West Village Condos: The Printing House at 421 Hudson Street

November 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The Printing House - 421 Hudson Street

The Printing House - 421 Hudson Street

Some condo conversion projects, like the St. Vincent’s Hospital plan or the Charles Street warehouse, are met with disapproval for the drastic changes they bring. The Printing House building at 421 Hudson Street is not one of those. Converted into a condominium in 1975, 421 Hudson Street has served as a residential building for more than thirty years.

The former printing building, which was one of the city’s first commercial-to-residential conversions, has been home to rental apartments for some time, but new owners purchased the building for $70 million with the intention of converting 421 Hudson Street into luxury condominiums. The building made headlines briefly after a bidder for the building filed a lawsuit against the former owner, Mountbatten Equities, claiming that the seller was not listening to their bid in good faith. (The Wall Street Journal has a summary of that controversy as far as it’s been reported here.)

In the meantime, renovations are planned for 421 Hudson Street. The current rental units will be vacated and re-designed as condo units. (The current size for a one-bedroom in the building is 750 square feet, so expect that to get bigger for the conversion.) Common areas, such as the building courtyard and the lobby, will also be renovated. The lawsuit is not expected to interrupt the conversion process.

Printing House rooftop pool

Printing House rooftop pool

Earlier this year, Equinox purchased and renovated the luxury, private gym located in the building and now known as the Printing House by Equinox.  The facilities include sweeping skyline views from high floors, state-of-the-art equipment, and an extraordinary rooftop pool that opened earlier this year.

To schedule an appointment to view available apartments at 421 Hudson Street, please call us at (212) 400-4838 or e-mail keytothecity@AkerlyRE.com.  To view online listings of other property currently available in the neighborhood, please view our map of NYC Sales Listings.

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New Condos: Whitehall Storage Building at 150 Charles St.

November 12, 2011 by 1 Comment
150 Charles Street

150 Charles Street

One of the more recent trends among developers in the West Village is the “condo conversion,” where an existing building is rezoned and modified for residential use rather than torn down in favor of a completely different design. These West Village condos are unpopular with preservationists groups, but they’re appearing more and more in the neighborhood. St. Vincent’s Hospital is probably the most infamous example of this trend, but can be found further west in the village.

150 Charles Street is the site of what used to be the Whitehall Storage building. The site was, at the time, one of the largest undeveloped sites in the West Village. When it was purchased in 2007, local residents were fearful that the Whitehall Storage building, which has historic significance in the neighborhood, would be torn down. Instead, architects Cook + Fox planned a unique, fifteen-story design on top of the existing façade of the warehouse.

The predicted result would make 150 Charles Street unlike anything seen in the West Village before. The planned condo, named “the Watershed” by its developers Dirtworks, would have a series of waterfalls cascading from the roof to street level of the building. Currently, the site is in the early stages of development, so it’s too soon to tell if that plan will be adjusted.

One resident has been tracking the repurposing of the Whitehall Storage Building at this blog. The development has no projected finish date at this time.

To view listings in this or any other Manhattan or Brooklyn building, please call or e-mail us to schedule a private showing at (212) 400-4838 or keytothecity@akerlyre.com.

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NYC One of Few Markets to See Housing Price Appreciation

November 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Core Logic National Housing Prices

Core Logic National Housing Prices

According to a report released by Core Logic this week, national single family housing prices have declined on a year-over-year basis – but not in New York City.  Here, we experienced a 2.2% increase in prices from 9/10 – 9/11.  That increase reflected the effect of distressed sales on the marketplace.  With those sales excluded from the data, NYC posted a 2.9& year-over-year increase.

Nationwide, prices were down 4.1%.  That number reflects the persistent distress that has beset many markets.  Short sales and REO sales tend to weight the market down.  Had those been excluded, the national market was only down 1.1%.  This seems to suggest that the nation has largely reached the bottom of the market but many areas are still bouncing along it with little hope of appreciation in the near term.

Washington D.C. was the only other major market to post price increases (1%).

