An anything-goes approach to development is a time-honoured tradition in New York (see: this plan to fill in the East River). But developers may be reaching a breaking point in Manhattan, where warehouses are being bought to build $US100 million single-family homes.
A handful of real estate stories this week question whether NYC is reaching peak development. First off, we have a mind-boggling report about the rise of single-family “palaces” in Manhattan. According to the New York Times, the super-rich are buying up warehouses, parking garages, and other commercial buildings to turn them into gigantic McMansion-style homes (including what will soon become the largest single-family home in the city). According to one broker, the new “benchmark” price is going to be $US100 million, as opposed to the almost austere $US50 million buyers expected to pay a few years ago.
The future site of a 1115sqm home.
It’s one thing to get rid of warehouses and garages — but another set of trend pieces alert us of a more problematic trend: The disappearance of petrol stations in the city. As developers strive to find new plots of land that can be rebuilt from the ground up, they’re buying up petrol stations left and right. We’ve covered at least one of these developments before, but according to the NYT and the Village Voice, it’s becoming a problem for cab drivers who can’t always find a station in time.
Without places to fuel up, how will there be enough cabs to cart these super-rich future Manhattanites around the city? Don’t worry, soon cabs won’t need petrol at all. [New York Times]
Top picture: Mira John/Flickr