Upper West Side Rental Renovation Complete

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

New York—The renovation of 163 West 80th Street, a five-story residential brownstone on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, has been completed by DelShah Capital LLC. The building is fully rented at market rate, with three two-bedroom apartments with home offices renting from $6,595 and one three-bedroom duplex garden apartment going for $8,900.

Through Distinct New York, a wholly owned subsidiary of DelShah’s responsible for residential brokerage and marketing, the company converted the building from 10 to five units and rented all of them. DelShah purchased the building in 2008 prior to the recession, and later—in 2011—was able to restructured the loan with Doral Bank to turn it into a permanent loan.

According to Michael Shah, principal of DelShah, the company sees further opportunities on the Upper West Side, “one property at a time.” He cites close monitoring the construction costs, schedules and product quality as key factors in a renovation project of this kind. The company currently manages over 1,100 residential units in various parts of the city.

It’s also a time of a strengthening of the rental market in Manhattan, despite the world’s ongoing economic difficulties. According to the third quarter 2011 Elliman Report, the median rental price (without concessions) in Manhattan was essentially unchanged year-over-year at $2,995. However, median rent with concessions (net effective monthly median rent), increased 4.9 percent over the same period to $2,970 from $2,831. Only 8.6 percent of new leases had some form of landlord concession, compared to 45 percent in the same quarter a year ago.

Moreover, noted the report, the absorption rate for new rentals was 1.7 months, essentially unchanged from 1.6 months in the same quarter last year. But compared with the same quarter two years ago, during the worst of the Great Recession, the rate was down sharply from 7.7 months.