Thrill seekers can experience the world’s highest outdoor building climb 1,300 feet above Manhattan
The Edge, at New York’s Hudson Yards, is the highest outdoor sky deck in the western hemisphere, but forget the views for now and come for the climb.
Starting November 9, thrill-seekers can experience City Climb at Edge, which bills itself to be the highest open-air building ascent in the world. Yes, really. Those bold enough to try will have the opportunity to navigate a series of open-air platforms and stairs along the outside crown of 30 Hudson Yards, a 1,300-foot-tall skyscraper.
City Climb is located above Edge and includes platforms and stairways that range from almost 1,200 feet to 1,271 feet in the air. As expected, it’s designed with safety as a priority. “Everyone gets a thorough briefing, and our guides harness them onto the course with two cables that are attached to a trolley,” says Cassie Davidson, the vice president of marketing at Hudson Yards Experiences. “Climbers are very secure.”
The 90-minute to 2-hour adventure starts with guests, who are limited to eight in a group, climbing 32 steps from the Basecamp to the Cliff. Here, they’re already 1,190 feet from the ground and can look directly down at the street below. They then climb 161 more steps on a 45-degree incline to reach the Apex, a 1,271-foot-high point where they can actually hang over the platform and spend 45 minutes savoring the spectacular panoramas of the city before them. In all, they climb and descend 370 steps.
How can a celebration not figure in at the end?
City Climb caps off with a victory lap of Edge’s indoor/outdoor viewing areas. Guests can order champagne from the bar and make a toast or relax on the outdoor glass floor or skyline steps. Their adrenaline has been pumping for a while now, and it’s time to take a breath and slow down.
“City Climb quite literally shouts from the rooftops that tourism is back in New York City, and there has never been a more exciting time to visit,” says Jeff T. Blau, chief executive of Related Companies in a release. “This is an adventure unlike anything the city has seen before, and we are thrilled to welcome the world to an experience of a lifetime.”
City Climb costs $185 a person and includes entry into the Edge and a video of the climb.
While the overall multifamily volume of transactions in New York City has been slow, one segment in particular is showing explosive growth. Multifamily properties comprising fewer than ten units are attracting a great deal of investment interest, as these units through Q3 have already exceeded 2020’s total dollar volume for this asset class by 24%. Annualizing the current dollar volume of approximately $601 million to $801 million represents an even more impressive 65% increase. While this still lags 2018 and 2019’s totals of $1.15 billion and $1.05 billion respectively, the stark increase in this sector outpaces larger properties significantly.
The appeal for investors has much to do with the relatively high rents these properties command in New York if they’re free market units. Smaller properties do tend to be tax-protected and largely free market. Additionally, they typically don’t require the expensive amenitization packages and maintenance that larger high rises increasingly require.
Here are some of the factors driving this trend:
Regulation’s Positive Effect on Smaller, Predominantly Free-Market Buildings
Government policy comes into play when looking at the Housing Stabilization and Tenant Protection Act, which has hampered investment in rent-stabilized properties and driven investment in free-market units. Affordable housing properties are seeing renewed interest from investors, but owners interested in aggressive growth could find that investing in a large portfolio of smaller buildings (as opposed to investing in a high-rise), brings diversification and less risk. From a tax perspective, these smaller properties tend to be New York tax class 2A and 2B, which bring a cap on how much-assessed values can increase, equating to no more than 8% per year and no more than 30% over five years for buildings with 10 or fewer units.
Prior to the HSTPA, large equity holders with footprints in New York could invest in rent-stabilized assets with the plan to convert some into free-market units. This strategy sought to bring a degree of profitability to balance out the low-growth/high-stability nature of rent-stabilized buildings and fund preventative maintenance and building upgrades. With this option removed, large investors are seeing that smaller multifamily buildings bring some of the same combination of growth and stability, especially now as rents are back on the rise and available inventory is in decline.
After all, while much was made of the migration out to the suburbs and small towns during the pandemic, within New York City, many residents that stayed still moved to new apartments. Concessions and starkly reduced rents led many to move to bigger or newer buildings in more expensive neighborhoods, which are often (but not always) defined by more high rises. With the market improving again, Class B and C buildings in secondary New York City markets offer owners a great deal of investment growth as rents continue to increase again. Especially with labor shortages, supply chain interruptions and high construction costs, investing in these properties may make more sense than taking a risk on repositioning, improving or building a larger Class A building in an emerging residential submarket. The expiration of 421a tax benefits for developers only further makes these investments more appealing.
