Harlem Real Estate Scene Is Booming; NoHa Is Born

As real estate markets soared, NoHo, SoHo, Tribeca and Dumbo, among other catchy monikers emerged. Welcome SpaHa, SoHa and the newly anointed NoHa as Harlem real estate booms.

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By Amanda Burrill

“North Harlem, NoHa, is 125th Street up to 150th Street and it’s a seller’s market,” says Walter King, 81, a tenured real estate agent working at the Douglas Elliman agency on Frederick Douglass Boulevard.

“As a real estate market picks up speed, a good phrase or abbreviation can help an agent sell,” he says. “If it has a nickname, it seems hip.”

And the NoHa catchphrase is certainly helping the Harlem real estate upswing.

“Open houses can have 30 eager people,” King says. “We’re getting asking price or over for condos, co-ops and townhouses.” King bought a Harlem brownstone in 1998 for $450,000 that was last assessed at $2 million, which is great for King, but not for all long-time homeowners.

Manhattan’s working-class once sought affordable digs in Harlem, but now it’s not so easy. With sprawling apartment and condo complexes popping up, record real estate sales and an influx of upscale retail spaces, the only way for some owners to keep their Harlem homes might be to put the property in a trust to avoid certain taxes.

Long-time homeowners have to think about huge tax bills. “If you bought a place for $80,000 in 1985 and it’s worth over a million now, the taxes can kill you. A lot of people put the place in a trust. I’ve seen that a lot. Then it goes to the kids,” says King.

King acknowledges that the property values have had a positive effect in other areas. Crime, for example, has gone down and people King’s age can sell and move to warmer climates with plenty of cash left over.

The influx of purchasers in NoHa is affluent, which does not bode well for current residents.

Data from the Furman Center shows that Central Harlem had the lowest median income in Manhattan in 2006, at $27,000. In 2012, median income was $32,000. The average brownstone in the area now goes for $1.65 million. The majority of people renting in Harlem will never be able to buy a home there.

“I’ve been here 10 years,” says Frank Clark, 51, who lives at 410 St. Nicholas Ave., in an apartment high rise. “I’ve seen new management force people out. The rent is so high now. I couldn’t dream of buying.”

Tony and Carla Chapelle bought a townhouse at 238 W. 132nd Street five years ago and a year later the property value went up by over $300,000. The home, three stories with three separate residences, is worth almost a million now and the top two units are rented out to tenants.

“It helps with the mortgage,” says Carla Chapelle. “I feel safe here. The crime is pretty low.”

But mention NoHa and she has no idea what it is. “I’ve never heard that. But it doesn’t surprise me,” she said.

* denotes housing bubble

* denotes housing bubble

There are other notable happenings in the Harlem real estate scene. In July, actor Neil Patrick Harris bought an 8,000 square-foot townhouse on 5th Avenue for $3.6 million, setting a neighborhood record. ABS Partners Real Estate released a statement in July that they served as representation and for both sellers and buyer of two large development lots on 126th Street that went for $6.6 million. The purchaser, a Chinese development company, plans to build a large hotel. Columbia University is building a sprawling expansion from 125th to 133rd Streets.

Faith Consolo, chairman of retail at Douglas Elliman, is committed to developing the NoHa area, having shown retail spaces to big banks, New York Wine, Le Pan Quotidien, among others. “There’s so much going on,” she told the New York Post. “Residential is driving it.”

She was talking about the new residents brought in under the NoHa brand.

“I’m telling you, people are creative,” says Walter King. “Dumbo, SoHo, all these other places. Now there’s SoHa and NoHa. I haven’t heard of EHa! Oh, wait, that’s SpaHa!”

 

(Featured photo by  Amanda Burrill)

 

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2 comments on “Harlem Real Estate Scene Is Booming; NoHa Is Born

  1. Steven Norman on said:

    Informative and well written!

  2. Samantha Marie on said:

    Very interesting!

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