The Gripe File: One Main, Sheffield 57, Ariel, Onyx

1.

HA HA HA HA HA

When I hear about rich people buying expensive apartments before they ever see the place and they get screwed.

Jesus it makes my day.

Justice.

Woo hoo, tooo bad. you assholes

2.

Is Curbed aware the global mortgage market is tanking? Not worthy of a story? Or are they forbidden to report truth if it hurts their advertisers?

Oh, everything is great with the housing industry, it's always a great time to buy, the sky is not falling, just every market other than New York. New York is different!

3.

The addition looks fine. No one will even know it wasn't part of the building before.

4.

Agree with poster #2. Lead story on nytimes.com is about the continuing huge global stock slide.

I am good friends with a private real estate appraiser in ny. He's been working this city for 27 years. He told me monday that the crisis has officially begun. For the first time in his professional history he has had to turn down requests for appraisals. Everyone is freaking out.

I guess curbed can't really talk about this though - their cash cow are new condo banner ads.

Touch catch-22, Curbed.

5.

Hey, I live in the Sheffield. The lobby is gorgeous. Hey Curbed - can you please stop printing the rants of market-rate tenants who are pissed because their lawyer promised them a BIG buy-out and there ain't none coming and their legal bills are bleeding everyone dry? I can't take it anymore. I am a stabie, and (living through) the conversion is difficult but worthwhile - it really looks good so far and progress is being made.

Those damn market rate tenants just realized they are not getting paid, and will be responsible to pay for Swig's six-figure legal fees and their only hope is to make life miserable for everyone else. The offering plan is effective - please deal with it.

6.

RE: The Ariel buildings

Only an absolute sucker would buy something at the Ariel right now.

I have heard from a completely reliable source that a couple of the major investors in building are in serious financial trouble at the moment, as quite a few key potential buyers have recently pulled out of contract.

They are cutting corners left and right to get the buildings finished and are relying heavily on hard-sell brokers and newer uninformed investors to keep the pyramid scheme going.

Major price cuts and/or rental conversions are in the works right now.

7.

"Hey, I live in the Sheffield. The lobby is gorgeous."

hahahaha

8.

Pity the recent new development buyers. If the developers can get them to the closing table, buyers are borrowing at higher rates than they originally intended, to get what may be shoddy construction. The icing on the cake is knowing that these buyers are paying top of the real estate bubble prices.

9.

you'd have to be a pretty big idiot to buy at ariel on the uws, period.

i think it's probably one of the biggest pieces of shit in the city.

if you want a 4 bedroom place, i heard they just released a few at richard meier's on prospect park.

for those that aren't afraid of brooklyn.

10.

On a side note, the visciousness on this site toward buyers is shameful.

Laughing at someone that sunk money into a 4-bedroom that's no longer usable is truly mean spirited. Justice? I'm sorry, did these people do something wrong or do something to you, #1?

I am not an owner, and cannot afford to buy an apartment in manhattan. I have a rent-stab. place on riverside in the 130s, and my rental status and neighborhood have also prompted acerbity on curbed before.

I hope all these people can either get their apartments into a state they find livable and pleasant, or sell them. No one deserves that kind of headache.

11.

For the record, I live in "new construction" and we love, love, love it. I am (seriously) blown away by the quality of the finishes - my wife (literally) sings in the shower about how happy she is with the bathroom. We call it "easy living". I know that some new construction can be shoddy, but this is our first venture into it (and we even got the sponsor to waive transfer taxes).

We love it.

12.

Anon 10:18am...not sure, are you Pam or Dottie???

13.

Hey #11, what development do you live in? Who is the builder/developer?

14.

I swear - I have no agenda. We just love our 5 piece bathroom, our open kitchen with high-end everything, washer/drier, 9.5 foot ceilings, double-pane windows. It would not be good if the construction was poor - I agree, and I don't know what else you can do other than "know your developer" - but we love our apartment. No compliants here.