Easier Local Laws
Smaller buildings under 25,000 square feet aren’t subject to costly carbon reduction benchmarks mandated by Local Law 97. This law, part of a wider initiative to make New York’s commercial real estate market more environmentally sustainable, dictates that owners of larger buildings must reduce emissions 40% by 2030 or face substantial fines. While that seems like a long time off, the emissions caps actually start in 2024 with different kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions permitted per square foot of the building, depending on the building designation. With reporting starting in a little over two years, many properties could be facing fines or costly upgrades in the near term.
COVID Collection Fatigue
Investors are looking to capitalize on anticipated rent increases as the effects of the pandemic subside significantly. Many investors view the current situation as an opportunity to replace the old ownership guard, many of whom are fatigued by the eviction moratorium and fighting collections and vacancies. Newer, younger and up-and-coming landlords with a more optimistic view of New York’s rental market—and who have a long-term horizon on their investment plans—will be better positioned to ride the wave of recovery.
Renting vs. Owning
Nationwide, the numbers show that owning a home is becoming increasingly difficult for individual buyers, so renting is naturally going to be a growth market. In some ways, this mirrors the national trend of investment in smaller properties, in which bulk buying of single-family rentals (SFR) is seeing major institutional activity, such as from Blackstone and Brookfield. In 2020, for example, Brookfield started a $300 million fund to invest in this market, while Blackstone recently made waves by acquiring Home Partners of America, Inc. for $6 billion, including their portfolio of 17,000 homes. For investors, the trend is opportunistic. New York, of course, is a different kind of market, but in this dense, multifamily city, investors are still seeing the value in smaller buildings.
I expect the residential market to keep improving significantly and capitalization rates to compress as New York City catches up with the rest of the country’s housing boom.
With a great deal of room to grow in the investment sales market, though, these smaller properties are presenting opportunities that are too good to pass up for some. After all, this is New York, and highly valued real estate is as much a part of the city as bagels and subway delays.
Price growth for larger homes has outpaced apartments’ gains over a decade
Demand for Brooklyn townhouses rose during the pandemic, but the surge wasn’t merely a Covid-driven trend.
Prices for townhouses in the borough have been steadily rising for nearly a decade while the condo and co-op market has remained fairly flat, according to a report from UrbanDigs.
The median sale price for Brooklyn townhouses with three or fewer units is now about $1 million, up 85 percent from 2012, when it was $550,000.
Condo and co-op prices also grew, but less. The median price for a co-op is now $780,000, a 59 percent increase from 2012, when it was $490,000. For condos, the median price is $925,000, up 64 percent from 2012, when it was $565,000.
The difference in growth is in part because the market for Brooklyn has more neighborhoods with moderately priced units, such as Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst and Midwood, which eases competition, said John Walkup, who authored the report.
“These areas also have a large number of buildings built to be rentals, which along with the larger supply of sales units, keeps prices in check,” Walkup said. “The townhouse market, on the other hand, is more constrained for buyers.”
With fewer townhouses available and their supply relatively static, their prices tend to rise more quickly in a strong housing market than those of condos and co-ops. Stately row houses in brownstown neighborhoods such as Park Slope and Cobble Hill routinely go for $4 million or more. One in Brooklyn Heights sold in January for $25.5 million, a record price for a Brooklyn home.
Gerard Splendore, an associate broker at Warburg Realty, remembers selling townhomes in Bay Ridge and Marine Park for $750,000 just after the market collapsed in 2008. Now their asking prices exceed $1 million.
“Everywhere that was kind of the fringes is now highly desirable,” Splendore said. “There’s really nowhere else to go, there’s nowhere else to look. You keep pushing further and further out.”
In northern Brooklyn — a region that includes Bushwick, Williamsburg, East Williamsburg and Greenpoint — the median price for a townhouse has risen 24 percent since 2019, according to UrbanDigs.
Central Brooklyn, including such neighborhoods as Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights and Flatbush, has seen the townhouse median climb 22 percent in that time.
But it isn’t just the increase in sales prices that has an impact.
