Sale at 108 West 138th Street #4B

I'm a huge advocate of upper Manhattan but this building seems charmless. Doesn't appeal to me but I have a bis towards pre-war.
The area is nice, City College has already stimulated amenities and the 1 line is right there - so you're minutes from Columbia or the lower 100s where there is much development.
As far as timeframe, as you can see from above, it's going on right now. I'm up on 157th and we've seen a steady uptick in development so I can only imagine it will move faster in the area you're referencing.

This is a better neighborhood than the other apartment in East Harlem you were posting about earlier. That said, there are a number of housing projects that support mini gangs called crews in this area. If you are going to consider Central Harlem much above 125th street, I would recommend the area around 145th street and Fredrick Douglas Blvd. (8th Avenue)- buildings such as The Langston (68 Bradhurst), The Hamilton (330 West 145th St) and a few other buildings near there. You have Pathmark over there (admittedly this is a poorly run supermarket), Duane Reade and New York Sports Club and you are near the A,C,B,D express and local train lines. A friend of mine was looking at a coop around 140th and Lenox and she reconsidered after walking the neighborhood. While pricing doesn't seem out of line- it doesn't have the same ease of development as other sections of Harlem- between the housing projects and subway access. I would recommend you subscribe (free) to everyblock.com for true local updates on a neighborhood as well as read DNAInfo.com- which has more in-depth local neighborhood reporting than the large newspapers. I am personally very bullish on the Hamilton Heights section of Harlem- but I don't want to take over your thread on the topic.

eliz, you are referring to Hamilton Heights (City College, the 1 line, and the amenities you mentioned). This property is in Central Harlem. The neighborhood changes dramatically on the eastern end of Harlem. As I mentioned I am very bullish on Hamilton Heights (though admittedly biased) but not upper central harlem.

Thanks semerun...please do keep posting.

I live in the lower hundreds on Broadway, so I already read DNA Info. Didn't know about everyblock though.

indeed you are right semerun. :) sorry!

sorry Home_Body other than comment on the building I know almost nothing about this area..

No worries eliz.

Semerun...what's your 5-10yr outlook on the area around 135th?

This is a more complicated question than you probably intended as the area around 135th Street can encompass three different neighborhoods- depending where on 135th St. There is the northern section of Central Harlem, but further west is Hamilton Heights on the north side and Manhattanville on the south side. As Columbia marches northward on their campus expansion it will mostly include buildings from 125th st-134th st. and they will be mostly West of Broadway. There won't be many residential opportunities in Manhattanville/West Harlem since Columbia will dominate much of the West of Broadway section and Housing projects will be East of Broadway. There are some co-ops and I think a couple of small condo's nearby there- and will obviously be effected by the Columbia expansion. As I mentioned previously, I am very bullish on Hamilton Heights which starts on the north side of 135th street. Since there will be a lack of housing opportunities in the Manhattanville/West Harlem area- it will push a lot of demand into Hamilton Heights- and we are already starting to see the effects, although purchase prices are still cheap- with rents trending strongly upward in the last couple of years. It's not just Columbia driving this change- but also the expansion of City College in the upper 130's as well as a lot of other factors. Once you go East of the City College campus area, the neighborhood changes- it becomes Central Harlem, but the character of the neighborhood changes as well. Some blocks in the area are amazing, some are horrible. Much of the 5-10 year progress will depend on both the macroeconomic outlook combined with how well the 32nd Precinct (Northern Central Harlem) does. When I look at crime stats of the 30th Precinct (Hamilton Heights) and the 26th Precinct (Manhattanville/West Harlem)- the 32rd is not looking great even though crime is down quite a bit for the year. In northern Central Harlem you don't have much in the way of economic drivers(there is the Hospital, but I would prefer to steer clear of that one if I had an emergency) - but further west you have 2 major college campus expansions.

i'd wait for sth under 125th close to morningside park becomes available. that's a much nicer area imho.

Well received.

Thanks!