New York developer offers premium parking spots for $1.3 million

The construction site at 42 Crosby Street, which is being developed into a luxury apartment building with 10 subterranean parking spaces priced at US$1 million (S$1.3 million) per parking space, is seen on Sept 10, 2014 in the SoHo neighborhood of Ne
The construction site at 42 Crosby Street, which is being developed into a luxury apartment building with 10 subterranean parking spaces priced at US$1 million (S$1.3 million) per parking space, is seen on Sept 10, 2014 in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. -- PHOTO: AFP

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - A New York property developer is offering the uber-wealthy the opportunity to buy a condo parking spot for a cool US$1 million (S$1.3 million) - merely six times the value of a typical American home.

The 10 parking spaces are for sale at 42 Crosby Street, the luxury apartment building under construction in the SoHo neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.

Based on the US$1 million price tag, the spots are probably the most expensive residential car spaces in the country, said the broker marketing the seven-story building. "Anyone who lives in Manhattan and has a car knows that parking is a premium in the city," said Shaun Osher, chief executive of the brokerage CORE. "There's definitely a large demand and a short supply." Prices for the spots compare with the US median single-family home value of US$174,800, according to real estate website Zillow. For that price, however, there are few if any residences for sale in trendy SoHo, known for its high-end fashion shops and art galleries Osher said he expected residents of the 10-unit building to snap up the parking spots when the underground spaces, which were approved for construction this week, hit the market.

The building, designed by German-born architect Annabelle Selldorf, will include 10 luxury condominiums priced at a minimum of about $8 million, each with private elevator access.

The 150-to-200-square-foot (14-19 square-metre) parking spaces will be offered under a 99-year license to tenants, who will have the right to transfer or sell their spaces to other building residents.

The pricey spaces will not lack for amenities. Osher said they would come with storage space and electric car charges.

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