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City Living: Manhattan Valley

BY VERA HALLER | STAFF WRITER

January 26, 2006

Manhattan Valley -- sandwiched between Central Park, the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights is ripe for gentrification.

Young families seeking more space, and students from nearby Columbia University always on the lookout for cheap rents -- are moving into this neighborhood, which has long resisted change.

In the 1980s and 1990s the neighborhood had a reputation for crime and drug trading. Though things have improved, the neighborhood retains a gritty feel. The main north-south avenues -- Columbus and Amsterdam -- are lined with bodegas, old-fashioned barbershops and Hispanic markets.

Slowly, new types of businesses are moving in. Columbus Ave. has a few trendy restaurants and bars -- and a greengrocer's market operates Saturday mornings from July to November at the entrance to Central Park at 106th St.

Easy access to the B and C subway lines, and a location close to the Central Park, are other features that make the neighborhood attractive to homebuyers, realtors said.

But the real draw is that Manhattan Valley holds out the possibility of finding space at a slightly lower cost than other, more upscale Manhattan neighborhoods.

Flora Resnick, of Ardor Realty, said many of her clients looking to live on the Upper West Side are open to moving farther north if it means finding a bigger apartment. "They're hoping the services and restaurants will follow," she said.

TO FIND:

The neighborhood runs from 100th Street to 110th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Central Park West. It is bounded to the south by the Frederick Douglass Public Housing Development.

TO RENT AND BUY:

Anyone involved in real estate in this neighborhood will be quick to say that the days of finding bargains may soon be over. Prices for condos and co-ops especially are creeping up.

"One-bedrooms can easily be in the $500,000 range now where they weren't a year or two ago," Resnick said. "Two-bedrooms are getting closer to $1 million, though you can still find some which are less."

Warburg Realty is selling luxury condos in a building, Casa Rohan, erected on a former vacant lot at 70 W. 107th Street. The four units are fully loaded with stainless steel appliances and marble baths among other amenities, said broker Elizabeth Steele. The asking prices are around $1.2 million.

"We've been showing to a lot of families, people who have children already or are planning on having them soon," Steele said.

RECENT SALES AND RENTALS:

RENTALS:

--246 Manhattan Ave., two bedrooms: $2,495/mo. --950 Columbus Ave., two bedrooms: $1,795/mo.

SALES:

-- 420 Central Park West at 102nd Street: fourth-floor, two-bedroom apartment with Central Park views, $899,000. -- 70 W. 107th St.: three-bedroom condo in a new construction: $1.183 million. -- 455 Central Park West at 106th Street: Two-bedroom; three-bathroom, 2,854-square-foot condo in a luxury development: $4.25 million.

CHATEAU ON THE PARK: