1. Media Contact
Justina Lombardo
PR Manager
Tel: (212) 696 2500
Fax: (212) 696 0333
justina.lombardo@cushwake.com
About Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield is a global leader in commercial real estate services, helping
clients transform the way people work, shop, and live. The firm’s 43,000 employees in
more than 60 countries provide deep local and global insights that create significant
value for occupiers and investors around the world. Cushman & Wakefield is among
the largest commercial real estate services firms in the world with revenues of $5
billion across core services of agency leasing, asset services, capital markets, facilities
services (branded C&W Services), global occupier services, investment management
(branded DTZ Investors), tenant representation and valuations & advisory.
To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @cushwake on Twitter.
For Immediate Release
El Barrio: A Bold History Leads to New Emergence
By, Lev Kimyagarov
New York, October 28, 2015
Real estate in the New York City tri-state area trades more frequently than anywhere else in the world. In any region, real estate
values are driven by location. With the condensed layout of New York City, neighborhoods and even smaller communities
have pricing and trends of their own. There is a tendency for trends in New York to follow one neighborhood to the next. In a
few cases, one or two neighborhoods decide to defy these ideas. In recent years, there has been a surge of luxury housing
developments and conversions. Most of these projects have been condominium based, despite East Harlem putting up a fight.
East Harlem is the area of Manhattan running north of East 96th Street and east of Fifth Avenue. Though the area was originally
settled in 1654 by Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant and was named “Nieuw Haarlem,” the name was changed to “Harlem”
with the arrival of the English in 1664. The region’s flat land provided some of New York’s most illustrious early families with
vast farms and estates. In the 1800s, East Harlem developed into an early railroad suburb that provided housing for working-
class immigrants relocating from the overcrowded Lower East Side. The earliest waves of immigrants to occupy east Harlem
were predominantly German and Irish families, followed by Italian and European Jewish families. In the mid-1900s, African
Americans and Puerto Ricans began settling there, leading to the community being referred to as “Spanish Harlem” or “El Barrio.”
In the 1990s, a new Harlem Renaissance began to emerge. While other parts of Manhattan like SoHo, TriBeCa, and the
Lower East Side were quickly developing into some of the most highly desired and expensive places to live, developers
began to realize Harlem’s potential as the next revitalized area of Manhattan. Enjoying an inventory of both large and
architecturally distinct buildings, vast parcels of vacant land, and some of the most efficient transportation networks with
connectivity to Lower Manhattan and the outer boroughs, East Harlem possesses an urban infrastructure ripe for development.
With condo prices throughout Manhattan soaring over $1,500 per square foot and over
$1,800 per square foot for new construction, it has become clear that condos and even
more so luxury condos are the New York City developer’s play. In its entirety, Manhattan
is diluted with recent condo conversions and ground up construction as the market out-
paces itself quarter after quarter. Defying the trends, East Harlem, has upheld as a rental
market. If you take a look at the provided sample of about 600 transactions from new
construction buildings, the numbers do all the talking. Although condo prices increase
with the rest of the borough, they are still outpaced by rental prices in East Harlem.
Since 2012 rental prices have increased nearly 21%, averaging a growth of 6.5%
annually. These figures trump the condos 15% since 2012 and 4.5% annually. Harlem
as a whole, but particularly East Harlem, is behind the curve on prices in Manhattan
and as the luxury bubble continues to spread north, the gap is starting to close.
The upside of rental prices in East Harlem has not only steered developers
but has been the driving factor behind the notable increase in land prices.
On a buildable square foot basis the land prices in East Harlem have increased an astronomical 171% since 2012 averaging a
growth of 41% annually. Using these figures the prices are on pace to break $300 per buildable square foot in the very near future.
The key toany growing marketis new development. Inthe lastcouple ofyears,EastHarlem
hasseenaburstofmultifamilydevelopment.Theseprojectsarebeingheadedbysomeofthe
city’s major developers such as HAP, Continuum Company, and Blumenfeld Development.
Newprojectsdrawdeveloperstoanyregion,andEastHarlemhasfurthertriedtodrawdevel-
opment by pushing to re-zone large sections of Madison, Park and Lexington Avenues to
allow for taller, mixed-use construction. This would entice more major developers, as well
as strengthen both the retail and residential aspects of the enterprising neighborhood.

2. Media Contact
Justina Lombardo
PR Manager
Tel: (212) 696 2500
Fax: (212) 696 0333
justina.lombardo@cushwake.com
About Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield is a global leader in commercial real estate services, helping
clients transform the way people work, shop, and live. The firm’s 43,000 employees in
more than 60 countries provide deep local and global insights that create significant
value for occupiers and investors around the world. Cushman & Wakefield is among
the largest commercial real estate services firms in the world with revenues of $5
billion across core services of agency leasing, asset services, capital markets, facilities
services (branded C&W Services), global occupier services, investment management
(branded DTZ Investors), tenant representation and valuations & advisory.
To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @cushwake on Twitter.
East Harlem’s bold and boisterous history has set the stage for improvement
and development in the area. Housing developments continue to break ground
and the upside in rents remains the driving factor for the increase in land
and real estate prices. The diverse culture and strong infrastructure of East
Harlem further leverages its potential as a Manhattan development opportunity.
The market in the New York metro area has being seeing record prices, low
cap rates, and even lower interest rates, but it is uncertain how long those trends
will continue. After months of speculation, the Federal Reserve’s Open Market
Committee (“FOMC”) recently decided to leave the target borrowing rate unchanged.
The Fed has strong enough economic indicators to begin raising rates; however,
significant volatility in August resulted in holding off with immediate rate increases.
As the third quarter comes to a close, headlines are dominated by deteriorating
economic conditions and market volatility in certain parts of the globe. It is unclear
if these trends will affect the market in East Harlem and to what extend their impact
will be felt. In the meantime, East Harlem continues to enjoy its new emergence.