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  #21  
Old Posted Jun 6, 2005, 9:18 PM
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Suburbia no more! What would Rob and Laura Petri say today?
     
     
  #22  
Old Posted Jun 6, 2005, 9:45 PM
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They'd say, "Gosh."
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  #23  
Old Posted Jun 6, 2005, 9:51 PM
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white plains has the world HQ of IBM and nine west and a couple other big ones port chester used to have phillip morris's and krafts but they moved out
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  #24  
Old Posted Jun 30, 2005, 5:58 AM
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Snapple is based out of White Plains... fuckers stole it from my home town.
I have a lot of friends in New Roc and I'm really wondering if they know about all of this and how they feel about it. I'll try to get their perspective.
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  #25  
Old Posted Jun 30, 2005, 7:03 AM
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great news for NR and WP. I just wish Stamford would follow suit and build some towers over 300ft. Height restrictions suck.
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  #26  
Old Posted Jun 30, 2005, 5:52 PM
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New Rochelle actually has a nice mini skyline, White Plains takes it up a step. I think it's just great, it's nice to see SOME cities moving upwards instead of sprawling. Tell that to Stamford, who could really use some new condo towers instead of townhouses.
     
     
  #27  
Old Posted Jun 30, 2005, 11:16 PM
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More from White Plains:


Goin Up: Council Approves 86 New Condo Units for Church & Barker


June 7, 2005

The Common Council voted unanimously Monday evening to approve ASB Capital Management to build an 86-Unit Condominium on the Church & Barker corner two blocks north of City Hall. Two neighboring residents, who reside in 40 Barker Avenue said they appreciated how ASB Capital Management worked with them to add more landscaping and restrict entry and egress to the Church Street frontage. The building will be 13 stories high. ASB Capital Management will pay $460,000 into a newly created city housing down payment fund, (created by a resolution on the consent agenda) to satisfy ASB's obligation to build affordable housing units as part of the project.




Mayor Joseph Delfino Congratulates Joseph Siegel, architect for the Church Street Hamilton Condominiums approved Monday evening. Photo by WPCNR News.




GOIN' UP: A closer look at the Church Street-facing front of the architect's rendering. Siegel said the building will have more glass, higher ceilinged apartments, a health spa, a library, and parking entrance and excess at lower right. Photo by WPCNR News
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  #28  
Old Posted Jul 2, 2005, 1:25 AM
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Wow, how did I miss this thread?

Great news!
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  #29  
Old Posted Jul 10, 2005, 2:04 AM
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I wish they would rezone some already dense areas like Great Neck, Hempstead and Long Beach, Long Island...Just as they are doing in New Rochelle and other parts of Westchester. In most of LI places mentioned it's glaringly obvious how 7 stories was the general limit. And usually the bottom level is always half sunk into the ground.

Some height would be nice to break up the monotony here. A sixty story tower planned for Uniondale is a little too big of a start though.
     
     
  #30  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2005, 12:49 AM
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NY CONSTRUCTION NEWS

Three Mixed-Use Projects Planned


New Rochelle may add $2 billion in new projects to its downtown as planning moves forward on three major mixed-use developments in the city.

The furthest along is a 353,600-sq.-ft. tower breaking ground this summer. Cappelli Enterprises of Valhalla, N.Y., is teaming up with New York developer Donald Trump to build the tower, which will have 141,500 sq. ft. of retail space on the two lower levels topped with 181 condominium residences. The building, called Trump Plaza, will link by an enclosed pedestrian bridge to Cappelli's $250 million New Roc City entertainment, hotel, and residential complex completed in 1999. Construction on Trump Plaza is expected to take 18 months.

Cappelli also signed a memorandum of understanding with the city to redevelop the two-acre Lawton Street Urban Renewal District, an effort that will include demolition of existing structures and relocation of tenants. In their place, Cappelli plans to build two 390-ft.-tall towers with 200,000 sq. ft. of retail, 300,000 sq. ft. for an office and hotel complex, and 320,000 sq. ft. of luxury residences. Once started, construction is expected to last 18 months. Together with the Trump Plaza partnership, the two new Cappelli projects are estimated to cost $750 million.

