Apartment Sales and Prices Are Looking Up in the City

Apartment Sales and Prices Are Looking Up in the City By Joe Catalano CITYSPIRE SELL-OUT C and ONDO prove, parts AND according of CO-OP Brooklyn to sales market in continue surveys to Manhattan im- re- tan More condominium positive market tower news: begun A in the midtown 1980s Manhat- and leased by two Manhattan real estate brokers. plagued by problems including foreclosure has fiThe Corcoran Group's "Midyear Report" shows nally sold out. that the price of luxury condos and co-ops in Man- Completed in 1989, CitySpire went into foreclohattan rose 2.1 percent during the first six months sure two years later after its developer, Ian Bruce of this year. The average price per room for a luxu- Eichner, was forced into bankruptcy. When the ry unit increased to $85,402 at the end of June, lender, European American Bank, took over, 75 of up from $83,646 in December. Average prices are still the 340 units remained unsold in the 73-story off from 1988's high of $118,990. building at 150 W. 56th St. Units of three bedrooms or more continue to EAB spent $4 million completing the unsold show the healthiest price increases, rising 4.7 per- units and solving other problems, including a cent in the first six months of the year. Two-bed- mysterious whistling noise that came from the room apartments were up 3.7 percent. building and disturbed area residents. It turned The weakest segment of the market has been out to be the wind howling through the buildstudio and one-bedroom apartments, but there's ing's domed cap. evidence that this segment may be firming up. The Cityspire's sales office, shut down in 1991, reWilliam B. May Co. says its two Manhattan offices opened in 1993 with the remaining 75 units priced showed a 45 percent increase in the number of from $296,000. At the beginning of the month, the second-quarter condo and sales compared last condo was sold for an average price of $400 per with the first co-op square foot. quarter. May reported that sales of studios were up 17 percent in the period, and sales RIGHT OF REJECTION of one-bedroom units were up 100 percent. Peter R. Marra, president of May, said the trend could You've waited months to find a buyer for your signal the beginning of a recovery for smaller but co-op unit only to learn the board of directors has previously hard to sell units. rejected the purchaser. While you may want to Corcoran's report found one-bedroom prices in fight the decision, experts say there's little you can Manhattan dipping 1.3 percent in the first six do. months of 1994. That's an improvement over the "It's really an irrevocable decision," said Ed5.6 percent dip during the first six months of 1993. ward T. Braverman, senior partner of Braverman In some areas of the borough, however, one-bed- &amp; Associates, a Manhattan law firm, counsel to room prices increased this year. Along Park Ave- over 80 co-ops. Disgruntled unit owners have taknue, prices were up 6.8 percent, and along Central en objections all the way to the state's highest Park West, prices were up 4.6 percent. court, which has ruled that a co-op is like a club, he In May's two Brooklyn offices, which cover said. In buying a unit, a person is gaining memberBrooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Clinton Hill and ship. The board can reject the person for any reasurrounding areas, the number of studio transac- son or for no reason when deciding with whom it tions dipped 9 percent, while one-bedroom sales wants to share its elevators and management rose 18 percent during the second quarter. This problems. The only exception is rejecting someone could be an indication, Marra said, that first-time on discriminatory grounds such as race, creed or buyers in Brooklyn are opting to enter the market color, which is against federal law. with one-bedroom units rather than studios. Even when boards have rejected buyers beCorcoran also reported that buyers were able to cause the unit's selling price was too low, the negotiate 15 percent off sellers' original asking courts have upheld the decision, Braverman prices during the first half of 1994. During the said. Boards have a duty to maintain the buildsame period in 1993, purchasers were able to nego- ing's value. tiate 16.5 percent off. Joe Catalano is a free-lance writer.

Newsday

Apartment Sales and Prices Are Looking Up in the City

Apartment Sales and Prices Are Looking Up in the City

Newsday