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City Rethinks Re-Zoning of Village Schools, PS 41 and PS 3

November 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment
PS 41 and PS 3

City Rethinks Re-Zoning of Village Schools, PS 41 and PS 3

We had previously reported on a proposal by the city’s Department of Education that would change the public school zoning structure in the Village. The plan would have eliminated the choice of public schools that residents have enjoyed for years. Currently, residents of the West Village, Greenwich Village, and the Meatpacking District had the option to send their children to P.S. 3 at 490 Hudson Street or P.S. 41 at 116 West 11th Street. Under the proposal, the district would be broken up, consigning West Village students to P.S. 3 and Greenwich Village students to P.S. 41.

Now, it looks as if the Department of Education is having second thoughts about these changes. The Tribeca Trib is reporting that the DOE is re-considering the plan after hearing grievances from TriBeCa residents, who would be forced to send their kids to P.S. 3 as a result of the re-zoning.

This comes as a result of the DOE’s attempt to remedy the overcrowding situation at TriBeCa’s P.S. 234 by dividing TriBeCa into north and south zones. Residents of the north zone would have to take their kids to school in the West Village, a distance that did not sit well with parents in TriBeCa.

Members of the district’s Community Education Council and Community Board 1 have spoken out against the proposal, which has proven vehemently unpopular with TriBeCa residents, and even the principal of P.S. 234 said that she doesn’t support the proposal wholeheartedly, though she still warned that waitlists for the school’s kindergarten could begin as early as next year unless the overcrowding situation is resolved.

The next zoning proposal is set to be issued at another CEC meeting this month. The date and location have yet to be determined.

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East Village Historic District Approved by CB 3

July 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

East Village Historic District, CB3

East Village Historic District Approved by CB 3

Tuesday night, Community Board 3 voted in favor of the proposed East Village Historic District after a contentious public session in which local religious leaders once again expressed their concern over landmarking. The vote is another step towards the city’s Landmark Preservation Committee’s official establishment of the East Village Historic District.

The two proposed districts, one that runs along 2nd Avenue between East 7th and East 2nd Streets and another that runs along East 10th Street between Avenue A and B, have been a point of contention in the community since they were proposed by the LPC earlier this year. Preservationist groups have been adamant in support of an East Village Historic 

District as a way of protecting the neighborhood from overdevelopment and as a way to preserve the neighborhood’s rich immigrant history. However, religious leaders have expressed concern over landmarking, and they fear that having a landmarked building would make repairs and renovations both costly and inefficient.

Discussions during the public session were evenly split between those in support of an East Village Historic District and those who were against it. Some religious leaders called for “a third way”-a path to landmark status that protects

houses of worship from the perceived costs-while others called for a return to mediation sessions that had ended in February. Preservationists argued that the concerns of religious groups were unfounded and that a delay in the proposed district was impractical if the neighborhood was to be protected from developers looking to build in the neighborhood.

Ultimately, the board split the vote to cover the two separated districts. The East 10th Street district was approved unanimously, while the 2nd Avenue district was approved by a vote of 23 to 9.

Now, with the community board’s recommendation, the proposal for the East Village Historic District will have to be approved by various city agencies, culminating with a vote from the City Council. Area councilmember Rosie Mendez has already expressed her support for the historic districts.

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City’s Landlords Push For New Rent Laws

June 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Wall Street Journal reported on the latest debate over new rent regulations taking place in the New York State legislature. The Democrat-controlled State Assembly has been Rent Stabilization Association, rent stabilization laws sunset, Albany rent laws, Real Estate Board of New York, rent regulation debatepushing for broader rent regulations than the ones that currently exist, but landlords and real estate developers have been resistant to such measures.

The debate over regulations had not been discussed in much depth in Albany until recently, now that the current rent laws are set to expire on Wednesday. Landlords and large developers then presented their suggestion for new legislation, which included tax breaks for developers of new apartments, a tax cap for building owners, and legislation that would reverse a court decision that lowered rents on certain apartment buildings.