The third major development would be from Simone Development of New Rochelle, which has proposed a $175 million, 34-story tower with 385 condos and 44,000 sq. ft. of retail space. On the same site, Simone plans a second mid-rise with 30 to 50 condos and 2,500 sq. ft. of office space. Simone expects to begin construction within 18 months.
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  #31  
Old Posted Aug 29, 2005, 10:23 PM
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JOURNAL NEWS

New Rochelle grows up

By KEN VALENTI
August 28, 2005


NEW ROCHELLE — New Rochelle's downtown is only about a year away from reaching its big 3-0 — if you measure in stories.

Workers have begun digging at sites for two towers that will soar higher than the city's current tallest buildings and surpass 30 stories for the first time.

Trump Plaza, developed by Donald Trump and Louis Cappelli, will rise 32 stories, and the second phase of the Avalon on the Sound apartments will top out at 39 floors.


Together they will bring about 770 dwellings for new downtown residents, a prospect that means more business for merchants like Jaspreet Singh, owner of the Global Java NY coffeehouse in the first Avalon building, on Huguenot Street at Memorial Highway.

"It's going to help everybody," said Singh, 22, of Tuckahoe, who opened his shop about 10 months ago.

"New real estate is always good for the city," added Scott Bower, 30, an accountant who was working on his laptop computer in the coffee shop. "Maybe it would attract people back from (New York) City."

The buildings promise to transform the skyline of a city where Avalon's first phase, a 24-story building, is already the tallest building.

They will rival the new wave of skyline-setting towers in White Plains — City Center and One City Place, both 35-story Cappelli buildings, and a similar-sized tower planned by Cappelli and Trump.

"I think it's fair to say that New Rochelle, like White Plains, has been an undiscovered jewel for both residents and retail, and we're about to see those buds blossom all at once," said Joseph Apicella, senior vice president for Cappelli.

Already, more than 500 people are on a waiting list for the 181 condominiums that will occupy Trump Plaza in New Rochelle — a level of interest higher than even the developers expected, Apicella said.

"I think it says something about the market in New Rochelle for a high-rise, upscale product," he said.

Workers will begin pouring the foundation in four to eight weeks, he said. It is expected to be complete in late 2006 or early 2007, with units going for $500,000 to $1 million.


It will include 141,000 square feet of retail space in the first two levels, to which developers plan to bring major national stores, Apicella said.

Trump Plaza, though it contains fewer stories, will be the taller of the two buildings at 390 feet — plus a 40-foot structure for mechanical equipment. That is because the two retail levels at the base will be 30 feet high each. It will rise across Huguenot Street from the New Roc City entertainment-hotel complex, just east of North Avenue.

Avalon's second phase will rise 375 feet, with the top level reserved for a banquet hall and two outdoor terraces, offering expansive views that will include Long Island Sound and New York City, said Phil Wharton, senior development director for AvalonBay Communities, the developer.


It also will sit on Huguenot Street, at Division Street, cater-corner from the first Avalon building. Foundation work is expected to begin in November or December, Wharton said.

While construction could take more than two years, some residents may begin moving into the lower levels after 18 months, said Fred Harris, AvalonBay senior vice president.

Developers of both projects said people are eager to take advantage of the downtown locations, near the train station and close to New York City.

Bower, the accountant, is one of those people; he moved into Avalon's first phase three years ago and says he loves his new home.

"It's a great location, so close to the train, and so close to I-95," he said. "It's extremely convenient."

With all that hoped-for prosperity, however, come more cars.

Reny Arumugam, who has lived in New Rochelle since 2000, said the new construction is good for business but can make it more difficult to find a parking spot.

"I walk downtown because all the parking is going away," said Arumugam, who lives several blocks from downtown.

