288 pages, Little, Brown and Company, ISBN-13: 978-0316608510
I wonder who Betty Spero was and why she gave this gift from Steve away. It’s right there on the inner page, written in permanent ink, for anyone to see: “For Betty Spero – Best Wishes – Steve”. Perhaps Betty wasn’t a fan of author Steven Gaines? Maybe this book in particular, The Sky’s the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan didn’t interest her? (I have to admit: if I didn’t get this thing for a mere $1 from Barnes & Noble on Rochester Road, I doubt that I would have bought it myself; I mean, a book for a buck? How could I go wrong?).
But there is no question that The Sky’s the Limit is intended for a niche market: namely, anyone who wants to know the ins-and-outs of celebrities buying seven and eight figure properties in Manhattan and all the machinations involved in finding the most prestigious property or the swankest address or, hell, just to get past the damn co-op boards. But there is more to this book than just this light gossipy stuff: for instance, there is some genuinely useful factual information, as when Gaines provides the history of a number of historic buildings in Manhattan, going so far as two devote not one, but two, chapters to The Ansonia. It turns out that many of these grand old buildings were transformed from hotels into co-ops which, ironically enough, started out as a socialist-inspired movement for dirt-poor tenants to buy and own their own buildings, but which has transformed into the ultimate exclusive club for the very rich. To counter this trend, high-end condos, which do not have the strict cliquish boards like co-ops do, began their rise to the top of the oh-so-exclusive Manhattan real estate market at the expense of co-ops. Hey, if you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em, I say.
Gaines’ does his yeoman work in attempting to make these crass self-promoting real estate brokers and vapid too-rich socialites anyone outside of Manhattan has never heard of into real-life characters, but they’re all really just bland human beings who have nothing to recommend them but money. The (rather abrupt) end of the book discusses the recent opening of the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle with its many very high-end condos, and Gaines illustrates some recent trends in his discussion of the multi-million dollar condos there, such as the recent resurgence of condos over co-ops, and the movement of some of the very high-end real estate off of Park and Fifth Avenues to the West Side, or even further downtown, to SoHo. But I think an extra chapter with Gaines’ final thoughts about the future of high-end real estate in Manhattan would have been quite interesting indeed; given these recent trends that he cites, I would have liked to have read about what he thinks the future holds for Manhattan luxury real estate.
But for all that, I liked The Sky’s the Limit and it’s exposing of the Manhattan luxury real estate market: the hoity-toity book called the “Social Register” dictating who can live where; the various co-op boards in luxury buildings that often require a buyer to have at least 20 times (!) in assets over the asking price of the apartment; and the cost of an apartment rarely holding any relationship to the true value of the space. Indeed, Manhattan real estate is a cutthroat, baffling (but thrilling) world, and Gaines takes readers on a spectacular ride through it. Real estate done by the social register, Gaines implies, may be a thing of the past. His last chapter focuses on a new breed of Manhattan brokers, those who are solely interested in racking up sales. A gossipy, entertaining peek into a glam world you and I have no hope in joining. Oh well.
But there is no question that The Sky’s the Limit is intended for a niche market: namely, anyone who wants to know the ins-and-outs of celebrities buying seven and eight figure properties in Manhattan and all the machinations involved in finding the most prestigious property or the swankest address or, hell, just to get past the damn co-op boards. But there is more to this book than just this light gossipy stuff: for instance, there is some genuinely useful factual information, as when Gaines provides the history of a number of historic buildings in Manhattan, going so far as two devote not one, but two, chapters to The Ansonia. It turns out that many of these grand old buildings were transformed from hotels into co-ops which, ironically enough, started out as a socialist-inspired movement for dirt-poor tenants to buy and own their own buildings, but which has transformed into the ultimate exclusive club for the very rich. To counter this trend, high-end condos, which do not have the strict cliquish boards like co-ops do, began their rise to the top of the oh-so-exclusive Manhattan real estate market at the expense of co-ops. Hey, if you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em, I say.
Gaines’ does his yeoman work in attempting to make these crass self-promoting real estate brokers and vapid too-rich socialites anyone outside of Manhattan has never heard of into real-life characters, but they’re all really just bland human beings who have nothing to recommend them but money. The (rather abrupt) end of the book discusses the recent opening of the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle with its many very high-end condos, and Gaines illustrates some recent trends in his discussion of the multi-million dollar condos there, such as the recent resurgence of condos over co-ops, and the movement of some of the very high-end real estate off of Park and Fifth Avenues to the West Side, or even further downtown, to SoHo. But I think an extra chapter with Gaines’ final thoughts about the future of high-end real estate in Manhattan would have been quite interesting indeed; given these recent trends that he cites, I would have liked to have read about what he thinks the future holds for Manhattan luxury real estate.
But for all that, I liked The Sky’s the Limit and it’s exposing of the Manhattan luxury real estate market: the hoity-toity book called the “Social Register” dictating who can live where; the various co-op boards in luxury buildings that often require a buyer to have at least 20 times (!) in assets over the asking price of the apartment; and the cost of an apartment rarely holding any relationship to the true value of the space. Indeed, Manhattan real estate is a cutthroat, baffling (but thrilling) world, and Gaines takes readers on a spectacular ride through it. Real estate done by the social register, Gaines implies, may be a thing of the past. His last chapter focuses on a new breed of Manhattan brokers, those who are solely interested in racking up sales. A gossipy, entertaining peek into a glam world you and I have no hope in joining. Oh well.
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