OUTLOOK

The basics: The new generation of Hell's Kitchen—sorry, Clinton—residents are folks who started looking on the Upper West Side, then realized they could enjoy much the same lifestyle south of Lincoln Center. For the past century, the typical apartment here was a walkup tenement; now it's a luxury rental with fancy condo finishes: grandiose lobby, lots of granite, high-speed Internet access, health club.

What's new: The 42nd Street corridor used to be the armpit of the city,” says Andrew Heiberger, president and CEO of Citi-Habitats. “Now it's become a flower.” A handful of luxury-rental buildings have gone up in that area in the past few years. “Midtown has become a much easier sell,” says Corcoran's Barbara Matter. And don't forget the $1.7 billion Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, with 201 luxury condos priced from $2.4 million to upwards of $40 million.

Bargain hunting: A preponderance of new luxury rentals means discounts: up to three months’ free rent and sometimes even moving expenses or a health-club membership. For purchases and rentals alike, prices fall as you head west, away from midtown offices and the train.

Prediction: To everyone's great amazement,” says Robert Clepper, a broker at William B. May, “sales have been stable.” Chalk it up to the newcomers. Prices may be held down some by the luxury-rental glut, but that won't last, says Heiberger: “Then the area will be occupied, and it will be like any other Manhattan neighborhood.” In the long term, the Time Warner Center plus the proposed stadium complex on the far west side—if it's built—should boost values across the board.

— Profile from the March 10, 2003 cover story of New York Magazine