q: Wow, thats great.

A: I am anticipating good

things. For instance, I have

two luxury rentals coming on

the market, and I am pricing

them two or three thousandmore than a year beore.

Q: Was it discouraging

among brokers, the

downturn?

Do you eel like a lot o

people let the real estate

community in 2009? And i

so is that nally starting to

reverse itsel?

A: Yes, yes. I mean I can tell

Q&Awith

Senad Ahmetovic

Senad Ahmetovic, Senior Vice President and

Associate Broker with Halstead Property, has

received recognition or the Highest Volume o

Transactions ve years in a row. He is alsoa Certied Senior Relocation Agent

who serves customers rom many

locations worldwide. Most recently

Senad was awarded the prestigious

REBNYs Deal O The Year

award or 2009.

Tungsten Property is a boutique brokerage activewithin Manhattan, and much of Brooklyn and Queens.

Please contact us 24 hours a day 7 days a week at1-8TUNGSTEN1 (1-888-467-8361)

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RESIDENTIALRENTAL SERVICES

T T 1 . 1


9/11

u since Ive been so long

one company, one desk

ound me- it was like a

volving door. People would

me and go, trying it out

r several months. And then

ecide its not really working

r them. Its dicult enough

get started in this industry,

ey work somewhere or

veral months beore ever

aking a deal, but now, on

p o that starting at the

orst possible time

In real estate in other

ties people sometimes

ake money in another

dustry and then when

ey move to real estate,

ntil commissions startoming in, they basically

ay or themselves to be

a brokerage. Is that a

ervasive practice here in

ew York?I wouldnt say that is

widely spread. I would

y, what I see with my

lleagues, I mean, I chose

do this ull time, but I see

ot o my colleagues are

oing real estate as a side

b. Its just side income

hile [they are] pursuing

her careers. Drama,

hatever the case may be.

ee that not just with my

mpany but with brokers

meet on the street. Doing

al estate just helps them

y the bill, or get them

ore quickly to their goals.

ot or me though. It is my

ead and butter.

Yeah, I would assume that

eople at the top are not

cusing on anything else.

Yeah,[real estate] is very

volved. I your mind is

sewhere and you were only

ing this in the morning or

ceversa

Yeah. Its competitive.

And so is getting an

apartment sometimes.

From a policy standpoint

is there anything you

think the city should do

to modiy the real estate

market? Like, rent control?

Some people think that

the contraction has been

appropriate, that things are

now priced as they should

be. Do you think thats the

case?

A: Well, its all in relative

terms. Nobody can question

that the prices were going up

or a number o years and it

couldnt have worked i they

were just going up. It had to

have this bubble bursting.

But, ater all, its New York.

It has always been a unique

market. You always have

people with money wanting

to move into the city.

Q: But what about rent

control? Should there be

some revision o it?

A: I dont really know what

the right course o action

would be. Certainly what they

have on the books now, with

a lot o these developments,

the developer gets tax

subsidies and they have

20% o the building available

to low-income tenants.

Thats the way it should

be. I someone is getting

something rom the city,

they should give something

back. I think the policies they

have are sucient. Maybe

developing more aordable

housing in certain areas

would help. But in general,

I think they are on the right

course.

Q: So, totally changing

course, have you done any

particularly interesting

deals recently?

A: Well, all my deals are sort

o interesting in their own

particular way. But what I

have ound with some great

deals that I got or some o

my diplomat clients, that I

get repeat business rom

I probably cant mention

those. [Laughter]. But I can

say that they were pleasantly

surprised that they didnt

have to pay the brokers ee,

that the prices were down

20% in certain segments, but

I had to explain to them that

this is a transitional period,

its not going to be like this

orever. I try to prepare them

or what is eventually coming.

Q: Well, we renters can

enjoy it or now.

A: Obviously renters come

with certain expectations.

They read the Internet and

see all these incentives

are being oered. But that

obviously has its problems.

You might call the landlord

that was oering two months

ree rent a week ago, and

nd that thats not still on

the books. A lot o them are

pulling back on incentives

as the market is picking up.

This is generally the busiest

season. I see a lot o the

concessions- like owner paid

commissions- getting scaled

back. But not permanently,

most likely in September we

will have them back. I dont

see the recovery happening

that ast.

**Last months luxury rental

section incorrectly spelled Dennis

Hughesname Dennis Hugh.We

deeply regret the error. Mr. Hughes

is a Senior Vice President with The

Corcoran Group.

People looking or bargains,

there are a couple places that stick

out. I would say Murray Hill is still

very aordable. And the past couple

years it got really fooded with the

young, vibrant crowd.

.

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10/11

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11/11

The Observer's Luxury Rentals May 2010

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Transcript of The Observer's Luxury Rentals May 2010