Manhattan/from €340,000: Cathal McGinley's KMS agency is pitching its third Manhattan apartment development to Irish investors with the launch of Gramercy Green, a 23-storey block on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 23rd Street in Midtown Manhattan.
Work has begun on the 292-apartment scheme with around half the units reserved for Irish buyers in advance of a local launch. The remaining apartments go on sale to New Yorkers in six months time.
Studio units start at €339,000 ($405,000); one-beds are from €360,000 (€430,000); larger one-beds start at €485,000 ($580,000) while one-beds plus study are priced from €800,000 ($960,000) and two-beds start at €1.17 million ($1.4 million).
Located in the Gramercy Park district, the scheme is being built by JD Carlisle, the developers behind Centria at Rockefeller Plaza, a scheme nearing completion where almost all the 160 units sold in 2005 were bought by Irish buyers. Two-bedroom apartments sold for €1 million ($1.25 million) at Centria are now worth about €1.63 million ($1.95 million), according to McGinley.
Gramercy Green, which is due for completion in 2008, will have a 24-hour concierge service, a fitness centre and a 2,322sq m (5,000sq ft) roof terrace.
The apartments are relatively spacious: studios have around 42sq m (450sq ft); one-beds range in size from 51-75sq m (550-810sq ft); one-beds with studies have around 84sq m (900sq ft) while two-beds range from 105-117sq m (1,130-1260sq ft). Open-plan kitchens come with full appliances while washers and dryers are also included.
The site is beside two universities, Baruch College, with 15,000 students, and the New York School of Visual Arts, one block away at 23rd and Second Avenue with a further 3,500 students. New York University Hospital is also close by.
The Manhattan residential market is in boom mode and is underpinned by a strong rental market with vacancy rates running at a little over 1 per cent.
The main demand is for studios and one-bedroom apartments which make up 75 per cent of the total demand for rental apartments in the city.
According to KMS, studios should fetch €1,844-€2,170 ($2,200-$2,600) per month in rent; one-beds €2,800-€3,350 ($3,350-$4,000) per month while two-beds could make up to €4,790 ($5,725) per month for unfurnished units.
Potential buyers will have to do their sums however. Legal fees and stamp duty will cost around 5 per cent, he says, while annual real estate taxes and service charges will add an additional €10 ($12) per sq ft, working out at almost €4,190 ($5,000) per annum for the smallest studio unit.
Buyers will also have to make income tax returns on their rent. Capital gains tax is around 23 per cent.
KMS will provide investors with a full service package throughout the process which includes legal representation in Ireland and the US; finance packages in dollar and euro currency; construction monitoring and a letting and management service post-construction.
The scheme will be launched next weekend, February 18th and 19th, at the Berkeley Court Hotel.
