Surprise! Living in a Historic District is desirable
From the New York Times
September 2, 2007
Views You Won’t Lose
By VIVIAN S. TOY
NEW YORKERS will do anything for a great view.
They will give up a second bathroom, squeeze into a tiny bedroom or willingly accept some other real estate deprivation.
But with more than 100 high-rise buildings under construction across the city right now, many of these cherished views may soon become cherished partial views — that is, if any view is left at all.
There are buildings, though, where an owner can be fairly certain that the view will never be ruined by a new building rising in front of theirs.
That is certainly true of buildings directly opposite a park or right on the Hudson or East Rivers. But there are also good views to be had in and around historic districts or in buildings where the developer had the foresight to buy the air rights of neighboring buildings.
So while there are, of course, no guarantees in real estate, there are some apartments that have what can honestly be called protected views. And over the last several weeks, apartments in each of these categories could be found in the listings.
Buyers should remember that the better the view, the higher the premium. Brokers estimate that an apartment with a view can cost 10 to 20 percent more than a comparable apartment that looks out on an interior courtyard or straight into another building.
Historic Districts and Zoning
The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission has mapped out some 80 historic districts across the city, regulating changes to buildings in these districts, with an eye toward preserving the city’s historic, aesthetic and cultural heritage.
That is why the open city views from a duplex penthouse at 2 Horatio Street are protected. Horatio Street lies along the northern edge of the Greenwich Village Historic District. So the southern view from the 17th-floor apartment and its terraces is over the low-rise town houses of the Village with a panorama of Lower Manhattan rising above them in the distance.
Northern views of the city skyline are also impressive, but the streets north of the building do not have landmark protection, and new construction could easily alter the landscape. The expansive duplex has terraces on both levels, three bedrooms and three-and-half baths. The price is $7.95 million.
Even in areas that do not have landmark status, zoning restrictions can often prevent the construction of a high-rise that could destroy the view.
Many city blocks that are made up primarily of town houses, for example, have zoning that restricts the height of any new buildings in the middle of the block. Buildings at the corners of these streets, on the other hand, are often allowed to go higher. So in an area like the East 60s, “you can go in any town house in the middle of the block, and if you go on the top floor, you have basically a high-rise view with open sky,” said Nancy Candib, a senior vice president of Brown Harris Stevens.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company