15.

you may love it, but in 10 years when it's neither new nor pre-war, you'll have an outdated piece of crap.

in this city you either want the next best newest thing or something timeless like pre war.

in 2017 yours will be lumped with all the other postwar crap that lines the upper east side.

yuck.

16.

I would never laugh at new development buyer. I hope to pick up a good deal on a recent development from one of them when he losses his job in the next downturn. And he'll be paying the transfer taxes (again).

17.

#16, about half the developments will waive transfer taxes if you push hard enough. If you didn't, you are a sucka.

And why would you assume that a new development purchaser's job would be in jeoporady, but YOURS would be safe. Dumb.

Anyone that bought in at ANYTIME between 2000-2006 has made a MINT. The rest of youse are pathetically jealous.

18.

#15, I agree with you IF you are buying some gimmick like the POD/Jade Condo, or something like that. But if you are buying great finishes, top of the line kitchen/bathrooms, and good design, that IS timeless. New construction does not mean that it will be out of date if the finishes are selected properly.

19.

#1, Im sure they laughing too when they put a down payment on a pre construction unit, and flip the deed for the unit a couple of months later for $100,000 profit without ever paying a dime on a mortgage.

HA HA HA HA HA

Jesus it probobly makes their day.

Justice.

20.

there are SO few new developments that i'd consider timeless, however.

i'd say 15 central park west is one, and a couple of the ones on Bond Street (40 and 48, I believe)
are some of the only ones that come to mind.

21.

er I got feeling the end is nigh. Not a bubble bursting but a long slow market correction. NYC cant stay in the eye of the storm forever.

22.

Oh #20, come one... there are hundreds of new developments, you can't possibly be knowledgable about all of them. Just like there is timeless Pre-War, there are lots of Pre-War pieces of shit.

Here's a hint - if you have NEVER heard of a developer, be VERY wary of new development. But if it is a good, recognizable developer, then their reputation is too important to ruin because of a couple million dollar cost overrun. How much money are the Zeckendorf's going to make on 15 CPW? Swig on Sheffield? Related on Time Warner? Those guys have too much invested in their reputation to ever do a bad job on an individual deal because their overall reputation is much more important.

23.

i've actually heard that the apartments inside time warner are horribly constructed.

most were gutted (if they were bought already finished) and had to be re-drywalled, etc.

EVEN in time warner.

24.

We looked at several new developments in harlem this spring, but wound up buying a prewar in Morningside Heights.

What pissed us off wasn't the developments per se (they were pretty generic, mid-range, but certainly livable and affordable and decent sized for 2 brs) but the hoky marketing and slimy selling agents. I just found the whole scene incredibly off-putting...

Having said all that...if you want to buy an affordable 2 br (700k-1m) in move-in condition, there aren't many options left in Manhattan. Plus the tax abatements are an incredible inducement for young families.

And pre-war apts can be a huge PITA, and a lot of co-ops have shaky finances and incompetant, petty board members.

25.

And to think the layoffs on Wall Street have not even started yet. There will be price chopping...

26.

You guys make me laugh with your absolute blanket statements. All pre-war is good, all new construction is bad. The idea that there hasn’t been a single good residential building built in NYC in more than 50 years is ridiculous on its face.

I owned in a pre-war on the upper west side and let me tell you, beautiful building, but what a pain in the ass. The plumbing sucked so bad we should have traded the super for a live in roto router guy. They were they regularly, not with a little plumbing snake but massive equipment.

The building was built before buildings were wired for electricity. When the building was wired the wires were run partialy through the original lines for the gas lamps. This is very common for buildings of this period, which means lots of old moldy wiring that is very hard to replace. To run the microwave you had to turn off the light in the kitchen.

Don’t get me started on the 2+ year project to do regular pointing and maintenance on the brick work. Then all the fire-escapes had to be re-anchored, which involved punching holes through interior walls.

And this is in a well run building with an activist board. These issues were not due to deferred maintenance, but due to the fact that most old buildings need an incredible amount of maintenance.

27.

something tells me there will be no bonus babies this christmas.

