With more than 3,000 new units hitting the market over the last five years, there certainly is no shortfall of availabilities in the Financial District. With that being said, the Financial District is making a big push to lure buyers from more established New York City neighborhoods with the offering of real estate tax incentives, astounding amenities and a more recent campaign highlighting the influx of restaurants, nightlife, and luxury retail stores. New residents of selected developments are provided invitations to pick up gift bags that include a $75 Thomas Pink gift card, 30% off a purchase at Canali, $50 gift card to the Setai Spa, and a $35 gift card and box of chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat, among others. The gift bags, with a photo seen up above, is an apparent attempt to show that you can remain in the area and find the same shopping as you’d find on Fifth Avenue. While we are not ready to declare the Financial District as the new Fifth Avenue, the area is, by far, the fastest growing residential area in New York City. Combined with the city’s best transportation options (14 Subway lines, a PATH station, numerous express bus lines and ferry route, and the Downtown Manhattan Heliport) and buyer friendly pricing, we are happy to recommend the Financial District as a neighborhood you should consider when buying your next home!

The Financial District is not going to be for everyone. We think the area can still use more convenient grocery store options and more of a nightlife scene, but we feel what the area lacks is made up in the apartment pricing, real estate tax benefits and amenities. After careful consideration, we have chosen the following three buildings with developer owned units as our favorites:

20 Pine: The Collection, 20 Pine Street
Developer: Leviev Boymelgreen
Sales and Marketing: Shvo Marketing

We wrote about 20 Pine Street in December highlighting an available 1 bedroom that hit the market as a resale. With over 80% of the 408 units closed and another 10% in contract, the developer of 20 Pine: The Collection is nearing the end of their tumultuous ride with this project. Launched in early 2006 through an aggressive ad campaign done by Shvo Marketing and boasting a 24 hour sales office, the project has seen its share of trouble. However, after a recent visit to the building, not only did we find that the building was complete, but the available apartments are being offered at prices that no other building in the area can beat.

Located in the heart of the Financial District, 20 Pine boasts a number of high end amenities ranging from the large roof terrace on the 25th floor, state of the art gym, swimming pool, winter lounge, billiards room, golf simulator and a Turkish steam room. Each unit comes with sleek modern interiors designed by Armani including high ceilings, ebony hardwood floors, rainforest shower, Brazilian wood enclosed deep soaking tub, Sub-Zero/Fisher Paykel/Miele Kitchen Appliances and Asko Washer/Dryer.

Pricewise, the average $/Sq Ft currently sits around $1,100/sq ft with units available from the Sponsor at under $900/sq ft. Common charges are under $1/sq ft with taxes currently fully abated. Surprisingly, another appeal, which we think should find buyers some piece of mind, is the building’s financial footing. With over $1.5MM in reserves and the Sponsor owning only a handful of Units left, buyers should not be concerned when thinking about purchasing at the building.

75 Wall Condominium Residences, 75 Wall Street
Developer: The Hakimian Organization
Sales and Marketing: Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group

With immediate occupancy and both rentals and sales available, 75 Wall is the perfect place to call home for anyone looking for hotel style living. Designed by the award winning Rockwell Group, 75 Wall features 350 condominium units on the upper 24 floors and 250 hotel suites in the lower portion. As part of the Hyatt Corporation’s five star luxury lifestyle brand, Andaz, condominium residences have access to all of the hotel services including room service, catering, housekeeping, valet laundry, full-time personal concierge, etc. Additionally, residences can enjoy 24 hour doorman, state of the art fitness center, club room, media lounge, amazing indoor/outdoor rooftop entertainment spaces, on-site parking, bicycle storage, and the list goes on…

Located on the corner of Wall and Water Street and standing 42 stories, all of the units offer beautiful 360 views. Keeping with the sleek, light and airy feeling, the units feature lofty 10ft+ ceilings, wide plank light vanilla washed oak flooring, open custom kitchens by Italian design studio, BOFFI, feature Mont Blanc Agglomerate stone counters with glass tiled back splashes, white lacquer and glass cabinets with integrated Miele dishwasher, Sharp microwave and Subzero & Liebherr refrigerators.

Pricing is competitive but they have many great deals with units pricing under $1000/ sqft. They also offer the very appealing 421g tax abatement and fairly low common charges.

With a wide variety of floor plan options, including studios, studio lofts, one bedrooms, oversized one bedrooms, two bedrooms, oversized two bedrooms, three bedrooms, two, three and four bedroom penthouses, 75 Wall definitely has something for everyone!

William Beaver House, 15 William Street
Developer: SDS Investments and Andre Balazs
Sales and Marketing: Prodigy Network

With what seems to be a revolving door of marketing plans and on-site brokers, the William Beaver House seems to be settling in with Prodigy Network as their sole Sales and Marketing team. With delays in construction, the building now feels complete with a large number of the units sold and occupied.

The William Beaver House, adjacent to the Stone Street restaurants and bars, is one of the most luxurious newly constructed condominium buildings in the Financial District. Designed by Tsao + Mc Kown, with hotelier Andre Balazs, the building offers every amenity found at the neighboring buildings, and more: from half court basketball, full gym, pool, screening room, outdoor jacuzzi, dog run and squash court, the building gives a feeling that you are at a resort and not necessarily in the middle of New York City. The rooftop lounge features sweeping city and harbor views as well as indoor and outdoor space with kitchen and bar.

Most of the units in the building feature open kitchens with Miele & Liebherr appliances, washer and dryer, oversized bathrooms with a large soaking tub for 2, high ceilings and wonderful light & views from the oversized windows.

William Beaver House is the sort of building that is of such a magnitude that its very presence will significantly alter the character of its neighborhood. While this sort of ultra-modern, ultra-large construction would not be out of place in Battery Park City or even Tribeca, such a building in this part of Lower Manhattan seems particularly out of place. William and Beaver streets meet in the oldest, stateliest section of gilded age-era architecture in the financial district. It is also adjacent to Delmonicos, one of the oldest surviving relics of old New York in Manhattan. While the building sticks out like a sore thumb in movies and television shows when a flyover of the city is done, we have to imagine that could be a selling point to some newcomers to the city.

While pricing is comparable to other buildings in the area, the developer has begun renting some of the unsold units to buyers as either a straight rental or part of a rent-to-own program.

The District, 111 Fulton Street
Developer: Africa Israel
Sales and Marketing: Urban Marketing

The District is one of the smaller new developments with only 163 condominium residences and 18, 000 square feet of high end amenities. The building offers 24/7 Doorman, Abigal Michaels Concierge services, cold storage, convenient parking available across the Street, a stunning library lounge with fireplace, private screening room, billiards room. The Fitness Center offers an indoor lap pool, 16 jet spa Jaccuzi, cold plunge, Steam bath and Sauna as well as a state-of-the-art fitness center and exercise room. The 12, 000 sf roofdeck is one of our favorites in the building. With amazing views of all major downtown buildings, this sun flooded space is complete with lounges, cabanas, and reflecting pool.

Units offer oversized windows, 12 foot ceilings, and beautiful details. Each home has Central Air/Heating, available Smart Home technology, high-end kitchen that includes Ceaser stone countertops, Gagganau cook top, Liebherr refrigerator/freezer, Miele Dishwasher and Miele oven. The apartment also offers washer & dryer hook ups, and tons of closet space.

Over 91% of the units have sold but there are still a number of exceptional apartments available. As is typical with the Financial District, taxes are appealing with the 421-g abatement and exemption already in place.