Craig King, New Rochelle commissioner of development, said the downtown area can absorb the new residents, many of whom are expected to commute to work by train.

Both projects were subjected to the usual environmental reviews to weigh their impacts on the community and to look for ways to mitigate potential problems, King said.

"There will be more traffic, obviously, but our analyses indicate that the system can accommodate this," he said.
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  #32  
Old Posted Sep 26, 2005, 1:15 PM
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NEW YORK MAGAZINE


The New New Rochelle
The classic Westchester suburb is being reinvented: less Laura Petrie, more Carrie Bradshaw.





By S.Jhoanna Robledo


Like everyone else in town, April Chiu, a pathologist, discovered quickly that $500,000 wouldn’t buy her dream New York apartment, or anything close. In Manhattan and even Brooklyn, Chiu, who was renting an Upper East Side one-bedroom, could afford only a walkup or a studio—“if I’m lucky,” she says. Loath to face more disappointment, she literally changed course and headed for New Rochelle after seeing an ad promoting a project there.

Although it’s hardly the sixth borough, this bedroom community in Westchester County—best known as home to Rob and Laura on The Dick Van Dyke Show—has become Plan C for folks priced out of Manhattan and Brooklyn. “This is a historic moment in New Rochelle,” claims Craig King, the city’s commissioner of development. “The growth in the New York market has fueled a building boom.” Over the next five years, more than 1,300 apartments will hit the market, including a conversion called Davenport Lofts and a residential high-rise, tentatively called the Church/Division Project, by developer Joseph Simone. Even Donald Trump is coming in, teaming with local developer Lou Cappelli for a tower, which will, inevitably, be called Trump Plaza. “Thirty percent of people who have already purchased come from Manhattan,” says Angi Kwok, sales director of 543 Main Street, where Chiu has bought one of the 90 apartments.

Prices are, of course, the lure, averaging $450 to $500 per square foot, says Peter Murray, whose company is developing a few projects in the area. (In Soho and Tribeca, condos average $1,080 per square foot, and peak around $2,000.) New Rochelle’s downtown, where most of these buildings are clustered, is rather urban and far less car-dependent than most suburbs. “It’s a three-minute walk to the train!” exclaims Karen Mansour of Prudential Douglas Elliman, which markets 543 Main. Should new émigrés miss Manhattan—or work there—the ride to Grand Central takes 30 minutes, a bit less than the time from Park Slope.

The downside? It’s not New York. “Some people think I made a mistake. I can’t run out and get milk from the corner store in the middle of the night,” Chiu acknowledges. But from her one-bedroom with a study, balcony, and doorman, this doctor probably won’t be feeling too much pain.
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  #33  
Old Posted Sep 27, 2005, 1:57 AM
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Trump Plazas in White Plains, New Rochelle and soon in Jersey City? I think I am getting sick of the guy already. Build us a tall one in NYC Don, C'mon.
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  #34  
Old Posted Sep 28, 2005, 12:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gripja
Trump Plazas in White Plains, New Rochelle and soon in Jersey City? I think I am getting sick of the guy already. Build us a tall one in NYC Don, C'mon.

Don't worry. Trump's busy with towers in Chicago and many other cities, but he'll get his Manhattan crown eventually.
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  #35  
Old Posted Sep 28, 2005, 2:08 PM
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Is Avalon on the Sound apartments II UC? Emporis and SSP recently changed the status from UC to proposed.
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  #36  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2005, 7:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kazpmk
Is Avalon on the Sound apartments II UC? Emporis and SSP recently changed the status from UC to proposed.
Not sure about that one...


JOURNAL NEWS

New Rochelle can handle traffic from towers, expert says

By KEN VALENTI
September 21, 2005


The city can handle most of its downtown tower development projects now under way, but will need to improve its traffic flow by the time the latest ones are completed, a consulting firm told the City Council last night.

