Maison East

isn't this the one hit by that pro-baseball player couple of months ago?
or very close to it

??? Pro Baseball Player?

No that one was on 72nd and York

Yes we have seen it. It is a nice building but taxes are really high, there are no amnenities and it is overpriced. They are not willing to negotiate either

jenlee, you are sadly mistaken. The building is very well priced and all the high floor 3 bedrooms are sold out except 1. The 4 Br's are the best priced on the UESat $1300 sq.ft. They just commited to adding a children's playroom and there is a gym on the ground floor with a private entrence. They are not negotiable, because they dont need to be. They have sold 40 apartments since 1/1. You want negotiable, check out 1474 third ave. They are giving a 5% discount until March 1st because they only have sold 3 apartments in 2 months. Very nice building and ps6, but more expensive per sq. ft. than 1438.

THe ball player was Cory Lidle and it was 525 East 72nd that hit hit.

Jenlee is correct with respect tot he taxes. There is no tax abatement, since this is not new construction but rental conversion. The units, although a relative bargain for the area, will probably not have much in the way of price appreciation.

With all due respect, your last sentence doesn't make sense to me. Wouldn't something that is a "relative bargain" have more chance for price appreciation? You mean if you overpay for something, you should make more money off of it? I am confused.

#8 is just spewing the regular mumbo jumbo, he doesn't even understand the words he uses.

#9 apologies for the confusion (#10 are you an adult?). What I meant was that on a per sq. foot basis, the units are priced lower than comparable units in the area. However, on a square foot basis, the taxes are higher than comparable units in the area. Thus, while the price is a relative bargain (i.e., relative to the price of comparable units in the area), the monthlies are not such a bargain. The net result may be a limit on the potential price appreciation.

Thank you for the clarification. That is valid point. My thought though is that if you are not subject to AMT you can deduct the higher than average taxes, reducing the bite by a significant margin. Since only 1MM of mortgage is deductible, I would rather have a lower priced place with slightly higher taxes once I max out on the deductible mortgage amount. This way I will have less in non-deductible outstanding mortgage on a 2MM purchase and slightly more in deductible taxes. Just a different angle.
Plus the apartment we are looking at is just so much nicer than anything else we have seen for the same money. Decisions Decisions.

#12, which one are you looking at? After looking for almost a year, my wife and I bought a 3br in the E line. It is easily the best deal out there.

One of the lower floor E line 3Br's. (we really are not view people) I would assume you bought on the upper floors.
I agree, we have also not seen anything nicer than this for the money. We'll probably do it this weekend. I'll report back.

i looked at 4br on 24th floor. very good value IMHO

Yes, the 4 Br's are amazing but out of our price range. I couldn't beleive they were only $1300 sq ft. I beleive all that have been realeased are now sold.

Anyone who knows anything about this building, please help.
I am going back this weekend to look at a huge 3 bedrooom in this building, that appears to be larger that the almost 1800 sq ft that it is listed at. It is less than 2 million dollars.
What am I missing? WHy does this seem to goog to be true? The only thing I can think of it that it is on a low floor. Any wisdom would be so appreciated!!!!

I think the apt are a very good deal, not missing anything

The taxes seems a bit high to me and loading and un-loading your car may be a bit tough on 3rd ave becasue there is no building garage. Other than that, best deal in the city right now and that's why we bought.

there are plenty of garages in that neiborhood

We just bought in this building. I did hours upon hours due dillegence about the building, sponsor, architect, financials, etc etc etc because I thought the prices were too good to be true for what was being offered. Concluded that the prices are so good because the building was bought really well 1.5 years ago by the sponsor. The price of 85 million, plus another 15 million for renovation is much less than it would cost to "build" this project out of the ground today. I calculated that all the properties will sell for about 145,000,000 upon conclusion in 2008. The brokers get 4.5% and another .5% for marketing. Leaving 38,000,000 of profit. So if they used 15M of their own money and pay 18 M in interset over 2.5 years, the sponsor will make 20M of net profit on a 15M investment in 3 years or 33% annualized. It would thus make sesne to price them really well to move them as quickly as possible. Except for the purchase price and renovation costs, which have been published, the other numbers are just my best estimates -- but I can't see how they can bee too far off. So between this calculation and not being able to come up with any downsides to the building or apartment, we plunked down our deposit. Can't wait to move in.