28.

Who the hell is griping about the addition to that building? Even in it's unfinished state it's obvious the thing will blend in when done. Some preservationists are way to uptight. Get a life.

29.

Which of the two Ariel buildings has this problem? Did they mess up the design of the super skinny tower (Ariel East)?

30.

I think West was probably made better than East. Purely a subjective and inexpert opinion, but its design looks a little less pretentious, though I admit I do like the way the reflective glass makes the East tower much less obvious.

The East tower seemed to have more problems with their architectural glass. In the beginning lots of windows would pop out of break and need to be replaced. Was it bad glazing units? inaccurate concrete frame? Or maybe too much play in the construction from whatever needed supports in the above Curbed post (if this is the tower of the apartment in question)?

31.

they both look like hell, but i agree that east looks TONS worse.

and to think people paid millions of dollars to live in that shitshack.

oops.

32.

#11 - How are you so rich when you can't even spell simple words like "dryer" and "complaints"?

33.

I'm the one with the friend in the Ariel. The family chose the building not because they particularly liked it but because it was in the perfect location for them and had lots of huge apartments. They had also lived in a pre-war beforehand and were tired of putting up with old wiring etc. And yes, they are in the East tower. Well, *were* in the east tower - I don't know what they're going to do now.

34.

Yeah #33 bad wiring can really ruin your life. Better to buy a building that will fold up like a house of cards than to hire an electrician to rewire your place.

35.

read an interesting article about the fact that if the tornado had touched down on a newer development rather than on those old 100 year old homes in bay ridge, that most would have been flattened to the ground.

they used ariel as an example.

36.

You read an article?

Must be true then.

37.

#25, #27, do you even understand what is happening in the credit markets? Or how wall st works?

PE and any house that sold protection is in big trouble but even then PE not happening is different from PE firms losing money this year - which they have not. Even the Chrysler/Cerberus deal where they could not sell the CLOs due to the collapse of the CDO market stll went ahead with the lenders keeping the loans on their books instead.

The true wall st carnage was in the period 2000 to 2003 when both S&T, and IB were laying off highly paid ppl in the thousands.

I remember seeing a ton of tribeca lofts coming onto the market in that period but there were not bargains or price chops. Just places that stayed on the market for a long long time and then get snapped up in the spring of 2003.

If anything, that was NYC's price "correction" or "bubble bursting".

38.

CURBEDs INFO HAS ZERO CREDIBILITY!

39.

#34: Can you read? Seriously. Sometimes I wonder if the people on this board actually look at anything but the responses before they post.

40.

Yes 39--I can read...read the post above mine.
They talk about bad wiring...

41.

The Swig Shills are posting positive comments.
Just ask the real tenants both market & stabilized,
the real story about the Sheffield57.
Swig gave himself a black eye in the RE industry with this one.
Transfer taxed can't be waived.
Possibly Swig is paying the transfer taxes for the
new buyers, none of whom have closed on their apts.
The new condo buyers are paying rent on the apts they bought,
because there is NO Certificate of Occupation
for the condo conversion yet.
The construction is very shoddy at the Sheffield57.
Swig says the marble in the lobby is imported from Italy,
but experts say (Italian Marble importers),
it's from China & probably that just passed
through Italy on it's way to NY.

Aldo

42.

