Open House Report: Private Outdoor Space 41 MURRAY #5 Price: $2,550,000 What Warburg says: “Soaring 14 ft. white washed exposed wood beam ceilings and original brick are accented with modern materials…... Read more >

Open House Report: Private Outdoor Space

41 MURRAY #5
Price: $2,550,000
What Warburg says: “Soaring 14 ft. white washed exposed wood beam ceilings and original brick are accented with modern materials throughout this handsomely renovated penthouse loft (approx 2000 sq.ft.).Wide staircase leading up to the entire private 850+sq.ft. roof space. Industrial stainless steel, granite and tiled kitchen complete with vented Wolf stove, Sub Zero fridge, Kitchen Aid dishwasher and a full size washer/vented dryer. 2 large bedrooms and bathrooms including a master interior bedroom complete with large dressing room and en suite wainscoted bathroom. Dual unit central air conditioning/heating systems, hot water heater, Pella windows and oak floors complete this home.”

My two cents: A classic Tribeca loft with a lot to admire—a gorgeous wood ceiling and a dramatic metal staircase leading to a large roof, with a cool glass box skylight thing—although in some ways the potential is a big part of the appeal. You could pop a skylight into the southern part of the loft, flooding it with light, and do the roof deck in style—or even build on it. (As is, it’s a tar beach with not a ton of sky; those photos are mine, by the way, which explains their relative crappiness. BTW there’s a fenced in basketball hoop in the back right of the horizontal one! Different building, of course.) The location, on the same block as several bars and a strip club, isn’t exactly a selling point, nor is the windowless master bedroom—unless, like me, you like sleeping in as much darkness as possible.

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TRIBECA CO-OP $1,299,000 68 Laight Street (between Greenwich and Washington Streets), #1A A spacious loft with one bath, central air- conditioning and washer and dryer in a converted prewar warehouse.…... Read more >

TRIBECA CO-OP
$1,299,000
68 Laight Street (between Greenwich and Washington Streets), #1A

A spacious loft with one bath, central air- conditioning and washer and dryer in a converted prewar warehouse.
Deborah Lupard (212) 380-2414; www.warburgrealty.com.

Maintenance: $1,126 a month

Pros: Classic loft details include arched windows, exposed brick and original wood beams. The interior sleeping area has two walls of cosets.

Cons: The bathroom has no tub, and the poured concrete and white fixtures might seem to ascetic to some buyers.

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Deborah Lupard in November The Real Deal article: Developers hedge their bets with condo and hotel combos Downtown getting bulk of projects; builders find separate entrances make for better neighbors…... Read more >

Deborah Lupard in November The Real Deal article: Developers hedge their bets with condo and hotel combos

Downtown getting bulk of projects; builders find separate entrances make for better neighbors
By Amy Miller and Lauren Elkies

76 Madison, a 33-story glass building, will have a 100-room hotel and 69 condos.
New York luxury comes in many forms, and developers have figured out that high-end condos and venerable hotels are as perfect a combination as Champagne and caviar.

That mix is growing in popularity in Manhattan, as more such projects crop up on the proverbial drawing board.

The strong hotel market and less certain condo market could be the cause of their proliferation.

Ilan Bracha, a Prudential Douglas Elliman managing director, said that those kinds of projects are appealing to developers because they allow them to minimize their risks by hedging their bets.

Bracha is working on a few hotel and condo combo projects, including marketing for 176 Madison Avenue at 33rd Street.

He also said that hotel services can help spur residential sales, especially to foreign buyers, who are coming in droves for a good condo product with hotel-level services.

The trend has been particularly evident in Lower Manhattan, where developers are banking on rising real estate values and an influx of tourists following reconstruction of the World Trade Center site. In building their projects, they are making sure the owners of condo units get to enjoy hotel services year-round.

Two such projects currently under way Downtown are 75 Wall Street and W New York Downtown.

Following in the footsteps of other condo and hotel projects like the Time Warner Center, the condos at 75 Wall Street and the W will be in a separate section from the hotel rooms, with separate entrances and amenities, such as residents-only lounges, rooftop terraces and spa treatment rooms.

"We felt that people would be buying a home and would want it to be treated as a home," said Rex Hakimian, one of the developers of 75 Wall Street. "You want to know your neighbors, and you don't want people coming in and out of your building. We felt strongly about that."

Prices for the 223 condos at the W New York Downtown will start at around $2,000 per square foot, and the sales office is expected to open early this month, said Michael Shvo, president of Shvo Marketing, the exclusive marketing and sales agent for W New York Downtown, a Moinian Group development. The building is slated for completion in fall 2009.

