Thursday, December 15, 2011

Financial District

Financials District, the area of Manhattan south of City Hall excluding Battery park.  My first deal as a real estate agent was in Financial District, at 88 Greenwich St.  An apartment which transacted at what would be considered such a "great deal" now.  Over time, historical transactions always become a great deal as real estate is a time game. 


The Wall Street bull and NYSE are perhaps the traditional icons of Financial District.  One World Trade Center is now built to 90 stories.  With about 2.5 million square feet of commercial space per building, and there will be four World Trade Center buildings, completion of the WTC project will totally transform Financial District, increase property prices and bring in a lot more restaurants, grocery stores, bookshops etc - all the things people like and that drive up property prices.

One World Trade Center

W Downtown Hotel and Residences opened less than a year ago and they are selling at about $2000 per sqft.  Clearly a plus for nearby residential buildings as it brings up the average prices of property in the area.

FiDi currently provides better value as the average price per square foot is lower because of large supply.  There were a lot of conversions in FiDi during the boom and a couple even failed.  The trick is to pick the right property.  In a few years, FiDi as we know today will be a different FiDi.


Wei Min Tan is Founder of Castle Avenue Partners, focused on foreign buyers interested in luxury residential condominiums as an investment in Manhattan, New York.  He was most recently interviewed by CNN in the article Foreigners Scooping Up US Homes.  Wei Min can be reached at tan@castle-avenue.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Here's a great list of Financial District attractions (amenities, restaurants, stores)
http://nymag.com/realestate/features/lower-manhattan-2011-12/