COVER STORY, DECEMBER 2005

RISING HIGH AND BUILDING OUT
The Northeast multifamily market is seeing a variety of exciting projects on the rise.
Dan Marcec

As the population increases and the real estate market heats up across the Northeast, developers are continually looking for opportunities to create new and exciting multifamily product in order to meet the extensive influx of residents moving to the area. Northeast Real Estate Business had the privilege of speaking with four developers regarding their recent projects, discussing the unique developments in depth.

Blue

Angelo Cosentini and John Carson are developing Blue, a 16-story condominium building located at 103-105 Norfolk Street in Manhattan. The one- and two-bedroom units range in size from 759 square feet to just under 2,500 square feet and in price from $800,000 to approximately $4 million. Functioning as a full-service condominium, the building also includes amenities such as 8,000 square feet of outdoor recreation space, a bicycle storage room on the ground floor, a doorman, and four of the units have private terraces, one of which encompasses roughly 1,100 square feet.

Angelo Cosentini and John Carson are developing Blue, a 16-story high-rise multifamily development located on the Lower East Side of New York City.

Created from the mind of architect Bernard Tschumei, the design of the project certainly is unique. Cosentini and Carson desired to create a development outside of the typical New York developers' envelope, and with the design, they certainly have achieved this goal.            

In addition, Blue is situated in an excellent location on the Lower East Side. Four different subway trains run within half a block of the property, providing access to midtown and downtown with relative ease. Furthermore, one of the most interesting aspects about the project is its placement in this neighborhood.

“When we first looked at this site, the neighborhood was sort of underappreciated, and with the idea to develop a full-service building in this location, many people though we were out of our minds,” explains Cosentini. “As time has passed, this project is extending what has been going on in the neighborhood, which has been in flex for the past four or five years, and now we look like visionaries.”

“Additionally, part of the reason we chose the Lower East Side is that this area always has been a little bit more open to experimentation and different viewpoints,” he continues. “So in a bizarre way, even though the design seems out of place, so to speak, I feel like the building fits here because it's an extrapolation of what has been going on anyway over the past 50 years.”

The developers acquired Blue's location at a strategic time, so they are able to offer a product that exceeds what many others are offering for a price that's in the same ballpark. Cosentini anticipates that the residents will be first-time homebuyers, those that have been priced out of such neighborhoods as SoHo, TriBeCa and Chelsea. Delivery of Blue is expected in fall 2006.

Millennium Tower Residences, Battery Park

At the southern tip of Manhattan in Battery Park City, Millennium Partners is underway on Millennium Tower Residences, Battery Park, a 35-story condominium building located at 30 West Street. Millennium Tower's 236 residences range from 875-square-foot one-bedroom homes to 2,385-square-foot four-bedroom units. The complete cost for the project is estimated at approximately $200 million, and delivery is expected in late 2006.

Rising out of the skyline in Battery Park City, Manhattan, Millennium Tower Residences, Battery Park, offers 236 residences in 35 stories. Millennium Partners is developing this project, which is scheduled to deliver in late 2006.

Millennium Partners was led to the site as it developed a project immediately south of Millennium Tower Residences, and having great success with that development, decided to go ahead with this one. Handell Architects designed the building, and Gotham Construction provided general contracting services. Millennium Tower is being constructed on one of the last sites within the Battery Park City Authority district, as the neighborhood keeps becoming more popular.

“Battery Park City has a lot of benefits of living in the suburbs due to the great schools and lots of parks, and there is an amazing series of bicycle paths in the neighborhood,” Hall says. “Yet it has great access to the subway systems and the rest of Manhattan as well.”

The pricing structure for the units ranges from $900,000 to just under $2 million, which is just below prices for similar product in the market. In addition, the developers plan to sell out the community before completion; Eighty-five percent has already sold with delivery still more than a year away, speaking to the excitement surrounding the project.

