Over the recent years, Harlem has quietly become one of Manhattan's hottest neighborhoods. Rent prices for Harlem apartments have gone up over the last year as home hunters found an abundance of inventory going for relatively reasonable rates, especially during the economic crisis when good values were hard to come by.
A report by the real estate group MNS found that average rent prices in Harlem went up 9.4 percent from $2,191 last year to $2,397 in January, the biggest increase in Manhattan. In 2002, the average rent was $1,200, according to the nonprofit Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development.
Harlem's popularity is furthered by an influx of new stores and restaurants as well as its uniqueness, community spirit and long history. The new additions to the area in the past few years include Whole Foods, Red Rooster restaurant, '50s themed restaurant Harlem Shake and brasserie The Cecil.
The Standard might sell for a lot
The Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking district could sell for more than $400 million, or around $1.2 million per room -- the highest price for a hotel since the financial crisis struck in 2008. A group led by Steve Kantor is in talks, along with other bidders, to buy the 18-story hotel.
The hotel was developed and managed by hotelier Andre Balazs's company. Balazs sold his majority stake in the Standard Hotel brand last year, putting the property on the market.
Dune Real Estate Partners and Greenfield Partners stand to bank quite a bit from the sale of 848 Washington Street between West 12th and 13th streets, with about $240 million invested into the property, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Making news in Florida is Al Capone's gangster mansion in Miami Beach - which is back on the market with an asking price of almost $8.5 million. The sprawling, waterfront compound is where notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone died after being released from Alcatraz and is said to have plotted the St. Valentine's Day massacre in 1929.
The 10,000-square-foot baby blue mansion sits on exclusive Palm Island, sandwiched in Biscayne Bay between downtown Miami's skyscrapers and South Beach's hotel district.
The current owner, a Florida company managed by New York accountant Anthony Panebianco, purchased the home barely six months ago for $7.4 million, according to Miami-Dade property records.
The mansion was built in 1922 by Clarence Busch, a member of the Anheuser-Busch brewing family. Capone, who made a vast fortune importing and selling liquor during prohibition, bought it in 1928 for $40,000 after being chased out of Chicago and later Los Angeles.
This is it for today, dear readers. I am available to answer your questions and provide you with more information on New York City, Miami and U.S. real estate.
o Riccardo Ravasini is a real estate maven and an active agent in New York and Miami. He grew up in Italy where he studied business and finance at Bocconi University in Milan before moving to the U.S. He enjoys assisting people in the search for the perfect rental apartment as well as international buyers looking for smart investment properties. Contact him at +1-917-214-2509 or rava@ravarealty.com.
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