Large purchases and renovation projects have a trickle-down effect on buyer confidence, said Ravi Kantha, director of Brooklyn sales at Leslie J. Garfield.
“If you’re shopping with an $8 million budget, that’s a lot of money, but if you know that multiple people are spending $10, $12, $15, $20 [million] down the block, it takes a little bit of that hesitation away,” he said.
“I would bet the average asking prices go up pretty significantly in the next year or two across the board,” said Kantha. “It would just be interesting to see what people are willing to pay for.”
Last month, the median rental price in Manhattan by 4% compared to March, the first dip in five months, according to new data from Douglas Elliman Real Estate and Miller Samuel. Those deals, as well the city’s continued reopening, helped push the number of new leases in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens to record highs.
“There’s still such a high amount of inventory, and tenants know that,” says Hal Gavzie, executive director of leasing at Douglass Elliman. “[They’re] looking at neighborhoods that pre-Covid they could not afford.”
Areas like Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, and the West Village in Manhattan, are particularly hot, with demand so high for some units that landlords are asking prospective renters to submit their best and final offers above the advertised rent price—akin to what would be expected in a competitive market for home buyers. Still, the median rental price in Manhattan is down 18.5% compared to a year ago, while Brooklyn is down 16.2% and Queens 13.1%, the report said.
The best deals in Manhattan are on big spaces—apartments with three or more bedrooms—presumably because Covid-19 has caused tenants to seek fewer roommates. The median rental price for such units is down 24.4% to $5,000 in the past year, while smaller apartments have dropped between about 15% to 20%.
Such declines have spurred a rush of signings, as tenants seek to lock in deals while they still can. Across apartment sizes, new signings in Manhattan soared more than fivefold compared to a year ago. The median apartment rented for $2,791 in April, net of concessions like one month or more of free rent, compared with $3,540 in April 2020.
A similar story is playing out in Brooklyn and Queens, though median prices ticked up month over month, by 0.1% and 3.4%, respectively. In Brooklyn, all apartment sizes are renting at a median discount of at least 18% compared to a year ago, with the biggest discounts on those with two or more bedrooms. Luxury buildings have dropped less. In Queens, where there are comparatively fewer transactions, the median rental price in April was $2,370, a 15.7% annual decline.
Prices could normalize closer to pre-Covid levels in 24 months, Gavzie thinks, but much depends on how quickly the city’s commercial market rebounds. The pandemic has caused office vacancies in Manhattan to hit record levels, and as companies formulate their long-term work-from-home policies, it is not clear when—if ever—office workers will return in their old numbers. The longer that rebound takes, the harder hit many retail and residential landlords will be.
Still, beyond the bidding wars in the city’s ritziest rental enclaves, there are signs that the worst has passed. Public transportation is more crowded, and some owners are beginning to once again charge broker fees to tenants, the much-reviled surcharges that are a sign of landlord strength. “I think that we’re still a long ways away,” Gavzie says. But “these are all positive signs.”
Across the Big Apple, these posh properties equally embrace design and the environment
Luxury living in New York is going the way of green. A small but increasing number of new buildings in the city are built with sustainability in mind and have an eye on design at the same time.
A decade ago, sustainable apartments were unheard of in New York, according to Steven James, the CEO of Douglas Elliman, New York City. “Today, the idea is not totally commonplace but definitely increasing, especially in very upscale high-rises where no expense was spared during the construction,” he says.
Douglas Elliman lists several thousand residences a month in the city, says James, and around 5% include eco-friendly features, compared with virtually zero five years ago. “We’re talking about properties that run well into the seven figures,” he says.
