June, 2006 >> return to MAI in the news
Living about 100th St. isn't insane
anymore
an interview with Lisa Chin-Tostes By GABRIEL BELL
HIGLIGHTED AGENT:
Lisa Chin-Tostes
Senior Vice President/Sales Associate
Tel: 212.378.2333
Fax: 212.489.6170
Cell: 917.744.9553
lchin@manhattanapts.com
An excerpt:
..."BLOOMINGDALE? Isn't that on the East Side?"
It's easy to confuse the name of the iconic department store with the name of the relatively unheralded neighborhood west of Amsterdam Avenue above 100th Street. Tucked between the Upper West Side and Columbia University, the area some are calling Bloomingdale has often been overlooked.
"To me, it's an Upper West Side sub-market," says Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of real-estate analysis firm Miller Samuel. "I don't think of it as a neighborhood."
Miller is not alone. But as upscale development creeps farther north, New Yorkers might become more familiar with a name older than Broadway itself.
Though the name "Bloomingdale" has only recently made its way into the classified ads, its history stretches back to the 17th century. Originally the name for any area close to Bloomingdale Road (now Broadway), it eventually referred to the farmland between what is now 96th and 125th streets. When the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum opened in 1821 on property now occupied by Columbia University and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, many soured on the title.
While "Morningside Heights" was coined for the blocks between 110th and the university, the area to the south quietly got stuck with the "Bloomingdale" moniker.
With the creation of the Ninth Avenue Elevated Railway in 1879, Bloomingdale traded its rural roots for tenements, becoming one of the city's early middle-class neighborhoods. As the IRT opened and Amsterdam Avenue filled with churches and schools, some of the city's most ornate residential architecture rose on Riverside Drive. Academics, professionals and artists flocked to these affordable Gilded Age homes.
A GRITTY PAST
After the stock market crash of 1929, the growing poverty of nearby Manhattan Valley (east of Amsterdam) added grit to the area.
Gary Dennis, owner of Movie Place video store at 105th and Broadway, recalls his youth on West End Avenue.
"Back in the '60s, we had a heavy artistic presence, like Williamsburg a few years ago," he remembers, offering tales of neighborhood junkies and prostitutes living in SROs.
The neighborhood is still relatively ungentrified, but now, as Lisa Chin-Tostes, Senior Vice President and a top sales associate at Manhattan Apartments Inc., notes, "The ethnic and economic diversity and historic architecture here make it very attractive."
These qualities have spurred a recent sales spike.
"People who were afraid to go north of 96th are discovering that they can get the transportation convenience and access to parks of the Upper West Side for a good price," says Chin- Tostes.
Strong sales of existing properties and rentals inspired a mini building boom of high-priced condominiums. Three years ago, a mass-market luxury project — the 20-story, red-brick, 64-unit tower at 107th and Broadway called OPUS — ran into resistance when residents worried that nearby Strauss Park might literally get cast with shadows by the building's towering structure. But the building was a success.
While the park lost some light, OPUS proved Bloomingdale's commercial potential.
"It sold out very quickly," Miller says.
Perhaps most ambitious are the twin Ariel East and Ariel West towers rising on both sides of Broadway between 99th and 100th, scheduled for completion in summer 2007.
The combined 137-unit Extell development designed by architects Cook + Fox and Cetra/Ruddy whipped up a small storm of protest over its size and the din of construction. But a glance at The Corcoran Group’s listings for Ariel — which range between $1.2 million and $3.8 million are also selling briskly — show that Bloomingdale is experiencing an inevitable shift toward the higher end of the market.
These changes concern some long-timers.
Others are looking forward to the future.
"I don't think the neighborhood has really found its identity yet," says analyst Miller.
Indeed, luxury retail of any kind has yet to take root in the area, though the pending opening of an American Apparel outlet at 109th and Broadway could be a sign of chic emporiums to come.
EAST MEETS WEST
Already a new crop of restaurants is leading a street-level facelift. Neighborhood chef and restaurateur Matthew Tivy (who worked stints at Daniel and Chez Louis) recently opened two chic eateries across from each other at 104th and Broadway. The early returns at his French bistro, Cafe du Soleil, and French-fusion sushi bar, Tokyo Pop, suggest that Bloomingdale is hungry for more.
Says Tivy: "Upscale buildings keep being added and their residents want higher caliber services. Now locals bring friends from other neighborhoods here."
That said, Bloomingdale will likely stay more diversified than TriBeCa or Lenox Hill — even in dining options.
Says Tivy, "There’s McDonald's opening right next to Tokyo Pop."
Bloomie's bargains
WHILE buying into Bloomingdale might be an attractive option for those with a couple of million to spare, there are other ways to land in this up-and coming West Side neighborhood. For an area featuring stunning prewar architecture so close to the parks and transportation, rents can be surprisingly affordable.
Says Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, "The bulk of the offerings in the area are two-bedrooms or less, so it has a very attractive entry-level price point."
Here's a brief survey of prices provided by Manhattan Apartments Inc.
Studios
Doorman building: $1,400 to $2,100 Walkup: $1,295 to $1,625
One-bedrooms
Doorman building: $1,895 to $2,750 Walkup: $1,575 to $2,150
Two-bedrooms
Doorman building: $3,050 to $5,035 Walkup: $1,749 to $2,600