Truffles Tribeca

This seems a bit out of way, no?

One of the oddest marketing plans out there.

I was just chatting with the guys behind this -- they're going more public in January. Three beds will be "competitive" with the Verdesian -- which I would guess puts them in the $8000-$8500 range. Are you looking for that, or something smaller?

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Front Porch ... what about 101 Warren? These are SO expensive!

what's the appropriate $ / sq ft for a rental in a new development in this part of nyc? is 40 / sqft too much?

It is a little high, but the location is very prime.
Just the timing is not quite right. A year ago would have been perfect.

Pricing seems to be coming down on the 101 Warren rentals -- it looks like there's an inventory buildup in that corner of the world. I show 34 units, with a price range of $6,500 to $14,500 for two-beds.

As far as price, $40 psf will get you into some buildings but not others. It will get you into the Verdesian but not 200 Chambers, so that starts to be a consumer decision about where you most want to live and what your money's worth to you.

I think the question of what's "appropriate" to pay depends almost more on your circumstances than on inventory. Is it "appropriate" to pay $1,000 for a suit? Well, that depends on your job, really. Similarly, I think it's okay to pay whatever you want for a rental as long as you're not spending more than 25% of your income.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

I'd pay top dollar to live in a luxury rental downtown if only the building would prohibit post-frat shares stuffed with 6 analysts, e.g., 88 Leonard.... I can see it now, beer stains on the billiard tables, cigarette burns on the opium couch, used condoms stuck between the chesterfield's cushions, jenna jameson's apartment in the valley trilogy playing in the screening room....

It's not like it's the Playboy Suite at the Palms casino in Vegas. Doubt those kind of antics will be going on anywhere except an NYU condo dorm.

I see 200 Chambers as being a good long term investment. Very established Asian base so far, and convenient to public transportation, and shopping. Very close to all the destination daily stores, Whole Foods, B-B & B, etc. But Truffles is a little far from shopping and transportation. Would have done better as a condo (not in these immediate times, but long term). Can see rental people not so excited on the privacy aspect.

Nointerest, agree completely that truffles would have done better as a condo...especially if they had priced a little bit less than superior ink. Location is great, especially if you work in the FiDi...just jump in a cab down the west side hway. And it would have been even better if they had offered parking. Was very excited about it (just loved the playful dig about Brokers with the Albee quote) until I realized it was going to be a rental building. 200 Chambers is better w/r/t proximity to transportation, but you must admit that looks like an ugly office building. Pure rental buildings ARE a lot like NYU dorms. I think the high price point will help deter a certain number of those types of residents, but the downside is that artsy, introspective types (e.g., the sort who watch polanski trilogies and contemplate existence on the opium couch) without family money will be priced out as well. I concede that my example was indeed satirical and quite a bit hyperbolic, but I don't know how the building, as a pure rental building , is going to live up to its admittedly awesome image.

loftparade, your point is quite accurte. Pure rental buildings, even the "luxury" ones, are really mediocre because many of them are part of the 80/20 programs, thus giving out apartments to poor people at a major discount while many others are simply priced out. I have a lot of friends who live in these buildings, and the people in the 80/20 program cause a lot of trouble and are disrespectful of their neighbors.

Why live in the Verdesian if it doesn't overlook the Hudson? Wouldn't the Solaire sister building be better? I think many of the batter park buildings if they only have a "internal" view are going to be dreary.

Riverhouse is the only building in battery park city that's noteworthy. Everything else is mediocre; they all look the same. It's sad how low the quality of architecture in NYC is.

89 Murray is also in the 101 Warren building, must be nice there.

The units in the Verdesian that do overlook the Hudson are very pretty, and the building's service is so good that even those units that look at the back over those little vest-pocket parks . . .well, they're a nice restful change if you've been shlepping around Midtown all day. Obviously there's construction going on down there, so it's not totally idyllic, but some clients who see it after Chelsea are just like, "wow, this is serene."