With a wave of new towers planned or under construction, including at least four that would break 30 stories for the first time, traffic is expected to worsen.

The cars brought by most of those projects, including a second phase of the Avalon on the Sound apartments and a tower being built by developers Donald Trump and Louis Cappelli, can be handled by adjusting the timing of traffic signals
, said officials of AKRF, a Manhattan-based planning firm. The company is studying the capacity for more downtown development in a city that is seeing a major boom in large residential, office, hotel and shopping projects.

Graham L. Trelstad, a vice president and director of planning with the firm, said the final report, due in early to mid-October, would look at how much more development downtown can handle.

"We will give you some sense of — as they say — how much room is left in the bucket," he told the council last night in City Hall.

Mayor Tim Idoni said after the meeting that it was heartening to hear that traffic expected with the current wave of building projects could be handled without major changes. The later projects — a development planned on North Avenue by Cappelli and a project at Church and Division streets by Simone Development — might require spending money for improvements, but those projects will come later, he said.

"That gives us some time to work on those," he said.

Trelstad praised the city for fostering a variety of uses downtown and said the final report would encourage leaders to continue to do so.

Presenting early recommendations, Trelstad said the city should keep the low-rise, small-town character of Main Street, but Huguenot Street can hold more development, particularly near the train station with its parking garage and the corner of North Avenue.

"It's really a great mix of uses and we really want to build on that," he said.

He also said the downtown offers "wonderful access to I-95 and wonderful access to the railroad. We want to take advantage of that."

The firm looked at 47 intersections in and around downtown and found that several of them would see long lines and long waits when the final two projects now planned were built, said Anthony Russo, technical director with AKRF.

"There are things we're going to look at to make it feasible," he said.

Two later projects would push the traffic situation toward the point at which it would become unbearable, Russo said. Some downtown areas put up with such situations as a trade-off for more city vitality. But when the wait at a traffic light hits three minutes or the line extends so long it interferes with other intersections, it should be dealt with, he said.

The consultants said the final report will look at several options for improving traffic, including the creation of satellite parking areas at the edges of the central business district, and an intense traffic-management system, in which intersections are monitored with sensors and cameras to make adjustments that break up snarls as they occur.

Prohibiting on-street parking in some areas also could be considered, although, the consultants said, that can create other problems, such as complaints from merchants.
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  #37  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2005, 7:09 PM
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JOURNAL NEWS

Another tower for New Rochelle

By KEN VALENTI
September 10, 2005


NEW ROCHELLE — Plans for a large development in New Rochelle — the first of the major downtown tower projects directly on North Avenue — now include another 39-story tower.

Filling most of the block between North Avenue and the New Roc City entertainment center, the project would include 210 dwelling units — condominiums or rental apartments — in a tower 390 feet tall. It also would have a second tower rising 235 feet, with a 125-room hotel and 176,000 square feet of office space.

The taller building would match two other buildings for which construction has begun — Trump Plaza, planned to rise 390 feet, and the second phase of the Avalon on the Sound apartment complex, which will have 39 stories but will be slightly shorter at 375 feet.

The project along North Avenue also would have an eight-story loft building and 235,000 square feet of retail space in three levels, one of them below ground, said Cappelli Senior Vice President Joseph Apicella. He said the plans are in the works, and could change.

Earlier versions of the plan included two 32-story towers. The newer version was described by Apicella this week.

Mayor Timothy Idoni said he couldn't talk about the exact height because he hadn't seen the latest plans and they are still under environmental review. But he said the project needs to be large to help transform the downtown into a shopping destination.

"I think there is a need for a certain density in order to not only make the project viable but to bring back the significant retail on the base floor that we have been aiming for the last five years or so," he said.

Cappelli is expected to complete a draft of an environmental study by Sept. 30.

Before building can start, however, a 38-unit apartment building, a day-care center, a Planned Parenthood branch, a row of storefront shops and the strip club Casanova Gold would need to be moved. The city has been fighting to prevent Casanova Gold from operating as a topless club. While the city and the club await a judge's ruling, dancers at Casanova Gold wear pasties when they dance.

