Suddenly, everyone wants to live in Lower Manhattan. People forget that it was only four years ago when landlords were forced to reduce rents on rental apartments by at least 30%, and legislation was created to provide financial incentives of as much as $12,000 ($500 a month for a two-year lease) to lure tenants below Canal Street.

In December 2004, the CEO of the Witkoff Group, Steven Witkoff, said, “Lower Manhattan offered an individual an opportunity to own their first residence for a price as low as $500 per square foot.” A few weeks ago, his tune was a bit different, when he said that condominiums at his Cipriani Club Residences, at 55 Wall St., will be selling for more than $1,600 a square foot. In 2000, Sidney Kimmel redeveloped the landmark site in the Regent Hotel, which closed in January 2004.The property is now owned by a partnership of Giuseppe Cipriani, the Witkoff Group, and Sidney Kimmel. The project includes 106 apartments, including 45 “club residences” or studios, 49 one bedroom apartments, eight two-bedroom apartments, and four three-bedroom apartments. Prices, including the furnishings, are expected to range from about $700,000 to $3 million. Occupancy is planned for this winter.

Building activity is especially high in and around Battery Park City. Yesterday, a public hearing was held by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development on a proposal that the city will sell a site at 270 Greenwich St. for $110.08 million to an entity owned by Edward J. Minskoff Equities. The entity would develop a building on the site that would house 230 residential condominium, 163 rental units, about 169,000 square feet of retail space – for a Whole Foods Market, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, and Bank of America – and a 400-space underground parking garage. Mr. Minskoff said he expects the condominium units to sell for about $1,400 a square foot.

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Later this month, a partnership that includes Christopher Daly’s Sheldrake Organization, Plaza Construction Corporation, and RW Consultants will begin construction of One River Terrace, the last riverfront site in Battery Park City. The famed Polshek Partnership – which recently completed the Clinton Presidential Library, along with Ishmael Leyva Architects and the Rockwell Group – is responsible for the design and layout. When completed in the fall of 2007, the building will house 300 family-size condo units and a 400-unit garage. According to industry sources, prices will start around $1,100 a square foot. Pre-sales are expected to begin in the spring. This is the first green, or environmentally friendly, condominium in Battery Park City.

More than 60% of the apartments have been sold at Jack Resnick & Sons’ 30-story, 258-unit residential condominium building at 200 Chambers. According to industry sources, units are selling for more than $1,300 a square foot. Originally, the developer had planned to construct a rental tower financed by Liberty Bonds.

Construction is under way for a number of other residential developments in Battery Park City, including two residential rentals, a 235-unit residential rental by the Albanese Organization, and 274 units by the Related Companies. The Milleninnum Partners, developers of the Ritz Carlton, are finishing a 236-unit residential condominium.

Next Tuesday, a grand opening will be held for the land marked 90 West St. The 1907 Cass Gilbert-designed building has been converted into a residential rental building with 410 units by the owners, Kibel Companies, the Brack Capital Group, and BD Hotels. The New York City Housing Development Corporation provided $101 million of Liberty bond tax-exempt financing for the renovation of the property.

In January 2005, the housing development corporation approved $131.4 million in Liberty Bond financing for a residential development at 15 William St., at the northwest corner of William and Beaver streets. The Manocherian family had owned the site and planned to build a 38-story residential tower with 373 rental units. The fact that a number of properties adjacent to site are being converted into residential condominiums, including Kent Swig’s 25 Broad St. and probably 40 Broad St., prompted the Manocherians to sell the site earlier this month to Tamir and Alex Sapir and S. Lawrence Davis, principals of SDS Investments, who purchased the site for $90 million. The new owners are planning to build a 48-story residential condominium tower with about 300 units.

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The former eight-story warehouse built in 1913 at 415 Greenwich St. is being converted into 66 residential condominiums. Globix Corporation sold the site -between Hubert, Collister, and Laight streets -for $60 million in January 2004.

Later this year, renovations are expected to begin on the 15-story office building at 90 William St. Joseph Moinian sold the building for $32 million to a partnership of Mario Procida and Louis Greco. They plan to convert the property into 128 luxury residential condominiums.

Next month, the sales center will open at the 13-story building at 120 Greenwich St. In 1999, Barrington Development converted the property from a records-storage facility to a 130-unit rental apartment building. The property is across from the American Stock Exchange and the Deutsche Bank building, which was severely damaged in the terrorist attacks and is being demolished. At 133-135 Greenwich St., a 33-story,100-unit luxury condo building is planned for development by Haysha Deitsch.

A few months ago, the sales office opened at the nine-story former office building at 59 John St., on the northwest corner of William Street and one block north of the Federal Reserve Building. The building has been converted into 74 residential condominium apartments.

Earlier this year, World Wide Holdings sold the 37-story office building at 88 Greenwich St., which is also known as 19 Rector St., to Thorwood Real Estate for $195 million. The 458-unit apartment building is being converted into condominiums. Trade sources indicate that the units will sell for about $900 to $1,000 a square foot.

Construction is expected to begin this March on a 52-story, 250-unit residential condominium building on the site of a six-story garage at 111 Washington St. The property is being developed by the garage owner Gerald Brauser, who plans one underground garage level and six above-ground garage levels.

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Financial institutions are very interested in providing financing for office buildings in Lower Manhattan. Two weeks ago, GMAC Commercial Mortgage Company made a seven-year fixed rate loan of $70 million to a partnership controlled by Silverstein Properties to refinance the 34-story, 600,000-squarefoot building at 120 Wall St. In September, Tishman Speyer Properties sold the 305,000-square-foot office building at 40 Broad St. to Asher and Josh Zamir, principals of Zamir Equities.

Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group arranged a $57.6 million loan from Bear Stearns for the purchase. Last month, Kent Swig Equities obtained a fixed rate loan from North Fork Bank to refinance the 25-story, 320,000-square-foot office building at 5 Hanover Square, which is also known as 66 Beaver St. A few months ago, North Fork provided a long-term loan of $160 million to Donald Trump for the landmarked 72-story, 1.2 million-square-foot building at 40 Wall St. This summer, a 10-year fixed rate loan, at a rate of 5.687% for $250 million, was arranged for the landmarked 54-story, 988,000-square-foot Woolworth Building.

Tax-exempt Liberty Bond financing, as well as financial incentives, have aided the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan. More than 50 office buildings have been converted into residential rentals and condominiums. The population of the area south of City Hall alone has risen to about 33,106 people living in 18,810 units at the end of last year from 24,665 in 14,014 units in 2000. It is only a matter of time before the third-largest business district in America becomes a prominent residential community.

Mr. Stoler is a television broadcaster and senior vice president at First American Title Insurance Company of New York. He can be reached at mstoler@firstam.com.