Rachel Realty and the Upper West Side

Dilapidated prewar does seem to be their niche.

It's not just a matter of one agency, though; far from it. The best pre-war buildings in the neighborhood were converted to coop many years ago, and the more recent wave of condo conversion has depleted the rental stock further. The few remaining great pre-war rentals, like the Belnord and Langham, fetch astronomical prices. If you just want something nice and clean, later construction is probably a better bet.

a small nitpick.

i don't think that the best buildings were necessarily the ones that got converted. rather the buildings that got converted received multiple improvements over the years since conversion. rentals have suffered from minimal maintenance from old time landlords.

until recently, the dilipidated places still commanded high rents. wonder to what extent a gap will start to widen.

Why not give them a plug? The few places I looked at were charming, I thought, but then I LIKE old.

http://www.rachelrealtynyc.com/index.cfm?page=home

columbiacounty: Not looking to hijack the thread, but I think most of the really great buildings were converted quite early. I would agree that the conversion order since the mid-70s has mostly reflected the circumstances and goals of various landlords rather than the inherent quality of the buildings.

The Berkley is still a great rental Co-op. Search 170 West 74th here on Street EZ. Reasonable prices doorman, prewar, well kept, and on 74th and Amsterdam. Really great place.

Look into the Severn (NE corner of Amsterdam & 72nd). Huge apts, no fee landlord. Very large apts.

"Look into the Severn (NE corner of Amsterdam & 72nd). Huge apts, no fee landlord. Very large apts"

Anyone know the correct address for this building? I found 765 Amsterdam on Google but no record on SE.

Any other recs for UWS nice prewar rental buildings?

TIA

"I'm trying to figure out these guys and the apartments they rent are all so dilapidated. Is that just a fact of the Upper West Side? I think it is kind of depressing, I've lived downtown for many years."

Check the ownership on ACRIS: they may be renting a lot of units for one landlord, who is being consistent with their philosophy of not going the "luxury" route across all their properties. I know it certainly used to be that way with Sol Goldman.