Any Worldwide Plaza experts out there??

Worldwide Plaza? It's declining in value.

"Worldwide Plaza? It's declining in value."

Relative to other properties in HK and/or all of Manahattan or....? That is just a dangling statement when everything from Jamaica Queens studios to penthouses at 15 CPW are "declining in value."

You don't say.

I live across the street on 50th so I can comment on the location. I have a love/hate relationship - very convenient - a number of different subway lines (C,E, 1,D,N,R, Q and more) and buses are located with a few blocks, good services from within a few blocks - a nice Food Emporium at 49th and 8, Westerly Market at 54th and 8th and WF's at 59th. There are drugstores, cleaners, shoe repair shops,and a great yoga studio with a few blocks.I am not blown away by the restaurant/bar scene, but do love Amy's Bakery. I love this aspect of the area. The downside is the congestion, esp in the summer with the throngs of people on the street and hoping on and off the tour buses that stop on 8th, the noise - very noisy. I like to open my windows when the weather is decent and between the traffic and the people enjoying their drinks at BlockHead it is very loud.

I looked at a studio there in 2003, and it was either $295K or $300K, I don't remember, and I offered $275K and was turned down (very snottily) by the broker.

I explained to her that if prices were going to be THAT high, then for just 10% more I was going to buy in the Parc Vendome -- which is where I'm sitting writing this today.

And that's still how I see Worldwide Plaza -- as a B building, with a great location (though the plaza might get loud in the summer). It's a generation older than, say, the Link, but at the right price I think it would be an excellent place to live.

The West 40s (I know, I know it's on 50th, but psychologically ...) are perhaps more vibrant than the West 50s, which would be fun. I'm totally with waxlion on the noise levels though.

Once you've made the leap to a 1980s-building in the West 40s I would check out the Strand, too.

ali r.
{downtown broker, Midtown West resident}

OOPS, I lost my "plus" -- "B PLUS" building.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

I remember when a local talk show host (I forget his name, really obnoxious but the show was popular, sort of like Morton Downey, pretty sure it was on channel 9) actually showed up personally to buy a 2BR at a foreclosure auction in the rotunda.

The best advice I can give you is that there are a number of lines/apartments which are oddly shaped. If you want to buy in the building, stay away from the white elephants.

front_porch: aren't you lucky that they turned your offer down? just think of where you'd be if they were more reasonable.

not to get too off topic, but the Parc Vendome is such an interesting building -- totally out of character for it's location as it "should" be on a park facing bloc, probably on the UES. it was completed between 1929-1932, and the developer eventually went bankrupt and was jailed for failing to pay alimony. Yet another living reminder that yes, you can lose your shirt in Manhattan RE.

http://www.thecityreview.com/parkvend.html

re: Worldwide Plaza -- this is the danger of buying new construction, however cool it looks now (and I"m guessing WWPlaza with it's postmodern take on the Chrysler must have looked cool in 1985) will look dated 20 years later. I wonder how we'll be viewing the Orion 30 years from now.

oops. meant to say WWPlaza is a post modern take on NYLife building, sorry. Got my art deco confused.

Thx guys..soaking it in.

Ali, I remember those days when WWP studios and 1BRs were the cheapest condos in Manhattan below 96th st. They were priced at a discount to the market, perhaps because of location, and then by 2005 they had caught up. Just like BPC and the coops that loho realty concentrate on (not sure what area you call that - LES/FDR?).

I bought 2br at WWP 2 years ago and absolutely love it. The area has everything you could want, the staff is helpful & friendly, you don't hear a peep from your neighbors (except if they start yelling in the hallway, the private courtyard is a relaxing place to just sit and read, and the property values have gone down much less than most of Manhattan.

The negatives: Windows are hard to keep keep and poor AC in the lobby (and none in the hallways). Oh, one more thing, due to the location, you hear a lot more noise than I would like on New Years eve:) It's less of a community than I would like, but then again, this is NYC, not the burbs.

The negatives: Windows are hard to keep keep and poor AC in the lobby (and none in the hallways). Oh, one more thing, due to the location, you hear a lot more noise than I would like on New Years eve:) It's less of a community than I would like, but then again, this is NYC, not the burbs.

I agree great location. But when I hear about yelling in the hallway and poor or no air condition in the common areas I think undesirable....