Construction is not expected to begin for a year or more. The city is prepared to consider using its powers of eminent domain to forcibly buy properties from owners reluctant to sell, but Idoni said that would be a last resort.

"We sincerely hope that we don't have to," he said.

Apicella and city officials said they would help residents and businesses on the site relocate to acceptable sites.

Bob Conner, owner of the Royal Child Care Center on LeCount Place, said that on one hand, he didn't want to move, but on the other hand, "I'm not a person to stand in the way of development."

If his business moves, he wants to remain in downtown New Rochelle, where some parents take their children to the center by train or bus. He also would like a ground-floor space at least big enough for his current enrollment, caring for 98 children at a time.

"No matter what happens, we'll find another place," he said.

City Development Commissioner Craig King said there are "definitely some opportunities" for the day-care center in other downtown buildings.

The block also contains the city's downtown post office, which would remain, although Cappelli hopes to build on a post office parking lot behind the 1938, curving, art moderne structure. Apicella said Cappelli was talking with the Postal Service about moving a distribution operation to another site. Postal Service customers would still be able to buy stamps and mail letters and packages at the site.

Apicella said the construction could start in a year at the earliest, after everyone on the site is relocated. King said the time frame was possible, but would be aggressive.

Even with a long-range building schedule, the city's downtown is growing quickly.

"I like all the big buildings, but the (question) is: How many can they put up?" asked Ursula Schweers, a New Rochelle resident for 13 years.

Idoni said city officials will be careful not to overload the area, but that for now, the city should continue taking advantage of its proximity to New York, access to trains and buses, and views of Long Island Sound to continue drawing developments.

"I believe that with sensitive traffic studies and environmental reviews, we will know when to stop," he said.
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  #38  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2005, 7:23 PM
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Here's Trump in White Plains:

CitizeNetReporter
WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL

Commentary with the Super Developer

by John F. Bailey. September 29, 2005



Louis Cappelli, the Super Developer, partner with Donald Trump in the Trump Tower at City Center, said today that the apartments in Trump Tower have appreciated in price from $500 a square foot to $700 a square foot, explaining the appearance of “approximately 30 units” on the real estate market the last week, as speculators attempting to make money on their investment.




Want to live in the lap of luxury with spectacular views of Long Island Sound, New York City and the Catskills in the heart of White Plains, tranquilized in the comforting ambience of the Trump lifestyle, but did not buy when you had the chance?

Well, here is your chance to ascend to The Pantheon of condominium sublimium, the high panache of the pampered patrician, to once again own a piece of the Trump, as owners about to close on 34 units have placed their Trump Tower condominiums on the market -- a virtual White Plains Trump Exchange as real estate speculators attempt to resell their condos at a profit.

The local realtors have never seen anything like it. Within the last two days, by WPCNR count, 33 Trump Tower condominium units have been offered on the multiple listings of local realtors, and one in the The Lofts at City Center up for sale.
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  #39  
Old Posted Dec 1, 2005, 12:23 AM
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JOURNAL NEWS

Cappelli seeks sales, mortgage tax breaks on Trump Plaza

By KEN VALENTI
November 30, 2005


NEW ROCHELLE — Developer Louis Cappelli is seeking some $3.6 million in mortgage and sales tax relief while building the downtown residential and retail tower Trump Plaza — but it would be repaid if the building becomes condominiums, as planned.

The 32-story project, one of several tall towers in Westchester County built or planned by the mega-developer, would be eligible for relief if the developers market the units as rental apartments.

Cappelli, who is building the 32-story tower on Huguenot Street in a partnership with Donald Trump, has applied to the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency for the tax relief. Through IDA programs, Cappelli could be excused from paying mortgage tax and sales tax on construction materials.

If the tower is built as condominiums, Cappelli's first plan, it would not be eligible for the breaks, and the developers then would pay the money.

