Execs Disagree on Future of Condo Market

WHITE PLAINS-One of the hot topics at the Second Annual RealShare Westchester County event on Tuesday was the state of the luxury condominium market in the county. With high-rise condo ventures either under construction or in the approval process in White Plains, New Rochelle and Yonkers, executive vice presidents with a noted local developer and a major commercial brokerage firm had different views on where that market is headed.

Bruce Berg, executive vice president with Cappelli Enterprises, Inc. of Valhalla, NY, said that sales are brisk at both the firm's high-rise projects in New Rochelle and White Plains.

When asked how deep the buyer pool is in Westchester by panel moderator Michael Siegel of CB Richard Ellis, Berg responded, "It is hard to say. We haven't seen the end of it yet." He noted that the firm sold out the more than 240 units that made up the Trump Tower and adjoining loft building in Downtown White Plains in just six months and has sold about 40% of the Trump Plaza high-rise in the past three months.

Berg said that there is demand for luxury condos from both Westchester County and New York City. "The velocity still seems to be there." He added that the market is not overbuilt, as is the case in Las Vegas and Miami, and that there is still strong demand from a host of demographic segments in the region. "I don't see the end of the market," Berg said, "and I think frankly we haven't really touched the tip of that iceberg."

Craig King, commissioner of development for the City of New Rochelle, chimed in, "In my judgment in New Rochelle and in White Plains there is a tremendous kind of demographic that I see will survive business cycles." King noted that there are a significant amount of baby boomers that are selling their houses in the county, but looking to remain in the area that are purchasing these luxury condominiums.

"I think that the successes in White Plains and in New Rochelle reflect the underlying demand that I agree is just getting started," he said.

Panel member Andy Merin, executive vice president of Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets group, disagreed. "What we are sensing in the market is we are going to take a breath in the next 12 to 24 months in our opinion from a housing perspective."

Merin cites the soft single-family home market will affect luxury condo sales and high construction costs will "make deals coming out of the ground in terms of new product difficult to justify."

Approximately 300 people attended the RealShare Westchester held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains. RealShare was a presentation of Real Estate Media, the parent company of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com.