Robin Finn looks at New York's "Stratospherians", vertical lifestyle fans with deep pockets that are driving the city's residential tower construction, and prices, to new heights.
"What do New Yorkers most value in a dream apartment? Height, light and unobstructed views," says Finn.
“Views, together with peace and quiet, never go out of style,” said Chandra Tyler, an associate broker at Bellmarc Realty, “and for folks who can afford the better things in life, that’s the sort of apartment on their bucket list.”
"Residential towers are stabbing at the sky in Midtown," notes Finn, "where the unfinished One57, on West 57th Street, and 432 Park Avenue are jostling for supremacy, and downtown, where 8 Spruce Street, a rental building a k a New York by Gehry, is presently Manhattan’s tallest occupied residential tower at 76 stories."
"Views are the No. 1 driver of price, and people are willing to pay for scarcity,” explains Kelly Mack, the president of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. “There seems to be an endless appetite for this type of luxury living, especially downtown, where it hasn’t existed until recently.”
Read the full story: The Stratospherians
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University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
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