Wealthy Townhouses in these four neighborhoods/ differences between Chelsea, West Village, Gramercy Park, UES (York: sales)

[MichaelOrear]

Hello,

There are some very wealthy people and expensive townhouses in Chelsea, Gramercy Park, The West Village and UES.


However, of these wealthy townhouses within:

1. Chelsea

2. Gramercy Park

3. The West Village

4. The UES


A. Do the wealthy people within these neighborhoods who own these 5 million dollar brownstones differ in source of wealth with respect to each neighborhood. For instance is one of these neighborhoods old money vs. new money?

B. Do the wealthy people within these neighborhoods differ in terms of culture and attitude?

In other words, how do the wealthy neighborhoods within Manhattan differ in terms of sources of wealth, culture, and type of wealthy person?

Thanks

[rgr555]

[Ballervision]

There are so few townhouses in Manhattan it's hard to generalize. I would say West Village and Chelsea would be younger and Gramercy Park and UES would be older. The most expensive dwellings are actually in large building so I would say the common characteristics of townhouse owners is willingness to personally deal with maintenance.

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by Ballervision

There are so few townhouses in Manhattan it's hard to generalize. I would say West Village and Chelsea would be younger and Gramercy Park and UES would be older. The most expensive dwellings are actually in large building so I would say the common characteristics of townhouse owners is willingness to personally deal with maintenance.

Low Inventory, High Sales Define Manhattan Market In 2013 - Market Reports - Curbed NY

Having gotten that out of the way townhouse and brownstone sales are surging in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn not just for persons what "personally want to deal with maintenance", but for several other reasons.

Persons purchasing private homes today as opposed to into a multi-family building want privacy, not wishing to expose themselves to intrusive condo or co-op board application processes, being able to actually "own" their own home and thus have exclusive control, and so forth.

Of course unless you are purchasing a mansion or huge townhouse you aren't likely to get the same square footage a wealthy person can find in a pre-war co-op or some of the newer condo buildings, but again that isn't everyone's priority.

Neil Patrick Harris spend >30million USD for a brownstone in Harlem when he and his family easily could have chosen anything in Tribeca/SoHo/downtown area where they now live. One assumes the family with two young children wants the same thing as others, a nice back yard and space that is private and not a "gold fish bowl".

Indeed in and around the Village, Gramercy Park, LES, Chelsea and "downtown" in general you find many "famous" persons live in brownstones/townhouses. Persons just like the privacy. Indeed know at least two wealthy families who have household names (well if you read the WSJ that is) that moved from a pre-war Fifth Avenue building to a totally renovated townhouse/brownstone in the West Village.

While the supply is finite, there are plenty of townhouse/brownstone buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn if you like. Problem is many were converted into apartments years ago and still have tenants. Even some buildings that do not look like it from the outside were once private homes. Of course much of the low hanging fruit (empty or places already converted into private homes) below 96th street is gone, or keeps flipping every few years. There are buildings on the UWS, Yorkville and of course Harlem, but the areas aren't for everyone.

Sunday NYT's real estate section a few months ago carried an article about how Europeans fed up with the NYC co-op/condo process are purchasing brownstones for living full or part time. One family from France purchased a beautiful place on UWS because they found it suited their needs over a multi-family building.