The proposed changes were brought to the legislature by the Real Estate Board of New York, which represents developers and owners of large apartment buildings. Currently, the Republican-controlled State Senate has introduced legislation on the measures, though Majority Leader Dean Skelos has not expressed support or opposition to the proposals.

On the other side of the debate is the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents owners of small and medium-sized apartment buildings. They have expressed opposition to the Real Estate Board’s ideas, arguing that the tax breaks would exclusively benefit owners of large buildings. The Rent Stabilization Association, as well as other interest groups representing small building owners, has pushed both houses of the legislature to maintain current rent regulations as they are.

The State Senate plans to take a vote for a temporary extension on the current rent laws by Wednesday. Then, it’s assumed that the in-depth discussion of new rent laws will begin.

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Owners Outraged Over Increased Property Tax Bills in NYC

May 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

NYC property tax increase, tax assessment increase, NYC department of finance

According to the Wall Street Journal, condo and co-op owners blasted the city’s Department of Finance at a hearing yesterday over new property valuation methods that led to some property assessments increasing by as much as 140% in value. That increase could lead to co-op and condo owners paying as much as 40% more in property taxes.

Last year, the Department of Finance began using different valuation methods when analyzing and assessing the value of properties. Under the new system, it was discovered that many co-op and condominium apartments were being undervalued by the city for many years.

The new changes in valuation are set to take effect for 906 buildings citywide. Some buildings are facing an assessment increase of 86% over the previous value.

Homeowners expressed anger not only over the steep rate increases, but also that the changes were implemented without warning. City Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr. said that the Department of Finance “ambushed” homeowners with rate changes that “literally took place overnight.”

With condo and co-op owners set to take a huge hit in property taxes, the question has been raised as to how to offset tax increases to help homeowners.  The Department of Finance is currently implementing a cap on property assessments set at 50%, while a bill in the State Senate is proposing that property taxes on co-ops and condos be capped at a 6% rate. The bill would also re-classify co-ops and condos in the same tax bracket as single-family homes. Currently, they are assessed as rental property.

Finance Commissioner David Frankel said that he would recommend changes to the tax code to relieve homeowners, but that he did not support any property bills currently in consideration by the state legislature.

UPDATE: Commissioner David Frankel, bowing to heavy political pressure, has agreed to limit co-op increases to no more than 10% above last year’s bill.

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Bloomberg to Require Cleaner Burning Heating Oils in NYC Buildings

April 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Plan NYC, Bloomberg heating oil, #4 oil, #6 oilYesterday, Mayor Bloomberg released information regarding his PlanNYC Clean Heat Campaign that will require certain buildings to switch to cleaner burning heating oil.  Currently only 1% of buildings in the city use the dirtiest types of oil (#6 and #4), but they produce more soot pollution than all of the cars and trucks in the city combined and a total of 86% of the pollution produced by all buildings.  Fine Particulate Matter (such as soot pollution) is a pollutant that is responsible for over 3,000 deaths and 2,000 hospital admissions in the city every year.

“The new rules adopted today will phase out Number 6 heating oil by 2015 and Number 4 heating oil by 2030,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “But such regulations are only part of the answer. They tell building owners: ‘Thou shalt not.’ We’ve got another message to deliver, too: ‘We can help you do the right thing.”  On that note, the administration is working to cut the red tape in the permitting process required for boiler conversions.  The city is also working with ConEd and National Grid to accelerate upgrades to the natural gas distribution system in order to make alternative fuels accessible to more building owners.

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Jonathan Miller Says Housing Will Lag Economic Recovery

April 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Historically, the U.S. housing market has lead the country out of recession. But that has not happened during the Great Recession of recent years.  In an interview with CNBC (video below) Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel Inc., said the housing market “will be one step behind the economy” because tight credit conditions related to legacy lending conditions are preventing consumers from taking advantage of market opportunities.  He did point to a few bright spots with relatively strong markets such as Manhattan and metro D.C.  That being said, we should not expect to see substantial price increases in Manhattan either.  In a different interview, Mr. Miller said of the local market, “We’re not seeing prices rise very much . . . 2011 will be rather boring.”


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