"It's an insurance policy," Joseph Apicella, senior vice president of Cappelli Enterprises, said of the IDA application. "If the project is eligible, why should we lose the benefits upfront?"

Cappelli is one of the most highprofile developers in the area, with projects completed or under way in White Plains, Ossining, Yorktown, Valhalla, Dobbs Ferry, Mount Pleasant and Tarrytown. The projects include highly visible efforts, such as the City Center in downtown White Plains. Controversy sometimes has come with his plans. In Ossining, for instance, the approval this month of the $75 million Harbor Square residential-retail project planned by Cappelli — recently joined in the effort by developer Martin Ginsburg — came after years of debate. Critics said the development was too dense and would take up waterfront that could have been better opened for public use.

Before any breaks can be offered on Trump Plaza, however, the New Rochelle IDA will have a hearing at 7 p.m. Jan. 5 in City Hall, 515 North Ave.

At least one IDA member, David Lacher, said he was skeptical of the application on a project that has been touted as a luxury condominium tower.

"My problem is that the marketing of this thing from the very beginning has been condominiums," Lacher said.

Tax breaks became controversial years ago, when abatements were offered to Cappelli and other developers to build major projects, such as New Roc City. City leaders said the breaks were needed to jump-start the economic revival of the city, and more recent projects were built without such incentives.

New Rochelle Development Commissioner Craig King said yesterday that the IDA benefits are not property taxes, which, if offered on a project like Trump Plaza would amount to much more than the $3.6 million or so that the IDA benefits would save the developers.

Under the IDA programs, the project would be subject to a "payment in lieu of taxes," or PILOT, rather than paying property tax. But IDA officials said that in this case, the payment would be exactly the same as if the developers were paying property tax.

Work has begun on the project, along Huguenot Street just east of North Avenue, on the site known as Parcel 1A. The building, containing 181 dwelling units and 141,000 square feet of retail space in the first two levels, is expected to be completed in late 2006 or early 2007. Apicella has said the units, as condominiums, will sell for $500,000 to $1 million. But he said yesterday that any such project contains uncertainties, and that if interest rates on home loans soared and the developers did not have the flexibility to change the units to rental apartments, "you'd have a white elephant there."

City Manager Charles Strome III said he wanted to learn what people have to say about Cappelli's application. But he did note that the property had remained undeveloped 40 years before Cappelli began clearing it. The IDA benefits, he said, are similar to those offered in other cities, including benefits Cappelli was granted for work in White Plains.

"So it's not like we're treading new ground," he said.
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  #40  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2006, 3:20 AM
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Listings of High-End Condos Proliferate



A rendering of Renaissance Plaza,
two 40-story-high towers in White
Plains, where 200 condos will come
on the market in February. The $400
million complex will also have a hotel
and offices.



By ELSA BRENNER
Published: January 8, 2006

SOON after the luxury condominiums at Trump Tower went on the market early last year in this city's rapidly growing downtown, Mary Ellen Gramolini snapped up a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath unit for $570,000. "I got in on the ground floor," said Mrs. Gramolini, who then sat back and watched as the prices of units in Trump Tower soared.

Mrs. Gramolini's plan was to rent out her unit for several years and then, once her three children were grown and on their own, move in with her husband, Tom.

But she became worried that the market was becoming saturated and that she might have trouble renting her apartment, and she put her unit up for sale in the fall, asking $699,000.

She was not the only one who decided to speculate on the 212 condos in the newly built 35-story Trump Tower at City Center, where some units offer views of the New York City skyline.

John Durante, a real estate investor and law student at Pace University, purchased a two-bedroom penthouse condo with two and a half baths and a 500-square-foot terrace at the new Trump building for just over $1 million. Last fall, when the units in the residential tower were almost sold out, Mr. Durante put his condo on the market for $1.9 million. When it did not sell, he lowered the price to $1.79 million. It still has not sold.

