I took a look at the Avalon apartments next door yesterday. Some of them had great layouts. But the rents are so high--$1680 to $4900. If you are making $100,000 a year you are going to feel very poor living there. Think about how much more valuable our coops are. The sublet prices in this building are dirt cheap in comparison to Avalon. We also have better views then they do.

The one thing we should consider changing at Citylights is the deck space outside. I think a community barbaque area would bring more people out there.

Those rents sound high to me too, but may be reasonable to those used to paying Manhattan rents. (i.e. someone renting a studio in Manhattan might be able to afford a 1-bedroom here) Anyway if the apartments don't rent, they can always lower the prices. Avalon seems to know what they are doing - they own lots of successful rental buildings in the Tri-state area & around the U.S. Good luck to them. Avalon's success will be great for Citylights & LIC in general.

Re: the decks. A barbeque area sounds fun, but might get complaints about smoke & noise from neighbors. I wonder if its ever been looked into. Speaking of deck space, I've been watching the construction of the Riverview's public deck area from my apartment - lots of trees, looks very nice.

I agree, the apartments sound nice, but I think they are priced too high for me, but their success make Citylights that more valuable. There are plenty of other repair projects that deserve attention that would increase shareholder value. We don't need fancy rooftop deck or business centers. I'd settle for some of the basic R&M work that has been promised to us for several years. Our board has been quiet some time - anyone know whats going on?

I too went across the street to see what they had to offer.They are out of touch. Either they did not hear of Sept.11 nor do they know about the recession. The rents here at CL are what the demand/market will bear.There are a lot of rentals here that have been waiting and waiting since late last year.Also, don't ignore the FACT that there are millions and millions of square feet immediately available in Manhattan right now with 30% off and with the 11th and 12th month rent being waived free. In short it is a Renters Market and will be for now.

I went again to take a better look at the apartments. They said they only have four of each apartment left up to the ninth floor. They also said they are raising the rents because people are so interested in renting. I guess people from the City think this is a great find. Avalon is creating a lot of hype about this new building. I hope it doesn't backfire on them.

Wishful thinking can make you feel better, but it has no effect on the market. Unless the Avalon can make it worth peoples' money to charge such high rents, it will not be successful and will need to lower its rates significantly. I too saw the apartments and the number of people turning out to take a peek; quite a few were "curiosity" folks from Citylights. On the basis of the number of signatures in their guestbook, I estimated that approximately 240 people had visited during the first 4 hours of February 2nd - a far cry from the 4,000 people supposedly on the "waiting list". By the time I went, the crowd seemed thin. A few people looked like they were truly interested but were only considering the "cheapest" apartments. In fact, one woman asked "what's the cheapest studio that you have?". Few folks looked like they could afford much more. As for the real estate agent stating that they only have a few more apartments left, what else do you expect them to say?