Holes in Manhattan’s Real Estate Market
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NEW YORK (AP) – Even in a city where a closet-sized apartment can fetch a mint in rent, where so-so condos sell for over $1 million, and where real estate speculators salivate over the very air, there is property that lays fallow.
An informal survey released Saturday revealed there are at least 505 undeveloped lots in Manhattan, and another 1,723 that appear to be vacant, the president of Manhattan, Scott M. Stringer said.
“These results show that, contrary to popular belief, there are thousands of properties lying vacant in this borough,” Mr. Stringer said. “Now the task is to find out why and to do everything we can to make them productive properties.”
Mr. Stringer said there is enough space on these lots to create nearly 24,000 housing units that could help meet the city’s future population growth.
According to the survey, 50 percent of the vacant properties are privately owned. More than 71 percent were found north of 96th Street, a traditional dividing line between the poorer neighborhoods of Upper Manhattan, and the ultra-wealthy Upper East and Upper West sides.
At least $104.8 million in property taxes is lost annually the survey found, Mr. Stringer said.