Wow, you did you homework.

#21, thank you SO much. Very helpful. I guess if the sponsor has less upfront costs, they can pass (some of) that savings off to the purchasers which will in turn allow the apartments to sell more quickly. I will let you know if you can expect me to be a neighbor. It is either this or re-up the lease.

linden 78 looks very interesting to similear metrics, I think better location(but everyone thinks diferently)

http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=945795
Just checked it out. This is the most comprable apartment I could find. About the same size, though 1/2 less bathroom and only one exposure facing north instead of east and west. It is also $350,000 more. Maison East is in PS6, which I think will seal the deal for us.
I appreciate the heads up though.

I think L78 is in a good school district as well. 200WEA is in an equivelnt school district to.

you mean too not to right?

The one beds are not any great deal. a bit expensive actually.

Nobody every said the 1 br's were a good deal. But the 2Br's and up in this building are very good deals. When you take everything it offers into consideration, I don't beleive anything new development come close right now. Plus if you are like us and can't afford private school after you buy your apartment, this building is a total gem.

The 2 and 3 beds have sold so fast in this building and the 1 beds just avg. I wouldn't be surprised if they offer less of them as originally planned and just make more 2, 3 and 4 bed appts. I hope that guy (gal?) reports back if they buy the 3 bed or not.

and neighborhood was spelled wrong by the garage comment by number 20

We just bought a 3 BR! Yeah us!!
Thank you for all the great input on this thread! It was helpful!!

I am really stoked about my purchase. ANyone interested in staring a Yahoo users group?

#33, I would be interested. What did you buy? What do you see as the most helpful benefit of the Yahoo group?

I would also be interested in a Yahoo group.

If anyone is interested in selling his 2BR or perhaps 3BR E-line apt, please let us know. We didn't expect them to go so fast and missed the one we wanted (mid-floor/hi-floor)!
THANKS!

There is a 4Br E line still available which is not that much bigger than the 3Br E line we bought. (1990 vs. 1650 sq ft)

thanks j- but a lot over $2m right? We can't pay that much. Thanks though.

Must be high floor too

I mean the 4BR must be a high floor

yes, the 4Br is on the 30th floor and we can't afford it either. It is SO gorgeous though.
We bought one of the three 3br E lines with the larger balcony. (23E,25E,27E) I wish you luck on getting someone to give theirs up. There are 9 other E line 3br's folks and I believe 6 or 7 2br E's to try to make a deal with. I can't believe they sold out so quickly!
Did you not like the B line?

Is there going to be a Yahoo users group formed? Id be interested. I snagged a 3br.

I will ask my tech person to set one up today. I can't do anything on a computer except blog and get email.

check out, on-site office at 420 East 64th Street, 1300 sq. ft Renovated 2Bedroom/2 Baths/doorman/garage/gym/$1,200,000...Yay!

#44, I think you got the wrong board

#36, there are still some nice 2 BR and 3BR layouts left.

http://www.maisoneast.com/residences.asp

Tech person didn't know how to set one up. (I thought she knew everything about computers)
Lets just post stuff here for the meantime. Found out today that the building is 50% sold. Very significant since most lenders look for this threshold.

who wants to live in a burning morgue and jump out of the 24 th floor when a
plane crashes in. why do they still build these uncharming huge high rise cheesy buildings. what if a fire?? think these condos are disgusting. human beings are not birds???

This building is positioned perfectly to the west of a similar sized buildings right across third as well as a block north and two blocks south. A stunt pilot with a helicopter couldn't crash into this building.

#48, wtf? Do you live and work on the first floor of a walk up? Do you commute to work in an armored Popemobile or are you blogging from Nebraska?

This is a boring building, I was very dissapointed. yucky

#51- Learn how to spell "disappointed" and then maybe someone will give a sh*t about your opinion.

I am giving a s**t about 51. The building is boring, very near the 1 dollar hot dog place

OH MY GOD! Now THAT validates it. The building is boring because you can get a dirty water dog two blocks away. I am calling right now to get my depost back. An absolute outrage.

Yes, REALLY boring!!
Gym in the building: boring, children's playroom: yawn, PS6 two blocks away: snooze, sports bar on the ground floor: ZZZZZZZZ, 4 blocks from the movie theaters and retail on 86th st: whatever, 4 blocks from Central Park: been there done that, view of the entire city from my south facing balcony......

