Everyone knows that Manhattan is a jungle of skyscrapers. Little is known about their relationships with the tiny buildings, that are dwarfed next to them. They are small but own valuable rights, called transferrable development rights or air-rights which can be sold. Those in the know, such as real estate developers, are rushing to buy them so they can build supertowers and make lots of money by selling apartments higher up with unobstructed views. So – the air is for sale and not even the sky is the limit.
Many blocks in Midtown East are still filled with smaller dwellings, such as 5-floor walk-ups. Among them is a 19th century beaux-art style town house near 2 Avenue on E. 34th Street, a New York landmark, serving as a cultural club – called Estonian House. Unique in its tinyness and ownership, it took for years to sell its air-rights, mostly due to strong oppositon from the older generation of American Estonians. The board of th ehosue allowed the sale last year but it was a complicated matter. I am going to study what are the benefits, downsides and the future of the house.
Sources:
-President of the Estonian House, Dr. Toomas Sorra, promised to give me the contacts, including Robert Shapiro, a broker from the City Center Real Estate, who mitigated the deal for the Estonian House.
– I am looking for shareholders in the Estonian community who were against or pro to give up the rights to developers.
-I am planning to interview residents or business owners in the neighborhood
– owners next to the Estonian House are building something new, maybe they were the buyers of the air-rights.
-attend CB meeting
Factiva search outcome:
http://global.factiva.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ha/default.aspx
http://global.factiva.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ha/default.aspx
http://global.factiva.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ha/default.aspx
