Some residential condominium projects that "only months ago stood on the brink of foreclosure have reignited," according to an article by Amanda Fung yesterday at crains.com.
"A little over two years ago, SDS Procida suspended plans to market The Dillon, its 83-unit Hell's Kitchen condo, when residential real estate tanked. Months later, it faced a second setback: the collapse of the project's lender. With financing for The Dillon now in place and condominium sales picking up, the developer finally put the units on the block three weeks ago," the article said.
The Dillon, it continued, "is one of more than a dozen across the city that were once classified as shadow space - apartments completed or near completion that are held off the market or temporarily converted to rentals - whose owners are now putting them up for sale. While the number of units is small, it is expected to swell later this year, and that has some experts worried. 'It is still early - you're not seeing a flood of apartments yet - but we may see it happen during the second half of the year,' says Jonathan Miller, chief executive of appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc."
"Mr. Miller estimates that there were 6,500 units of shadow space in Manhattan alone during the first quarter of this year. If those apartments were unloaded all at once, supply would potentially skyrocket by 70%. Although such a sudden release is extremely unlikely, there is the possibility that thousands of units will crowd into a market that's still fragile...For now, at least, former shadow units are being well-received. At +Art, a 91-unit condo at 540 W. 28th St. in Chelsea, near High Line park, marketing resumed last week. Stephen Kliegerman, executive director at Halstead Property, says he has already received an offer for two penthouse units, which the prospective buyer plans to combine....The buying flurry comes 17 months after the developer got its lender's approval to sideline +Art in the wake of Lehman Brothers' collapse and the freezing of the credit markets," according to the article.
The article noted that "earlier this year, 120-unit Warehouse 11 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, returned to the market after the developer and its lender worked out their differences," adding that "now 75% of the building is either in contract or sold, according to David Maundrell, president of Aptsandlofts.com, which handles sales for the project."
Sales resumed last week at the 264-unit Be@Schermerhorn development in downtown Brooklyn, six months after investment firm Jamestown Properties bought the mortgage on the troubled property that had stopped selling apartments last year, the article said.
In Manhattan, it continued, "sales are expected to resume by the end of the year at 1 Rector Square, a 174-unit condo conversion in Battery Park City; 34 Leonard, a 16-unit TriBeCa co-op conversion; and 245 10th Ave., a new 22-unit development in Chelsea."
"A little over two years ago, SDS Procida suspended plans to market The Dillon, its 83-unit Hell's Kitchen condo, when residential real estate tanked. Months later, it faced a second setback: the collapse of the project's lender. With financing for The Dillon now in place and condominium sales picking up, the developer finally put the units on the block three weeks ago," the article said.
The Dillon, it continued, "is one of more than a dozen across the city that were once classified as shadow space - apartments completed or near completion that are held off the market or temporarily converted to rentals - whose owners are now putting them up for sale. While the number of units is small, it is expected to swell later this year, and that has some experts worried. 'It is still early - you're not seeing a flood of apartments yet - but we may see it happen during the second half of the year,' says Jonathan Miller, chief executive of appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc."
"Mr. Miller estimates that there were 6,500 units of shadow space in Manhattan alone during the first quarter of this year. If those apartments were unloaded all at once, supply would potentially skyrocket by 70%. Although such a sudden release is extremely unlikely, there is the possibility that thousands of units will crowd into a market that's still fragile...For now, at least, former shadow units are being well-received. At +Art, a 91-unit condo at 540 W. 28th St. in Chelsea, near High Line park, marketing resumed last week. Stephen Kliegerman, executive director at Halstead Property, says he has already received an offer for two penthouse units, which the prospective buyer plans to combine....The buying flurry comes 17 months after the developer got its lender's approval to sideline +Art in the wake of Lehman Brothers' collapse and the freezing of the credit markets," according to the article.
The article noted that "earlier this year, 120-unit Warehouse 11 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, returned to the market after the developer and its lender worked out their differences," adding that "now 75% of the building is either in contract or sold, according to David Maundrell, president of Aptsandlofts.com, which handles sales for the project."
Sales resumed last week at the 264-unit Be@Schermerhorn development in downtown Brooklyn, six months after investment firm Jamestown Properties bought the mortgage on the troubled property that had stopped selling apartments last year, the article said.
In Manhattan, it continued, "sales are expected to resume by the end of the year at 1 Rector Square, a 174-unit condo conversion in Battery Park City; 34 Leonard, a 16-unit TriBeCa co-op conversion; and 245 10th Ave., a new 22-unit development in Chelsea."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
6sqft delivers the latest on real estate, architecture, and design, straight from New York City.