I am glad someone else piped up about this. I found the building to be a typical insipid Upper Eastside condo that fronts a major avenue and has a sports bar at its base. Not exactly the best environment to raise kids.

Yes, you know how often the kids are up at 11pm in those sports bars. Just last week my 2 year old called me from The Press Box during a Manchseter U match and said; "Hey Dad, Get your ass down here. We're watching football and swiggin Guiness. Some really sweet honeys too!"

Now that Brownstone a half a block away, THATS the place to raise children. I should be arrested for buying in this building.
Fast-foward 30 years, my two children in therapy complaining about the environment I subjected them to. I just suck.

My kids got into Dalton because we live in a walk-up.

How dare someone criticize this building. There are never any sports events during the day on a Saturday or Sunday when the kids are home. No, no one ever goes to a bar to watch a basketball game on a Saturday afternoon or a Football game on a Sunday afternoon. Well, if they do they only drink tea and whisper. Also there are no buildings in the Upper Eastside that are on avenues, but have entrances that are on side streets. Well, by no, I mean virtually "no," since there are 100s. There are no jerks that will be living in this building. Well, poster #57 maybe a jerk, but I am sure that she is a nice one.

UES and all the uptight people there rock. BTW the best specimens live in the co-ops out there

We have a weekend house. Those nutty hooligans watching degenerate sporting events on Saturdays and Sundays don't apply to us. If we are ever in city on the weekends, we will be sure to cross on the other side of the street though not to risk the children getting tackled by an excited fan and forcefed buffalo wings.

I like #57s kid-prefers guiness to bud

36, there is one 1500+ sq ft e-line 2br 2.5 br left. it has a huge eat in kitchen and a huge terrace. you could even re-configure it into a 3 br if you turn the 200 sq ft eat in kitchen into a 3rd bedroom.

I dont know I am still worried about potential resale. The px is good but there are negs. And we all knoe about the downside of Douglas Elliman associated bldgs.

Does anyone know when the first apartments will be completed? I hoping to be able to move in July. As of last week they haven't begun renovations on our apartment.

The downside of Douglas Elliman associated buildings? What does that mean??

Move in dates for the first wave of people is sceduled for the end of June. I think you can call up and find out the schedule. I would suggest if you need to move in by a particular date, call them every week to get put towards the top.

65, what do you think the negatives are and why are you worried about re-sale? The DE broker working with us (stacy) has been really good. All of her answers have always checked out.
I think the only negative is the exterior of the building is not great looking -- but we are going to live on the inside, not the outside ;-)

i have now bought two new apartments by Douglas Elliman brokers and have nothing but good things to say about both. I am sure they have bad apples just like all NYC brokers though.

I like the building a lot; and we looked at a mid-floor 3BR. There are some concerns, as we currently live across the street on the 14th floor of Le Trianon. Thankfully, here our master BR is on the courtyard, and not on Third Avenue. Yes, Mad River is LOUD 5 nights a week (street noise, screaming girls, plenty of drunk shouting when the bar closes and they all spill on to the street, or in the summer when they're all on the street smoking.) That, coupled with the regular noice of the Ave. from trucks & sirens - means it's best to make sure you don't have a bedroom on the Avenue side. But we've watched the current Masion renovation from our living room - and they're working hard to bring that building up to par. As a rental, there were many "dorm" type situations, and we witnessed a terribly disturbing suicide from the South side of that building last fall...with Police, EMT crews, etc. all climbing to the top of the Sloan Kettering Thrift Shop building next door to deal with the very visable body. As a condo - we're sure it won't have the just-out-of-college party life that it was known for, and that's why we're considering a hop across the street. It certainly has better financials than Le Trianon! Although the gym here is free and the Children's Play Room is excellent for our twin boys. Our other concern is parking. We have two vehicles in a garage over on 83rd between 1st & 2nd because the garages closer were all full, and several wouldn't take SUV's. Moving to Maison won't solve our car problem, but it will be beautiful when it's done, that's for sure. We're still looking at other buildings, too.