Both Mrs. Gramolini and Mr. Durante tried to do what many speculators have done during the hot condo market of the past 18 months - buy at a low price and then flip their units six months or a year later. But as Mrs. Gramolini and Mr. Durante and others learned this fall, the upward momentum of the real estate market seems to have abated somewhat.

Mrs. Gramolini's condominium is in contract. She would not reveal the sale price, although she indicated it was below her asking price. "Because I got in at the ground floor, I'm not taking a loss," she said. "It just didn't work out as well as I had hoped."

Mr. Durante put two condos on the market: a penthouse he occupied in another section of downtown White Plains and his Trump condo. The occupied unit sold quickly. He said he would move into his unsold Trump condo.

"Not just in White Plains, but all over Westchester, the condo market has softened," Mr. Durante said. "It's especially true in White Plains," because another high-end residential project is nearing completion, "and people have a lot to chose from," he added.

Of 125 apartments on which buyers have already closed at Trump Tower at City Center, about one-third returned to the market shortly after their closings. Some people describe the surfeit of condos on the market in White Plains as a glut.

But P. Gilbert Mercurio, chief executive of the Westchester County Board of Realtors in White Plains, called that an overstatement, even though there are currently 56 percent more condominiums on the market countywide than there were a year earlier - 600 at last count, compared with 397 last December.

"Yes, inventory has increased because the market is slowing down in Westchester and elsewhere," he explained. "But we're still a very long way from using words like 'overhang' or 'glut' to describe the situation." Looking back, he said, there were 860 condos for sale at the end of 1996, and 1,100 condos in the early 1990's.

In addition, 2004 was a record year in terms of the number of condominiums sold, 1,438, and 2005 came close. As of Dec. 29, there had been 1,400 condo sales, Mr. Mercurio said.

Clearly, though, the real estate market - for stand-alone and multifamily homes and co-ops as well as condos - is slowing down, and the net result is that some speculators, especially condo speculators like Mrs. Gramolini and Mr. Durante, have been disappointed.

Greg Rand, a managing partner for Prudential Rand Realty, reported last week that his company has more than a dozen never-occupied units in Trump Tower in White Plains listed for sale. They range from a three-bedroom three-and-a-half-bath unit listed at $1.795 million, to a one-bedroom two-bath unit going for $789,000.

This high number of units on the market partly reflects the property's exceptional early performance, Mr. Rand explained. Sales were so rapid that the building almost sold out within a few months of the initial offering. In response to the unexpectedly robust demand, the tower's developers, Louis Cappelli and Donald J. Trump, raised prices several times in the ensuing months.

Mr. Rand said the rush to buy Trump condos was as feverish as a sale in a department store. When early buyers saw how much more later buyers were paying, a number of owners "turned around all at the same time and put the condos back on the market."

This has rapidly changed the dynamics at the Trump Tower. "Whenever you have a lot of people selling the same product at the same time, you have a buyer's, not a seller's, market," he said.

Mr. Cappelli estimated that about 25 percent of the condos in the project - an unusually high percentage - were bought by speculators who never intended to live in the units.

Now Mr. Cappelli has 200 more units in Renaissance Plaza, two 40-story-high towers in downtown White Plains, coming on the market in February at prices somewhat higher than those at Trump Tower. Mr. Cappelli conceded that the speculators selling condos at Trump Tower were "undercutting the new product a little."

Renaissance Plaza, a $400 million complex, includes hotel and office elements. In all, it has approximately 890,000 square feet and is diagonally opposite Trump Tower and City Center, a shopping and residential complex.


Real estate observers like Mr. Mercurio at the Board of Realtors described the current real estate market as "in the process of sorting itself out."

Henry Uman, a retired real estate lawyer in Larchmont who has witnessed market ups and downs over 40 years, said that speculators interested in flipping properties should always be prepared to weather the vicissitudes of the market.

"When the need arises," he said, "you have to have the wherewithal to stay with things over time."


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