NY Post
HIGH STAKES
THE HIGH LINE BETS BIG ON DESIGN AND LUXURY
By MAX GROSS
Last updated: 12:38 am
November 13, 2008
Posted: 12:37 am
November 13, 2008
This view of the High Line from the Caledonia development includes, from left to right, Frank Gehry's IAC building, the still-in-progress Jean Nouvel condo tower at 100 11th Ave. and Annabelle Selldorf's 520 West Chelsea.
In 1999, a nonprofit called Friends of the High Line was born. Its mission was simple: to preserve and beautify the High Line — a 1½-mile strip of elevated rail tracks that snakes along 10th and 11th avenues, from the Meatpacking District through Chelsea.
Earlier this year, the group started turning the tracks into a public park, a $170 million project (about $50 million of which is being raised through private donations) — but it would seem as if they’ve already gone way beyond their original mission.
This thin strip of greenery has sprouted something unprecedented along its edges in terms of architecture and design. Heavy hitters — including Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Annabelle Selldorf and Shigeru Ban — have planted their flags near the High Line, designing residential and commercial buildings that are among the city’s most eye-catching.
Andre Balazs is unveiling a hotel called the Standard (which is set for a soft opening in December and which will have a restaurant helmed by former Lever House chef Dan Silverman). And the Whitney is planning a museum for 2012.
“In terms of the quality of construction here, it’s everything good about modernism,” says Ping Kwan, himself an architect, who, with wife Aimee Chang, stopped by an open house last weekend for 456 W. 19th St.
That new condo building is being designed by Cary Tamarkin and should be finished by the end of next year.
STANDARD BY ME: The Standard (left) will have a soft opening in December; HL23 (right) is designed by Neil Denari and has 11 full-floor units.
“All these buildings really represent new ideas for living,” Kwan says.
But there’s also something ephemeral here.
“We won’t see this [kind of] building able to be replicated for many years to come,” says Holly Parker, a broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman, which is selling the half-finished Jean Nouvel condo building at 100 11th Ave., first conceived back in 2005. “We’re not going to see these finishes — it’s the end of an era.”
Developers in the future “will choose whatever’s cheaper,” Parker adds.
With good reason. Even though a building like 100 11th Ave. is fetching an average of more than $2,000 per square foot, it’s also among the more complex designs around — with pieces of the exterior being shipped from China — and is reportedly roughly $50 million over budget.
“The good news is that a lot of the buildings that have been planned look like they’re going to get finished,” says Leonard Steinberg, also with Prudential Douglas Elliman, who is selling the Annabelle Selldorf-designed 200 11th Ave., where units are fetching more than $2,800 per square foot.
Steinberg adds that the building is 80 percent sold and that “those buyers are very committed.”
The question still hanging in the air is if other buildings, which have already laid down their roots but aren’t close to 80 percent sold, will actually make money.
“These are going to be New York landmarks,” says Steinberg. “And sometimes when you make art, you don’t make a profit.”
Might it be a case of a neighborhood that flew too far too fast?
“Three years ago, the highest we could get in the area was somewhere around $900 [per square foot],” says Erin Boisson Aries, sales director at HL23, another of the swanky new condo buildings with full-floor apartments.
And “we’re approaching $3,000 a foot now,” Aries adds.
Developers, though, are sobering up.
“We’ve been tweaking the whole way through, as we get a sense of the market,” says Tamarkin. “We’re at the roughly $1,850 per square foot range, which is firmly where [the market] wants to be.”
And buyers in this market are taking their time. For example, HL23, has sold just two of its 11 units since it went on the market in the spring. And even though the $10.5 million penthouse at HL23 is $2,900 per square foot, the building’s average is closer to $1,800 per square foot.
But for buyers who have committed themselves to the High Line, things seems to be chugging along nicely.
The High Line “will increase property values — I think it was smart of the city,” says Julie Bauer, who recently bought a two-bedroom at Loft 25, once a printing plant that was turned into condos earlier this year.
Bauer, a former TriBeCa resident, thinks it has the same flavor her old neighborhood did before it became hot.
“It [became] too much like being on the Upper East Side,” Bauer says of TriBeCa. “There were baby carriages everywhere. It was losing some of its charm. I like being here. I like all the galleries — I like the fact that it’s still a New York neighborhood.”
Bauer might be somewhat disappointed, however, about what the future bodes for the High Line. Prams are making their way over here, too.
“We wanted to live near the High Line,” says Clay Erwin, who just moved into a two-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot condo in the Caledonia building on West 17th Street with his wife, Kristy, last weekend — they’re expecting a baby in January.
“Nationally, real estate is an ugly story — but this is one thing people are excited about.”
Indeed, the area has considerably improved in the short four-year spurt when the High Line really started taking off.
“For one thing, it’s a lot safer,” says Kevin Donaldson, a 13-year resident of Chelsea, who stopped by the open house at 456 W. 19th St. on Sunday. “When I moved here, it used to be hookers all along here.”
“It’s young and vibrant and very upscale,” says Gilbert Dychiao, who also swung by the open house.
And the sheer volume of residential real estate that has hit the market recently has been astounding.
In addition to those mentioned earlier, new buildings in the area include 540 W. 28th St. and Chelsea Enclave. There’s also Audrey Matlock’s Chelsea Modern, which is 75 percent sold, and which recently saw its first residents move in. And architect Jared Della Valle has two buildings — one at 459 W. 18th St., across from the Caledonia, and another at 245 10th Ave., at 24th Street, a silver building that looks like a design fantasy.
“I think it’s the nexus of a number of different things,” says David Wine, vice chairman and executive vice president of the Related Companies, which built the Caledonia (a half-rental, half-condo development).
“What you have is incredibly exciting retail in the Meatpacking District [and] unique architecture . . . that combines with the history of New York.”
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