Recently in Real Estate

Cabrini Townhouses Get A (Relatively) Small Price Drop

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18628-0-3.jpgThe Cabrini townhouses, that still have yet to be constructed, have dropped 100k (from $2.95 million to $2.85 million) in price since we last posted about them in January. This 3.4% reduction doesn't seem to reflect recent national luxury reductions, and certainly doesn't reflect recent drops for less expensive properties in Washington Heights and Inwood.

I'm beginning to wonder if any of these will be built without buyers lined up. And with people wondering when the market will bottom out, I'm surprised these haven't come down more in price.

Perry Payne Spotting

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I'm not big on celebrity gossip, but CBS News spotted TUC contributer Perry Payne on 181st street Wednesday. Awesome sauce.

Three Luxury Townhouses To Be Built On Cabrini

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18628-0-3.jpgWhy spend millions on an existing townhouse in northern Manhattan, when you can have one built for you? Three new four-story townhouses are coming to 186th street and Cabrini Boulevard. For a cool $3 mil (well, $2.95 mil) you can not only secure one, but also design the interior of your palatial pad. 

The three town houses being sold by Nest Seekers International are set for construction in what is currently a vacant lot sandwiched next to Hudson View Gardens. The listing says that the townhouses will each have six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a two-car garage, roof terrace, private elevator and a garden/patio. It is not immediately clear if any of the units have sold. 

I think the last thing I had built for me was the cubano I ate for lunch on Thursday, but if I had the extra cash I suppose I could go for one of these.

GWB Renovation: Retail Roundup

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broadwaygwb_01.jpgThere's been a lot of chatter over the past several weeks about the planned renovation of The George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal. I decided I'd organize some of what's been said into one post. It seems there is a lot of concern over the use of the retail space. 

  • In October The New York Times wrote about the planned renovation. This excerpt talks a bit about how the retail space may transform. 
The station now has about a dozen tenants, Mr. Francois said, including an Off-Track Betting parlor, a credit union and newsstands. Those tenants will have to move out to make way for the renovation. "We're looking to transform that into more of a Class A retail space, with national anchor tenants that can better serve the needs of the community," he said.

Does Blockbuster count as a "Class A national anchor tenant"? Ahem. Hopefully the stores being brought in reflect the community's needs so they can stay in business, unlike Blockbuster which closed this year. 

More after the jump....

Mastering The Heights

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Last week there was an article in The New York Times that caught my eye. Hugo Martinez, of The Martinez Gallery, has organized a museum/gallery called "Mastering The Heights." The gallery is actually an apartment in a building on Wadsworth Avenue that has been transformed by a dutch design group, Kaptein Roodnat, and filled with artwork by street artists. 

The gallery "bring[s] street art indoors, while showcasing affordable art in the context of affordable housing" according to the press release.

The gallery is located at 362 Wadsworth Avenue (191st street) in apartment 44. You can visit it on Fridays and Saturdays from 12-6pm through January 31st. 

Livejournal Find: Map Of Businesses/Places Of Interest In Inwood

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I came across this map of Inwood on an Inwood LiveJournal page. I think it could be useful for residents new and old, or people thinking about moving to the area. Here's a direct link. You can suggest additions to the map here.


A View From The Heights: How's The Market?

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Just about every day I get stopped on the street or on the phone with the question du moment..."Perry, how's the market?" Brows furrowed, jaws tense, eyebrows raised. The world these days is a scary place.

My answer is always the same. This is New York, for heaven's sake. It depends on where you're sitting. Are you interested in buying, selling, renting, or investing?  There are opportunities all over the place.

But oh my lordy what if you're a seller? Quel horreur!

Settle down, missy. If you bought your apartment in the Heights decades ago, or even before 2000, then you bought in for twelve dollars and fifty cents and you're just whining. You're going to do just fine no matter what.

But even if you're a relatively new Heights-ite, you've probably watched your wealth grow in the last few years in real numbers: local appraisers have estimated home values more than doubling since 2003, until mid-September of this year when the world changed.

So maybe we're down seven to ten percent since then, and maybe we have another bit of downward push to endure. So what? For us in the Heights this kind of average year-over-year growth is pretty much unmatchable in other markets in which we might invest. And we understand that what goes up must come down, and if history is prologue will rise again.

Welcome

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This is The Uptown Current. The blog has been created to provide northern Manhattan residents with a wide range of stories and information about our area of New York City. 

In the coming weeks expect to see a variety of content covering news, local politics, real estate, food, arts & events and much more. Besides myself several other bloggers have already volunteered to help me out with the project, and our web developer, Vincent Hamilton, has been working non-stop getting the website ready for everyone (thanks Vincent!)

Make sure to track our progress. We are planning on covering a lot of events, happenings, and much more down the line. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Alex