the rosy life and future of harlem -- nyt

joedavis, as you know, I strongly believe in Harlem's future. Somebody told me last week that the Futtermans didn't see this coming-like most of developers-but the fact that they were so invested in south harlem meant they really thought this was "the" neighborhood to buy into. I think they were right about that, but the bubble bursted in their faces. The church that makes half of 5th on the park is supposed to collect land lease from the condo. It is in their interest that the project works, so probably they are somehow negotiating with Futterman. I met him briefly (his son was showing an apt and he sat with me while I was waiting), saw the condos, and they are about finished. Some have the most spectacular views of Manhattan ever. They are extremely overpriced, I think. Time will tell.

It was the son and his arrogance (at the time) who turned me off of buying into 5th on the Park back in early 07. And I'm very glad he did. As long as these developers ignore the realities of the existing neighborhood and think they can just transplant a super luxury project in the middle of it and make it a success, they will fail. It just isn't that easy. I don't expect them ever to give away the apartments, but they need to bring the prices back to earth to have any hope of making it work in the near future.

mimi, it was an ill-conceived project from the start. harlem took off initially as a place for families who were looking for more space, some adventuresome types who had been priced out elsewhere, and then the kalahari captured a portion of the younger market looking for reasonable prices and reasonable sizes.

after their success at the lenox, this developer decided to roll the dice and go for broke, putting up a huge development that aimed to compete with the FiDi-type developments looking for the younger buyer, with lavish amenities, bells and whistles, and extremely high prices to match, just about as high as some of the downtown properties. This wouldn't make it today downtown, and who the hell knows what's going to happen to it up here. Their land costs were probably quite reasonable, but that's the only thing i can think they have going for them. i'm predicting rental. i looked at this property the week they opened the sales office, and wondered what they possibly could have been thinking.