Located in the heart of FiDi, 77 Greenwich 15D boasts eco-friendly interiors designed by AD100 architect Deborah Berke
77 Greenwich, 15D
77 Greenwich is a 42-story tower in the Financial District with interiors by AD 100–ranked Deborah Berke and a pleated glass wall façade that provides panoramic water views from each of the 90 apartments. The condominium, slated to open this summer, is around 30% more energy efficient than standard buildings in the city because of features like glass in lieu of artificial light and a variable-flow heating and cooling system that’s twice as efficient as regular systems. Each residence also has air filters that provide a dedicated outdoor air supply. Amenities include a roof deck, children’s playroom, gym and bike room. This 15th floor unit has 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, light wood floors, marble baths and unobstructed Hudson River views. All of the appliances are energy efficient.\
Price: $2.075 million
Bed/Baths: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
Square Footage:1,371
The Lantern House in Chelsea features interiors by Thomas Heatherwick marking his first residential project in the states
Lantern House, Penthouse 1019
Located in Chelsea, Lantern House is Thomas Heatherwick’s first residential project in North America and will be ready for occupancy this summer. Human health and clean living are top priorities: Every unit features a high-efficiency water filtration system, air filters to minimize contaminants, an energy-efficient heating and cooling system, and insulated window frames that minimize the use of air conditioning and heat. Lantern House amenities include a pool, gym, garden and roof deck. This penthouse is notable for its oversized bay windows overlooking the city skyline, high ceilings, an airy great room with a fireplace, and a 900-square-foot rooftop terrace on the second floor with a kitchen and refrigerator. The en suite bedrooms are generously sized while the master suite is in its own wing and has two walk- in closets.
Price: $12.97 million
Bed/Baths: 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms
Square Footage: 2,810 plus a 900-square-foot terrace.
70 Little West 12th Street 23B in the Visonnaire building boasts lots of green features including a rooftop garden.
70 Little West 12th Street, 23B
In Battery Park City, the Visionaire is a LEED-certified glass tower that has a light footprint but doesn’t skimp on design. The building was partly constructed with recyclable materials, and half were sourced from within a 500-mile radius. Additional green elements include a high-efficiency air filtration system, the use of natural gas, eco-friendly paints in the public spaces and apartments, and native landscaping in the rooftop gardens, which are not treated with pesticides and are irrigated using harvested rainwater. Amenities include a rooftop terrace, lounge, gym, and pool. With two bedrooms and baths, this apartment sees plenty of natural light thanks to the floor to ceiling windows, spanning 45 feet long. The views of the city and Hudson River are hard to beat, and the open kitchen cum living area is ideal for entertaining.
Price: $2.24 million
Bed/Baths: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Square Footage: 1,311.
50 Clinton Street 3C on the Lower East Side comes with 10 foot high ceilings filled with natural light
50 Clinton Street, 3-C
Constructed in 2016, this Lower East Side condominium has several appealing amenities including a gym, a rooftop terrace with grills, and a bike room. Reminiscent of a stylish European flat, this third-floor residence with 10-foot-high ceilings is full of eco-friendly features such as solar shades that help minimize energy use, energy-efficient appliances, an emphasis on natural light, and LED lighting. The unit has large windows with views of lower New York and a kitchen counter with barstools. The master bathroom is a retreat with its chevron-patterned white marble, soaking tub. and floor-to-ceiling glass shower.
Price: $2.05 million
Bed/Baths: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Square Footage: 1,128
Charlotte of the Upper West Side contains 7 full floor units each crafted with sustainably sourced materials
Charlotte of the Upper West Side
One of the first new residential buildings to be constructed in the Central Park Historic District in the past 30 years, Charlotte of the Upper West Side has seven sustainably designed full-floor residences; listings will be live this spring. Each features its own energy recovery ventilation system that delivers fresh filtered outside air to each room of the home and is crafted with sustainably sourced materials; the wood frames, trims, flooring and millwork, for example, are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as meeting its worldwide standards of environmentally responsible forest management. The showpiece in all the units is the sprawling kitchen-living-dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows. All the bedrooms are airy while the master suites have 20-foot terraces overlooking the private garden. The building’s amenities include a gym, a pet spa, and additional storage for each residence.
Price: Starting from $11 million
Bed/Baths: Starting from 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms
Square Footage: Starting from approximately 3,750 square feet, plus private outdoor space
The panoramic views at 2 River Terrace 18D
2 River Terrace, 18D
Situated in Battery Park City, Riverhouse is a LEED-certified condominium with low carbon features such as twice-filtered air, filtered water, sustainable construction materials, and nontoxic paints. The apartments all have energy-efficient appliances, teak cabinets made with sustainably sourced wood, insulated windows, and an abundance of natural light, which helps cut down on energy use. Amenities include a gym, a pet spa, a library, a lounge, a yoga studio, and a pool. With a loftlike feel, this three-bedroom, 3.5-bath home is notable for its high ceilings and has a large entry hall plus an open design living room cum kitchen. The master bath is a standout with its frameless glass shower, soaking tub, and teakwood marble finishes.
