To understand what’s happening in Chelsea’s real estate market, we interviewed several award-winning Certified TopAgents who specialize in the the area.
Leonard Steinberg, Prudential Douglas Ellliman: Leonard is the leader of one of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s most successful teams and is a Douglas Elliman “Top 10″ broker. His team is expert in Downtown real estate and has extensive experience working with Chelsea real estate and West Chelsea real estate.
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Jon Phillips and Ginnie Gardiner, Halstead Property: A husband and wife team, Jon and Ginnie got their start in the real estate business focusing on Chelsea lofts. Halstead Platinum Circle winners, they have owned a Chelsea home for many years and know the neighborhood extremely well, experiencing Chelsea’s transformation first-hand.
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Michael Murphy, Prudential Douglas Elliman: As an owner of a Chelsea home, Michael knows the neighborhood intimately and focuses much of his business there. A Prudential Douglas Elliman President’s Circle award winner, he is also a former CPA, bringing a quantitative and analytical approach to his real estate practice.
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What are some of Chelsea real estate market’s unique characteristics?
Leonard Steinberg: Chelsea real estate has a significant number of low-line buildings, affording great light, as well as probably the greatest collection of wonderful modern architecture in the city. It’s a new environment, and it offers a very high quality of life, with a good level of balance between park land, culture, amenities, history, and modern architecture. Within Chelsea, there are nuances, as well. South Chelsea is close to Greenwich Village, while North Chelsea is close to Midtown which is quite convenient for people whose office is there. West Chelsea’s benefit is the riverfront and protected views, which means you get sunsets. That is a huge element in many of peoples’ lives. East Chelsea real estate, which is closer to Fifth Avenue, is more centrally located and affords a different level of access to retail spaces.
Mike Murphy: Chelsea is centrally located, so it will always be desirable neighborhood in which to live. While West Chelsea is currently considered a bit more of an “edgy” neighborhood, but Central Chelsea real estate will always remain healthy. Also, Chelsea’s diversity is pretty unique. There are all types of people living in Chelsea – it really is a melting pot.
Ginnie Gardiner: The art galleries in Chelsea are an international destination. The Highline Park is a fun, outdoor area that connects Chelsea real estate to the Meatpacking District and is really revitalizing the riverfront.
How has Chelsea changed in the last several years?
Leonard Steinberg: Chelsea is a new area in the city for high-end real estate. In the last ten years, a significant level of development has converted rather extraordinary existing buildings in Chelsea to residential homes, and what was once a commercial neighborhood has become a predominantly residential neighborhood. This makes for an extraordinary span of real estate.
Ginnie Gardiner: Chelsea used to be thought of as the old brownstones in the West 20s, but with retail anchors such as Whole Foods, Chelsea has extended to 30th Street. There’s still a lot of sexiness to it, with the new Highline Park and the art market. Even though art dealers took a hit, they’re still there. There’s a lot of vitality and activity.
Jon Phillips: The amount of growth Chelsea experienced gave it a boost, more than other neighborhoods. Surprisingly, the saturation of new development in Chelsea real estate has had fairly fortuitous support. We’ve seen quite a bit of new development being absorbed.
Mike Murphy: While the market was booming over the last five to seven years, there was a lot of new construction of Chelsea homes, primarily for new condominiums. The number of Chelsea homes dramatically increased and has shifted the inventory, mixing new developments with older Chelsea co-ops.
