The Market

Was your bowling lane born in a PR conference room?

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By Teri Karush Rogers  |
November 10, 2010 - 4:05PM
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Over drinks last spring, an exec at one of the city's better-known real estate PR firms confessed that during the boom, she and her colleagues spent many hours brainstorming the amenities that would make the biggest media splash for a new development: Developers preferred that calculus to the potential effect on unit owners' common charges down the road.   CurbedNY's "Amenity Deathmatch" poll,  asking readers to vote on which condo--15 Broad (downtown) or The Aldyn (UWS) has the better bowling lane --reminds us of that conversation. In Curbed's "building vs. building showdown based solely on the things that drive up maintenance costs and never get used," The Aldyn has received 76% of the votes for best lane at last check. 

One commenter rejects the notion that bowling alleys, pools and other amenities drive up prices: "I live at 15 Broad, and can tell you that the maintenance costs are very reasonable..Try finding another building in NYC where maintenance is less than $1 sq/ft.. while having an elevator, doormen, Pool, Jacuzzi, Bowling Alley, Steam room, squash court, movie theater, Gym, and basketball court, and a 5000+ sq/ft common roof deck.."

Another is bemused. "[I]don't understand new yorkers' desire to bring basketball courts or bowling alleys to their basements. stand back if these sophisticates ever find out about insinkerators."
 
In what is perhaps a sign of less exorbitant times, The Aldyn is sharing its amenities with a sister rental building.  Budget-friendly? Yes.  But renters and owners are not necessarily known for blending seamlessly into one apartment-dwelling nation.  As one StreetEasy commenter notes, "Sounds messy."  (CurbedNY; StreetEasy)
 
 
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Teri Karush Rogers

Founder & Publisher

Founder and publisher Teri Karush Rogers launched Brick Underground in 2009. As a freelance journalist, she had previously covered New York City real estate for The New York Times. Teri has been featured as an expert on New York City residential real estate by The New York Times, New York Daily News, amNew York, NBC Nightly News, The Real Deal, Business Insider, the Huffington Post, and NY1 News, among others. Teri earned a BA in journalism and a law degree from New York University.

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