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Solaire vs Verdesian?

Those two buildings don't discount, but the other ones in north Battery Park ... abundant extra supply even for this time of year. Definite discounts available.

gleeclub, 89 murray is not nice. It's given out half of its apartments to poor people, as part of the city's overly generous liberal program of handing out luxury apartments to those who don't deserve it.

Verdesian stinks. Lousy location.

The city is now a construction warzone. Very few places worth living in.

Where do you live rufus? If you are so anti-New York, then why are you constantly blogging on a website about New York?

Do you live in Chicago? I have been a couple of times, but don't like it. Very Midwest and the accents are really bad there.

I live in upper west side.

I don't think Chicago's accents are any worse than new york accents.

Solaire and Verdesian are run by the same people, so I've generally found it's more a question of what units are available than anything else. If I had to make a distinction, I'd say some people like the finishes in the Solaire better, but they like the fact that the Verdesian is newer.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

front_porch, what do you think of the millennium and ritz carlton condos in battery park city? How do you compare them to other downtown condos?

They're both competing against the Visionaire -- the Southern end of BPC has poor subway access, so it tends to sell itself as "views and quiet" -- versus the Northern end of BPC, which is really hitting hard on the "Tribeca-adjacent" note.

That said, I haven't been in either one, and so it's hard to address their pros and cons. I was just down at Riverhouse looking at a multi-bedroom unit -- and that brought home to me that even more than many apartments, you can't really value "view units" on paper.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

open yet?

I got an email about this 3 weeks ago and also see they are doing keyword buying on Google. But, I drove buy, what a disaster. They said they were opening in January, the location looks like the developer or construction company went bankrupt. Wow. Maybe it'll be done for the summer?

Yes, you've seen this marketing campaign. This is called the developer's "crazy" marketing strategy, and when the site and the building are all losers, try to attract tenants by being crazy. It may work.

Hmm, guess not

Anyone know what's going on with this building? I've left multiple messages on their machine (always get that stupid "all our agents are currently in the field" recording) and no one gets back to me. Truly baffles me why they'd blow a wad of money putting together their "crazy" marketing strategy and then not call people back. Unless Swine is on to something and the developer or construction company has in fact gone bankrupt.

I think they are not starting to rent for real. Timing is crappy ... February?? Not to mention the rental market can't be that robust.

A bunch went on the market a couple of days ago. No floorplans and only outside pictures. I would be interested to hear firsthand accounts.

i called and left a message about renting an apt here back in Nov. someone just called me back last week-i laughed, a lot

I went there and can now confirm that this place is horrendous. By the way, the blonde guy at the leasing office is a complete dbag.

Loftparade~

Can you describe the interior of the Truffles building? I am beyond disgruntled living in the Crest Lofts at 67 Wall Street. I just moved here from LA--had a 1200 sq ft loft and my neighbors were adults. I have traded that space for an expensive dormitory where most of my neighbors are still in college!! I don't want to hear them or see them but because there's a game room with a ping pong and foos ball table down the hall, it's frat night every night! So, I am looking for a new place ASAP!

They made the rentals so easy to do that they renting out like hot cakes, owner paying fee and the units priced reasonably, for rent that is.

sammimendenhall, well, it's safe to say that not even the 2brs are going to clock in at anything near the size of your LA pad. As for the interior and the, how shall I say, ambiance, in all fairness, the place has yet to be inhabited (think they expect the first building to open in April) but if the other high end Tribeca rentals are any indication, it should pretty much comport with your description of 67 Wall, though I suspect that most of the tenants will not actually be in college and are more prone to be post-college types that still act like they're in college. Keep in mind because there are around 300 units (and I suspect there will be a lot of college style sharing and futon surfers), the amenity spaces (the big selling point as far as the developer is concerned) won't turn out to be that huge after all...and of course there's a going to be pool table and a Wii...just like at any respectable frat house. And that's their target demographic given ads like this....

http://curbed.com/archives/2009/02/27/curbedwire_truffles_tribeca_unleashes_the_hot_chicks_voice_name_game_continues.php

I'm curioius whether anyone walked through yesterday. I stopped by but they wanted a waiver and a wait for the walk through so I kept going. It seemed like they had a lot of interest but it also seemed like they have a long way to go. Any firsthand opinions?

