Multiple Walker Tower Owners Also Buying Units in Sister Property Stella Towers
Take two Art Deco commercial buildings designed by Robert Walker in the roaring twenties and mix in a little 21st century residential conversion magic by JDS Development Group, Property Markets Group, and Starwood Capital Group, and what do you get?
Apparently two highly successful projects that now have even more in common – owners who have purchased units in both buildings.
Clearly pleased with their initial investment (where sales only opened two years ago), no less than six of the Chelsea-based Walker Tower owners have added a unit at Hell’s Kitchen’s Stella Tower to their residential portfolio in the last six weeks alone. While some have taken advantage of the more than modest increases in price at the former and flipped their units for a swift and sweet profit, others have chosen to hold onto both properties; one will be renting the Stella unit, and two others have purchased apartments in the building for their children.
While other Walker owners are looking to similarly double up on their holdings, that may prove to be easier said than done as 60% of the condominiums at Stella Tower are already off the market a mere 6 weeks into the sales cycle.
According to Michael Stern, head of JDS Development, the buildings’ popularity stems from the care taken with each conversion, which maintained the increasingly rare Art Deco details particularly in many of the public areas, such as the lobby, corridors and façade, yet provided residents with individual units that are decidedly modern, incorporating high end finishes and conveniences.
[Via Crain’s New York Business]
Main images courtesy of Walker Tower and Stella Tower
