New Condos in Lower Manhattan

One of the things that accompanies a neighborhood renaissance like we’ve seen over the past few years in lower Manhattan is the influx of new condos and condo conversions. Buildings that were once full of commercial tenants (so many of whom left after 9/11) are now being converted into residential housing.

Here's 75 Wall:


And here's 15 William Street, otherwise (and borderline inappropriately) known as the William Beaver House:

A quote from the New York real estate gossip blog Curbed puts it best:

"The [William Beaver House] sales office, slated to open November 20, will serve up apartments from $890,000 for a one-bedroom to $2.5 million for the penthouse with terrace, which if you're going to be serious about this whole impress-your-junior-Goldman colleagues thing, is really the only way to go."

What a flawless way to put it.

It’s almost laughable to see so much new building and so many conversions down here. And I'm not even counting all of the new buildings going up west of here in Battery Park City. It seems like every third building is doing a conversion. And of course, this being the Wall Street area and all, these conversions are all going high-end, usually with trendy (and deliberately poorly-lit) lobbies like this:

This neighborhood used to have fairly reasonable rents at least for Manhattan. But even the more affordable buildings down here (for example, rents at 2 Gold Street are up some 30-35% from when the building first opened to tenants back in 2005) are quickly catching up to the rest of the city.

Another example of what I’d call the wrong kind of gentrification.

Rats in New York City

This probably isn't the kind of rat you were thinking about is it?


Nope--these are union rats. This downtown building is employing non-union workers to do construction. The union stopped by with Mr. Rat to let the building managment know that they don't exactly appreciate it.

This rat seems to appear all over Manhattan as the mascot of electrical workers, sheet metal workers, carpenters, and various other construction unions.

I've always wondered if the various unions share a rat or maybe every union gets their own?

The Downtown Manhattan Renaissance

Manhattan's financial district experienced a radical transformation after September 11, 2001.

This used to be a "business hours-only" neighborhood. Back in the mid-1990s when I first started working down here, the area became creepy and deserted after around 7-8pm. Literally NOBODY was on the streets, and none of the stores or restaurants stayed open past 6 or 7. It was a breakfast and lunch (and maybe happy hour) scene only.

After 9/11, a ton of businesses moved out of the area, and many of the office buildings converted into residential apartments and condos. Rents in the neighborhood were still somewhat affordable, at least compared to the rest of Manhattan. They're not quite so affordable now, unfortunately.

Over the next few years, the residential population here began to reach critical mass. Residential conveniences which were previously lacking in the neighborhood began to appear: grocery stores, nighttime restaurants, cafes, etc.

Below is a photo of the Jubilee market, one of two grocery stores in the vicinity. For a New York City grocery store (an admittedly low standard), it's reasonably clean and reasonably inexpensive.

Also, the flowers outside the front door are fresh and only $4.99 a bunch. One of the best deals in Manhattan.


A decade ago, you'd be nervous being out in the evenings down here because the streets were utterly deserted. This used to be the one part of New York that actually slept!

Now there are women pushing strollers, young people, dog-walkers, tourists, etc, everywhere, at all times of the day and night.

Sure, every part of New York is in a constant state of reinvention and flux, but this district of Manhattan has probably seen more change than any other over the past few years. For somebody who remembers what this neighborhood was like 10 years ago, the transformation is quite stunning.

New York City Construction

Construction is a key part of New York City life, both visual and auditory. Downtown is particularly noisy lately. There are several new buildings going up, as well as quite a few building conversions from office space to residential apartments--a result of so many businesses leaving the area post-9/11.

Also, almost all of the streets downtown have been dug up at one point or another since 9/11. Apparently the collapse of the towers damaged a lot of the underground infrastructure. Result: jackhammering. Usually it starts at around 7 or 7:30 am.

This is looking down onto Pearl Street and Platt Street.


And if jackhammers weren't enough, you should listen to the sweet sounds of pile-driving. The photo below is on the corner of Pearl Street and Maiden Lane. Supposedly this is going to be the site of a new hotel.