I took a friend by this place who's looking to rent in Tribeca. Have to say the river views are impressive. But the 2 bedrooms are very TIGHT. Can't have a lot of furniture if you're moving here. To be honest the game room/lounge/Prive thing looked pretty cool. I think they're charging $800 annual dues so maybe that'll keep the frat boys at the Irish pub instead...However the employees in the sales office are beyond terrible; they have 2007 arrogance.

i would not trust this developer!

the sales staff at this place don't realize that arrogance is not a good selling style.

curbed is reporting they are 50% rented.

walked by today
wasn't a fan of the grey grey grey
or the tenement style of looking at your neighbors
especially with the floor to ceiling windows

saw some of the agents in suits ... on a weekend, you shouldn't be wearing a suit

this building has a marketing plan for douches

Are there really THAT many households making at least $350,000/year?

you don't need $350,000 to live there.

This too is such a fringe area. If you are going to live so far to the highway, you need to be rich to have a limo pick you up all the time. Otherwise, the walk isn't worth it. And the walk to a grocery store, etc.

4 blocks to the subway and no more than 7 to the nearest supermarket. Close to the park and most of tribeca. The neighborhood has appeal. The building, not so much.

Check out our thoughts on Truffles here:

http://www.downtownyblog.com/2009/06/truffles-tribeca.html

It's a cool building and very unique for that area - not a lot of smaller new construction apartments in Tribeca. You pay through the nose for it though :)

Why the HELL are rents so high in this building?

3,000 for a studio?

Rents were just raised even higher.
Building and apartments arenice but still feels like a construction zone.
Although it's only an 8 minute walk down Greenwich St to the heart of Tribeca, the location still feels remote (far from subway, grocery store, gym, can be difficult to get a taxi, surrounding streets are desolate, near Canal St / entrance to Holland tunnel - note the Truffles website lists the Franklin St. 1 as the closest subway, but in fact it's the Canal St 1 - they just don't want you to walk on Canal).

I have to say I just don't "get" this building. The entire vibe, from the walled-in barren courtyard to the all-gray, all-industrial everything is somewhere between a converted self-storage unit and a prison. I tend to like industrial generally, but neither the design nor the workmanship seems well executed to me. I can't imagine having (cheap) construction floodlights as my light fixtures or walking through a hallway with self-storage-unit-style windows across from the apartment doors and not a straight paint line in sight. The entire design aesthetic, if you can call it that, is just bizarre. If people think this is cool, the joke's on them. The people we know there are moving. Thank goodness.

The building is terrible but the river view ph units are quite nice. Considered one a month ago while i am waiting for my very close by condo to finish up and begin closings. After i looked at the unit i decided that my only involvement in the building will be with the garage. Great garage.

Agree with lad

yeah, this place is almost like a college dorm, where "kids" walk around in sweat pants and pretend to be so important. and the location is so far out of the way from any amenities that it becomes almost like a prison. i will say, however, that the staff is generally great. and the roof deck and gym can't be beat. but i'd never pay the prices they are asking for now.

Anyone who signs on to live here deserves what they get. This place is so pretentious (see marketing campaign) and so lacking in meaningful in-apt amenities (see the floor plans). Went to see a 2 bdr on the second floor and the previous tenant had been evicted for smoking. Good luck getting rid of the smell.

The apt was so close to the West Side Highway I could roll down the windows of a taxi from the LR. Seriously if you want to be in TriBeCa but cant afford most prices, you really have to be willing to give up alot to settle in here and yes, it's a big giant dorm - oh and NO PETS.