Thank you JG. Excellent and very helpful information. We are looking at a low floor 3br ourselves. We will most likley take the plunge as we can't find anything that comes close for the money. (even though we wish there was a courtyard or something) And most importanly, we will avoid three of the most hated Manhattan exercises; co-op board review, renovation and private school interviews.

Hi, does anyone know if they have sold any 1 brs there, or are starting to negotiate on those? I can understand why the family-sized 2, 3, and 4 brs command a premium based on ps6, but the 1 brs seem overpriced.

they have sold a few, but certainly not as many as the 2,3 and 4. Totally agree with you on the value of the 1 beds though not sure if they will negotiate since they are selling everything else so quickly. They may just start combining the 1 beds with other apartments that come available to offer more 2+ beds.

Building update: 4 beds are sold out and they are almost 60% sold. When we bought in early Jan., we were number 6. That was about 50 apartments ago.

has anyone bought one of the C line 2 bedrooms?

This is the best building ever!

#36 what's yur e-mail address? Let's talk.

Apartment 22B (1690 3br) just went for $2,305,000 over the weekend.

Does anyone know when occupancy is expected? They say June but is that really true???

Hi, in response to #78, my email is: nycAptHunt@yahoo.com.

Also, why does #65 make the comment about Douglas Elliman buildings?

Last, a question for #64 - does that EIK face a wall or a courtyard...? We heard it didn't have a nice view - that's 9E, right?
Thanks!

I am surprised why people are going crazy over 1980s built crap with new appliances. Even the tax authorities do not recognize this as new cons (no abatement). I think the sales agent has created 60 of these 80 odd posts

First move ins are indeed late June. My friend is having a baby in June and they are working like crazy to get him in by then (he calls once a week to make sure).
9E has west and east views. It does not have the south view as 10E and up have, but it is also much bigger than the upper floor E line two bedrooms. 11E is the first aprtment to clear the building to the west. 9E does face it to the west, but it is not obnoxiously close and would probably get decent light. It wouldn't be too hard to reconfigure the kitchen and make this a 3 beedroom. See attached: http://www.maisoneast.com/upload/9%20E.pdf
My favorite thing about the apartment though is that it has the largest single balcony in the entire building. The only thing that stinks is it is off the two bedrooms, not the living room.
The view to the east is fine, but not spectacular. You wont find anything this size for the money though. (can you tell i did my due dillegence?)

#36 what line are you interested in buying?

Says E Line.

they willing to pay a 25% premium?

We just bought an E line...definitely the best building EVER!!!

Certainly not the best building ever, just a very good deal for most apartments. We bought a high floor D and are very psyched. Lets not get carried away.

I bought on the B line and we're very excited. Any purchasers with kids? Any news on the playroom?

The feedback from Stacy is that SO many families or pregnant couples bought. We have a 4 year old and a two year old ourselves. Playroom is a definite and has been confirmed by mgmt.

where are they putting the playroom?

To quoate what was posted on another thread: "This page is full of brokers. Maison East is an awful rental conversion and blasphemy to the UES, along with the New Yorker. Live somewhere real, like the Chatham."

#92, that is quite a rude post to most of the people on this thread who are purchasers in the building. Why even write something if you haven't purchased in this building and have no desire to do so.

Learn how to spell quote and maybe somebody will listen to you.
I apologize for only having 2MM to spend on a 3BR for my family and not being able to afford the same apartment in the Chatham for 1MM more.

Hi, #86 - I was asking about E line apt. 25% premium too high for us. Willing to discuss though, depending on the floor you're on, etc. I'm at: nycapthunt@yahoo.com.
Thanks!

18e just came to market. I say its gone by Sunday.

18e sold this afternoon!

told ya. This building's value has certainly been validated by the fact that sales are so brisk. Also has a great mention in yesterday's NY Post.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03082007/realestate/the_eastern_block_realestate_katherine_dykstra.htm?page=0

Why is Maison East only advertising 1 Bedrooms in their NY Times ad today?

#79, how would you know what 22B sold for? It was listed at $2,185,000 not $2,305,000.
#47 and #75, the building is 31% sold (39 units) as of March 5, not 50% or 60%.
#73, the sponsor is scaling back renovations on the one-bedrooms. Expect discounts.

#100, what do you mean by scaling back renovations? Not the same furnishings (appliances, etc..) or fewer 1 bedrooms available?