The Real Deal - August 2008 - (Page 18) Lucky few try for more New resales at 15 Central Park West ask for astonishing prices BY LAUREN ELKIES t some point, they’ll have to start labeling the apartments at 15 Central Park West “price upon request.” The neoclassical Robert A.M. Stern-designed building is home to Denzel Washington, Sting and a host of asking prices that would make even a megastar’s eyes pop. Last month, penthouse 40B went on the market for $80 million. That same apartment was purchased for $21.5 million just two months earlier, according to public records. While asking nearly four times the purchase price might take some moxie, there are reportedly units in the limestone trophy building carrying resale asking prices as high as $150 million. Which leads to the question, “How high can prices actually go?” Real estate brokers and buyers in the building defend the stratospheric listings, while other real estate experts find the asking prices suspect. Jessica Armstead, a vice president at the Corcoran Group, said of 40B, “It wouldn’t surprise me if it did sell for $80 million.” A A resale at 15 Central Park West asks nearly four times the purchase price. The bulls cite several contributing factors: Prices for units at 15 Central Park West were originally negotiated as far back as three years ago; prices have been climb- ing in Manhattan overall, despite the slowing sales pace in the wake of the credit crisis, and the high-end market remains strong. Also, many residents have made significant renovations to their apartments, to the tune of $1,000 to $2,000 a foot, said appraiser Andrew Fautley, a principal at Vanderbilt Appraisal. Yet some sellers have been dropping prices on resales — and the two most expensive sales to close at the building as of last month were nowhere near $80 million. Hedge fund manager Daniel S. Loeb paid the most for a unit in the building at $45 million for penthouse 39, followed by Citigroup chairman emeritus Sanford Weill’s $42.4 million penthouse 20. Weill’s unit boasts the most expensive price per square foot on a closed sale, at $6,288 per interior square foot. (The unit also has 2,007 square feet of outdoor space.) If 40B sells for $80 million, it would achieve an astonishing $15,163 per square foot. “I would say that $6,000 a square foot for a good park view in either the Tower or the House is very achievable, and they have been getting those prices easily,” said Robby Browne, a senior vice president at the Corcoran Group, who bought unit 6J for $2.7 million last November. “The more special apartments priced at $75 to $90 million are a different breed within the building,” Browne said. “Some have terraces, and others, 14-foot ceilings. That is a different buyer, and it remains to be seen what dollar per square foot they will get. “I see the building climbing to $10,000 per square foot for park views fairly quickly as more people move in, more people visit friends in the building and see what a wonderful place it is.” Still, the asking prices seem out of alignment with buildings of the same ilk. Other units in that price range, such as a $70 million penthouse listing at the Pierre Hotel, can be hard to move. The Pierre penthouse has been on the market for four years; five years earlier, the three-story apartment at the hotel sold for less than one-third of its current asking price. “The current listings suggest a range of value of $15,000 to $16,000 per square foot based upon current closed data in compaContinued on page 121 Short on age, long on deals At 21, Corcoran’s Jared Seligman has done millions in sales BY GABBY WARSHAWER ared Seligman thinks real estate is part of his genetic makeup. “Pretty much everyone in my family is involved in real estate,” said the Corcoran Group vice president. “It’s in my DNA. My grandfather is selling real estate in South Florida at the age of 85. He calls me up on Sunday mornings at the crack of dawn and asks why I’m not in the office.” At 21 years old, Seligman is rapidly gaining a reputation as a force to be reckoned with in the world of Manhattan luxury condo sales. In 2007, he was named Corcoran’s Rookie of the Year after he sold $40 million worth of real estate. He is also a member of the firm’s multi-million dollar club. Seligman isn’t selling to any old rich Manhattanites, either: The broker is representing Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen’s $10 millionplus Morton Square listing, and he’s reportedly sold condos to a raft of young bold-faced names, including Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein and Tommy Hilfiger’s daughter. Seligman said his “young, hip clients” are exclusively interested in Downtown properties. “The ones who want more privacy look in Tribeca,” he said, “but we have many, many people who want to be in the East Village. Not so much the Financial District.” J Corcoran’s Jared Seligman in his office at 490 Broadway. While Seligman said he tries “to remain as private as possible,” the real estate blog Curbed.com has, perhaps, been making that task slightly difficult. Curbed has dubbed Seligman “Lil’ Shvo” after Michael Shvo, the brash broker who became one of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s top-grossing brokers when he was barely out of his 20s and went on to start his own firm. A post on the site in May was headlined, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Jared Seligman Has Arrived,” and it noted that “this baby-faced 21-year-old is quite the personality.” “I don’t really have time to pay attention to the press,” said Seligman, who added that his hectic work schedule means he doesn’t have much time for the party circuit, despite the fact that his clients include “so many major people in business, fashion and art who are always entertaining.” Tresa Hall, Corcoran’s director of sales, said any negative attention that comes Seligman’s way “is just jealousy.” “It’s a waste of time to try to figure out why people say bad things about good people,” said Hall. “What’s unusual about Jared is that he’s so young. Some of our Rookies of the Year are 35 years old, and most people who come into this business have already had two or three careers.” Criticisms on blogs generally fall into three categories: young, inexperienced and arrogant. But despite those knocks, he continues to rack up business. Seligman skipped college and launched his career at Citi Habitats at 18, where he stayed for nine months before moving to Corcoran. He initially focused primarily on rentals. “When I turned 18, I said, ‘I’m going to give this a shot, and give it six months to see if it works,’” he said. “Not many people knew I was 18, and I tried to keep it a secret.” His break came, he said, in the form of a sale of a unit in a building “that my friend had been trying to get into for years. I saw a listing come up, was able to get an appointment, and it turned around incredibly quickly. It was the easiest transaction I’ve ever done, and it all starts with one happy client.” But after that, he said, it was time for hard work. “When I started, I was in the office 24/7,” he said. Like Seligman, Timothy Melzer, a senior vice president at Prudential Douglas Continued on page 123 18 August 2008 www.TheRealDeal.com PHOTOGRAPH OF SELIGMAN FOR THE REAL DEAL BY MAX DWORKIN www.TheRealDeal.com May 2007 00 http://Curbed.com http://www.TheRealDeal.com http://www.TheRealDeal.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Real Deal - August 2008 The Real Deal - August 2008 Lucky few try for more Short on age, long on deals Upping fees to match expectations Can I get the door, hipster? Stitching up a residential neighborhood The Credit Crunch When comps fall short Looking Back National Deal Sheet summary The Real Deal - August 2008 The Real Deal - August 2008 - The Real Deal - August 2008 (Page 1) The Real Deal - August 2008 - Short on age, long on deals (Page 18) The Real Deal - August 2008 - Can I get the door, hipster? (Page 20) The Real Deal - August 2008 - Stitching up a residential neighborhood (Page 42) The Real Deal - August 2008 - The Credit Crunch (Page 45) The Real Deal - August 2008 - The Credit Crunch (Page 46) The Real Deal - August 2008 - When comps fall short (Page 50) The Real Deal - August 2008 - Looking Back (Page 56) The Real Deal - August 2008 - National (Page 66) The Real Deal - August 2008 - Deal Sheet summary (Page 99)
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