"We have hundreds, if not thousands, of people on a waiting list to see them," Shvo said. "It's really for people who want super luxury."

Joseph Moinian, CEO of the Moinian Group, said that market forces are not dictating his plans for the 58-story building.

He said Downtown is thirsty for a hotel like a W, and zoning allows for it and Liberty Bonds provide funds for it, but he did not want to build a massive hotel. The W will have 217 hotel rooms.

At 75 Wall Street, prices for the 349 condos are expected to average about $1,600 per square foot, and residents should be able to move in by next fall, Hakimian said. The 251 hotel rooms will open for guests a few months later. Hyatt Corp. will operate the hotel and provide services to condo owners.

Prices are considerably lower than at hotel-condos such as the Trump Soho or St. Regis New York, where units sell for more than $3,000 a square foot. Usually because of zoning rules, owners in these kinds of buildings are limited to a certain number of nights per year in their units, usually capped at 180. The rest of the time, the unit operates as a regular hotel room.

For Trump Soho at 246 Spring Street, Donald Trump is planning a 46-story high-rise that will include 413 hotel-condo units ranging from 425-square-foot studios to suites of more than 10,000 square feet. Prices start at $1.2 million, and owners can live there 120 days of the year, or 29 days out of any consecutive 36 days, when it opens in spring 2009.

In early 2006, the St. Regis Hotel at 2 East 55th Street started marketing 24 condominium apartments and 22 condo-hotel units. Condo owners at the St. Regis pay pricey maintenance fees of between $2,900 and $10,400 a month.

Maintenance fees at 75 Wall Street will be considerably less. The owner of a one-bedroom condo would pay just under $1,000 a month in maintenance fees for use of common areas.

To keep their maintenance fees low, developers of 75 Wall decided owners would pay for most hotel amenities a la carte, Hakimian said. Maid service will be available, for example, but condo owners don't have to pay for it unless they use it. The price of a la carte services has yet to be determined by the hotel.

"Only the people that will use it will pay for it," Hakimian said. "That's the beauty of the system."

The same will be true at the W Hotel, Shvo, the marketer, said. There will be a basic charge of $1.75 per square foot for use of common residential areas. Prices for amenities have yet to be determined, Shvo said.

The high-end amenities are in stark contrast to a neighborhood lacking in practical services like grocery stores and gyms.

Deborah Lupard, a real estate broker with Warburg Realty who has sold three condos at 75 Wall Street, said her buyers are actually more interested in the location and the space.

"The amenities are really a secondary selling point," Lupard said.

"I don't know if it's true for everyone, but for my buyers, it was really about the space. The amenities were just a plus."

New projects with separate hotel and condo components

131-139 West 45th Street
Extell Development reportedly plans a 50-story condo and hotel building at the site.

400 Fifth Avenue (at 36th Street)
Italian developer BIDI Real Estate plans a 500,000-square-foot tower with condos and hotel services on the upper floors.

176 Madison Avenue (at 33rd Street)
A 33-story glass building, designed by architect Frank Williams, will have a 100-room hotel and 69 condos above.

241 Fifth Avenue (at 28th Street)
A luxury hotel and condo tower is planned.

99 Church Street
Silverstein Properties plans to build a 60-story hotel and condo building.

151-161 Maiden Lane
A 250,000-square-foot project will have 80 condos and 100 hotel-condo units.

123 Washington Street
The Moinian Group project will include 223 condos as well as 217 hotel rooms.

75 Wall Street
The Hakimian Organization and partners are planning to convert a former JP Morgan office building to a hotel and condo project.

 

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FINANCIAL DISTRICT ONE-BEDROOM $939,000 MANHATTAN: 55 Liberty Street (between Broadway and Nassau Street), #4A A one-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath co-op in a doorman building. Deborah Lupard, Warburg Realty…... Read more >

FINANCIAL DISTRICT ONE-BEDROOM
$939,000

MANHATTAN: 55 Liberty Street (between Broadway and Nassau Street), #4A

A one-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath co-op in a doorman building. Deborah Lupard, Warburg Realty (212) 380-2414; www.warburg.com
MAINTENANCE: $918 a month

PROS: The kitchen in this very roomy apartment has appealing glass tile and high-end appliances. The large master bathroom has a linen closet and a washer and dryer.

CONS: The bathrooms are in good shape, but could use a little updating. The hollow wood doors inside aren't as elegant as the rest of the space.
Photo: Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times< Read less