The "addition" atop One Main in Dumbo is not complete. The copper roof with all the windows is new, as Walentas has built a three-story 10,000 square-foot loft with 360 degree wrap-around views that he's planning to sell for $30 mil. The yellow thing will eventually become a roof deck exclusive to whomever purchases that unit. This came about from the acrimonious settlement between Walentas and the board of One Main. It was determined Walentas cheated the building of about $5 million. After 8 years, they settled for a laughable $350,000. Then Walentas said he'd give them another $300K if he could have the exclusive air rights to do as he pleases. Hard up for money, the board (comprised of people who either wanted to sell, people who work in development, and some who work for Walentas) agreed. So, Walentas owed $5 million, paid out $650,000. And will ultimatley sell his new unit for $30 million. Meanwhile, One Main has yet to replace its own leaking 13th-floor roof, or replaced its dangerously archaic elevators, or re-painted it's now 9-year-old hallways, or replaced its tattered 9-year-old hall carpeting. Nor has it addressed any of the internal structural issues like chunks of concrete beams falling from the 13-foot ceilings inside apartments. Should some of that ever clock someone in the head and, like, kill them, they can't sue Walentas anymore, cuz that was part of the settlement too. No more suing Walentas. But, hey, they managed to paint the building and remove the scaffolding. Just enough veneer to make the place desirable. And ya know that 14th floor penthouse for $8.6 million...http://sothebyshomes.com/sales/0133342...it's been on the market for 2 years. This crappy apartment with no view ... http://www.bhsbrooklyn.com/detail.asp?id=433442...on the market for 3 years. But, anyway, yeah, the addition....the addition looks great.

43.

I am a buyer in the Sheffield57 and I am closing this week - the plan is effective and the C of O is issued. MY apartment looks great - I couldn't be happier. The marble is Italian marble (this is my industry) - it is ONLY produced in Italy.

A blackeye by leading on of the largest and most profitable conversions in US history? I'll sign up for that. Sorry to say that #41 is either one of those holdover tenants with an agenda or simply suffering from diarehea of the mouth. Probably both.

44.

Dave,
Hard to say it's one of the moths successful conversions. It took them way too long to sell 15% and they have a long way to go before they sell the rest. The market rate tenants have been winning the court cases.
BUT, if Swig can sell the rest of the units in a reasonable time and they win their appeals - the project is a HUGE success. But it's way too early in the game.
If the market turns and they rot with unsold units it could be one of the biggest busts in NYC real estate history.

45.

I've heard Swig can't sell any units at 25 Broad st. His signs say occupancy May 2007, but my buddy says no one has moved in. SO perhaps 25 Broad will be among the worst deals in the city. Like the above poster says, it's too early to say, but May 2007 has come and gone!!!

46.

Anon #44, if sales and prices at the Sheffield are what I know they are (read: a lot of sales and high prices), they will have paid off their debt and be playing with house money. It is already a done deal that the conversion is a HUGE success (short of the entire NYC housing market going down the drain).

And rumor down on Centre Street is that the appeal has already been won by Swig (which is the right decision, by the way, as we all know), the court's clerks are drafting the decision now and it will be "announced" shortly...

47.

I heard 25 Broad was selling well - the model units look great, it is certainly doing well in comparison with its FiDi neighbors (William Beaver, Be@William, Setai).

48.

To 43

Did you close without a of c/o/o How is that done

49.

Hi. #43 here. The building has a C of O - all set. I'm very excited to close.

50.

You should suggest to swig to put his driveway thur the lobby . this way when it rains his tenents will not get wet. He will save on furniture.

51.

Read the article on Swig in this past week's
NY Observer. It's very coincindental that the positive comments
made there are almost verbatim to the ones posted here.
Be real "Swig Shills"!
You're not fooling ANYONE but YOURSELVES!!!!
Remember "What goes around comes around"
"Instant Karma will get you".

52.

It is very telling that all of the negative comments on this board come from the same IP address. Someone with an agenda, perhaps? Observer article was very positive, glad to see the project is a success.

53.

The renovated units DO NOT have even a temporary C of O yet.
although the non renovated apartments dont need one. seems there are some liars here

54.

I'm a Sheffield57 tenant and I can tell you that it's frustrating to have to wait 15-20 minutes for an elevator in this "newly envisioned" building every morning. There are 3 elevators. One is out of order (or just idle), one is for the non-union unskilled laborers shoddily renovating the building and the other is for the tenants and building employees. Buy a condo & just wait and wait and wait........

55.

I am a tenant in the Sheffield and I don't have any problem with the elevators - they are on time and the new design is lovely. The renovation is going great - I am sad to say the negative posters are most likely the market rate tenants looking for a quick buck.