Wesley Grove at Asbury Park

Concurrent with the revitalization of Asbury Park, New Jersey, Westminster Communities is developing Wesley Grove at Asbury Park, a four-phase multifamily community that upon final build-out, will total between 740 and 750 residential units. The project is located between Lake and Cookman avenues, the eastern extension of the revitalized commercial street in Asbury Park, situated a block and a half from the Atlantic Ocean and overlooking Wesley Lake, the southernmost lake in the city.

In conjunction with the revitalization of Asbury Park, New Jersey, Westminster Communities is developing Wesley Lake at Asbury Park, a multifamily community that, upon total build-out, will total approximately 750 units.

“We were drawn to this site from the excitement of Asbury Park's revitalization,” says Sam Gershwin, president of Westminster Communities. “We have experience in redevelopment projects, and in this particular location, near the downtown commercial district and only a block and a half from the newly constructed boardwalk and the Atlantic Ocean, we saw a great opportunity to develop a great community.”

Overall, the units range from $300,000 to $900,000, and the resident mix will consist of both primary and secondary residents, all people who are recognizing the revitalization of Asbury Park and want to be a part of it. Wesley Grove at Asbury Park also includes amenities such as private garages for townhouse units, and in conjunction with its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and nearby Wesley Lake, roof terraces and outside deck and viewing areas are being constructed to maximize water views.

“With excellent access to metropolitan areas like New York, Northern New Jersey and Philadelphia, prospective residents doubtlessly will be drawn to Wesley Grove at Asbury Park,” Gershwin notes. “It's an exciting project, an exciting opportunity for our company, and an exciting chance for everyone involved to be a part of returning Asbury Park to the prominence it once held.”

Riverview Landing at Valley Forge

O'Neill Properties currently is developing Riverview Landing at Valley Forge, a luxury riverfront apartment community located on the Schuylkill River in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. The development sits in close proximity to major thoroughfares Highway 422 , the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Route 202, shopping destination the King of Prussia Mall, and it is in one of the largest employment centers of the five-county area of Philadelphia.

Just outside of Philadelphia, on the Schyulkill River near the Valley Forge National Park in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, O'Neill Properties is redeveloping an old industrial site into a 2,100-unit multifamily development called Riverview Landing at Valley Forge.

“With more than 2,000 units in the build-out, this undertaking obviously is quite substantial; we are satisfying a very strong pent up demand,” says Leonard Poncia, executive vice president and development principal of O'Neill Properties. “Riverview is right on the Schuylkill River, and one of the numerous amenities is the Schuylkill Valley Trail that runs adjacent to the property. The trail begins in Center City Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Art Museum and runs well into Montgomery County where our development is located adjacent to Valley Forge National Park. We've provided a jogging and biking trail connection to the Schuylkill Valley Trail through our project to the river; thus, residents and visitors are able to enjoy the vistas of the river from our property before reconnecting to the trail after a one-mile stretch through Riverview.”

Another unique aspect of the site is its rich history. Approximately 100 years ago, the site was called Lubin Studios, which was the first motion picture studio in the United States. Over the years, it went through several industrial uses, the last being the Betzswood Industrial Plant, which became an abandoned, contaminated brownfield site. Consistent with its company strategy, which is to redevelop sites of this nature, O'Neill Properties acquired the site to transform, rejuvenate and revitalize it.

The apartments themselves retain amenities such as gourmet kitchens, natural wood cabinetry, nine-foot ceilings, private balconies, fireplaces and bay windows, and the site features a 6,000-square-foot clubhouse and business center including a resort-style swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness center and wireless internet café. The resident demographic ranges from young professionals and young couples to empty nesters, as Riverview Landing provides luxury living that appeals to a variety of market segments.

“We really feel great about what we're doing here at the site, because it sat as a dilapidated eyesore for a number of years, and despite its rich history, it had fallen by the wayside,” explains Poncia. “But as a general trend, this is what we do at O'Neill Properties. We specialize on redeveloping underutilized properties and transform them into something we as a developer can be proud of, and in this case, we brought back to life a property that can be showcase accomplishment that everyone can enjoy.”  

©2005 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.