I think you may have misunderstood.. Re: noise.... The building in constructed in such a way that the only noise you could hear is yelling in the hallway b/c the door is the weakest noise point. In 2 years it only happened once and it was a 2 second event. You dont hear neighbors in the hall normally unless you open the door.

As for the AC, it would be nice if the lobby was a bit cooler as I'm always hot and sweaty after walking home from work, but you won't see that except in some of the buildings going up now or in the past 5 or so years, but even those buildings are keeping the ac warmer to keep costs down. But you won't find many residential buildings with AC in the hallways. I spent about a year seeing 4-8 buildings a week when I was looking and there were only one or two that had ac in the hallways and the common charges in those buildings were higher. Maybe some of the newest buildings, but you spend more money for less square footage in those buildings.

WWP residential isn't perfect, but you have to decide what you're priorities are. I wanted location, large open space, lots of large windows, washer/dryer in the apt, a kitchen large enough for two people to cook in, a full second bath, doorman, central air (well what they call central air in NYC,) and unobstructed view of the hudson river and the beautiful sunsets make it totally worth it.

And the buildings financials, at least as of July 2007, were pretty good, much better than any of the new buildings or gut renovated buildings in this area. Now in the summer of 2009, with the economy the way it is, I don't know where the building stands in comparison.

Isn't Ogilvy & Mather moving out? Will this increase common charges for owners?

Ogilvy & Mather has moved out, leaving a little more than 1/3 (about 600,000 sq ft)of the commercial building empty (total of about 1.5 million sq ft). While I can't tell you for sure if this will effect common charges, the residential building is a Condominium while the commercial building has just been sold (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090604/FREE/906049929). The two buildings share the expense of maintaining the courtyard, but are, to the best of my understanding, financially independent.

The law firm, Craveth et al, that have about 750,000 sq ft have recently signed a lease renewal. I'm sure finding a tenant is going to be a long and hard proposition and given the state of the music industry, who knows how much of the space Universal Music currently has they will need to keep.

Guve the state of real estate in this country, nothing is a safe bet at this point, but from the perspective of a buyer, the opportunities will probably not get much better than they are now. There are small economic signs of approval and I would guess that ONLY the New York State Senate could screw things up so badly for NYC that they will get much worse. (Then again, the Senate is working their hardest to do just that..)

"yelling in the hallway b/c the door is the weakest noise point"

I always see units around where you can actually see under the doors (the gap is that big) and thing "how can people live like that? Here is a solution I used (and it's so good I don't even get menus pushed under my door!!!)

http://www.zerointernational.com/catalogpage.aspx?page=56 (look thru the whole catalogue to find what will work for you)

"The law firm, Craveth et al, that have about 750,000 sq ft" one of the most ironic RE stories ever revolves around the clearing of the gay theaters along 8th Ave to make way for this project, who did it, and what ended up happening to him.

30yrs_RE_20_in_REO, thanks for that link, I'll take a look. It might be worth it simply to stop those menus.. As for the clearing of the theaters, when you ask 'what ended up happening to him', to whom are you referring? I don't know what went on when they were planning and constructing this complex, but the city is still trying to finish off the adult stores in this city. Whether that's a good or bad thing is not a discussion for here, but I imagine that without improving this area, we never would have seen the WWP, Herst, Sheffield, Time Warner buildings or the fixing up of Columbus circle.

www.nytimes.com/1992/11/12/nyregion/suspect-is-arrested-in-fatal-stabbing-lawyer-in-bronx.html

nytimes.com/1992/11/11/nyregion/lawyer-found-slain-in-motel-in-bronx.html

www.nytimes.com/1994/06/10/nyregion/man-guilty-of-killing-wall-street-lawyer.html

and let's not forget James Colliton

cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/03/national/main1367989.shtml

www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/nyregion/03plea.html

The Adonis was fun!

30 Years...I worked in an ad agency at WWP when it first opened and the Cravath people treated us like we we second class citizens because they were big time lawyers and we were mere mortals who occasionally wore jeans to work. Never saw those stories but it sounds like they got the karma they earned.
Btw, I read on an another thread that you recently lost your partner. Please accept my sincerest sympathies. May you receive comfort from your memories and may his memory be a blessing.

Thank you lizyank.

Seems like prices are slightly down in Worldwide Plaza. However, they are still asking 1000 USD per square foot which is too high for this market (although some units were asking 1,200 USD per square foot 2 years ago). I am wondering whether purchasing something in this building around 930 USD per square foot would be a good deal?

Thoughts from anyone?