The mild winter has brought a volume of activity higher than usual both on the rental side as well as the sales side.
Potential buyers were able to visit the properties they were interested in without having to wear the heaviest coats.
The number of available condo units for sale in Manhattan went down 3.2% between January 2011 and January 2012 according to the source StreetEasy.

The fact that the City hasn’t seen too much construction going on in the past few years (compared to the middle of the last decade) is not a surprise. One of the elements describing this situation is the quantity of Certificates of Occupancy issued by the administration. In 2008 NYC granted 11,307 permits; from that high mark the number went down to 7,044 in 2011.
Mayor Bloomberg has recently announced the introduction of a new digital plan review system that aims to speed up the process of evaluating building plans.
I believe that it was the slower pace of the economy, more than inefficiencies in the approval process, that allowed less permits to be issued. The presence of less available real estate on the market, noticeable by the month, will soon accelerate the speed of prices that are already on the upward trend.

As I have mentioned in previous articles, the current administration of the City of New York has put the improvement of dozens of miles worth of waterfront among its highest priorities.
Some of the planned projects are worth our attention for their creative nature as well their value added to the environment.

Pier A is a Victorian age structure in the vicinity of Battery Park. The City is investing $36 million for its gutting after which private developers will start construction on restaurants, entertainment areas and an outdoor public plaza. Amongst the possible options for restaurants include: an oyster bar, a beer garden and a high end restaurant for the third and top floor.

Battery Maritime Building is the Beaux-Arts ferry station at the southern tip of Manhattan for departures to Governor’s Island (right by the Staten Island ferry station). The building has been undergoing improvements already and is slated to be built up with the addition of a boutique hotel (with approximately 50 rooms), an organic supermarket and a restaurant on the top floor from which the views of the bay will be likely amazing.

Pier 57 is located at 15th Street on the Hudson River in the proximity of the High Line. Part of the project will be dedicated to open air market (the same company that runs the Union Square market during the Christmas holidays will be managing it). There will also be an area reserved exclusively as permanent space for the Tribeca Film Festival and a cultural center for the arts inclusive of a restaurant. The Hudson River Park Trust is estimating the development costs might be in the range of $210 million.

Pier 36 is Basketball City. The center is moving from its former location on the west side. It will be comprised of basketball courts as well as offer several services related to the sport. There will be a venue space available for rent to anyone who’s got the cash.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 1 is directly across from the Wall Street area. The park part was finished in 2010 and the further construction should be taking place with a hotel, apartment units and a restaurant to be overlooking splendid views of the Manhattan skyline.

Domino Sugar Factory is situated in Williamsburg. This old industrial complex will be transformed in a giant development. Over the next nine years 2,200 apartment units are expected to be completed here. Some buildings will be built from the ground up while also the existing ones will be converted into residences.

Cinema
This beloved form of entertainment has lost 22% of its theatres in NYC between 2001 and 2010.
In the same period Manhattan specifically has given up 11 of its 41 theatres (27%).
It seems increasingly challenging for cinema operators to find the right building to fit in one or more theatres. The space has to be large enough with uninterrupted columns, and the rent has to be low enough for the project to be profitable. Lately big box retailers are snapping up the properties that cinemas might be looking at since they have less constraint. Imagine how complicated a cinema can be in terms of engineering and regulations for sound, traffic in the evening…
Consequently, the last big project in Manhattan was the Magic Johnson Theater in Harlem completed in 2000.
On the other side of the river though, in Williamsburg, a few small cinemas are sprouting up: Williamsburg Cinemas and Nitehawk (a movie + dinner concept) are two examples that are banking on the growing young and hip population in the area offering less commercial movie titles for a more sophisticated client.

This is it for today, my dear friends.
I am always available to answer your questions and provide you with more information on New York City real estate.

Warm Regards,
Riccardo Ravasini