Did you See Liberty Luxe & Liberty Green on Open House?

We finally got an inside tour of Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green! The apartment is very spacious and stylish and there is an entire floor of amenities which look great.
You can watch the Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green Open House tour here. There is also mention of Battery Park City in the video and of all the parks and open space we have.

Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green featured on NBC’s Open House

Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green, the new luxury condominium buildings being developed by Milstein Properties in Battery Park City, made some news this week when the website went live with detailed information and a number of renderings, and word got out that the Sales Center opened at 4 World Financial Center. On Wednesday Downtowny posted some rooftop pictures of the two new beautiful towns (see our post here). Now we hear that the property will be featured this Sunday, June 13th, on NBC’s LXTV Open House NYC. The TV show airs at 8:30 am, with an encore at 12:30 pm for all you late-risers. Looking forward to seeing what all the buzz is about.

Battery Park City’s Liberty Twins Partially Unveiled

Photo credit: Downtowny

Downtowny put out a new post with pictures of the beautiful Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green. Liberty Luxe will have a rooftop pool and Liberty Green will have an impressive rooftop deck. For more photos and news read Downtowny’s post here.

More information on Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green: The newest residential addresses in Battery Park City — 471 luxury condominium residences in two interconnected buildings that adopt the latest “Green” technologies worthy of LEED Gold certification. Named Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green, the two buildings — soaring 33 and 23 stories high, respectively — are rising on North End Avenue between Warren and Murray Streets on the last two buildable sites in Battery Park City.

GOING FOR GOLD

GOING FOR GOLD

The newest and last buildings to be built in Battery Park City, the Liberty Luxe-Liberty Green development contains 471 condominium residences and is an applicant for LEED Gold certification. Offering studios to four-bedroom homes, including penthouses with private terraces, square footage ranges from 615 to 2,741. Either oversized or floor-to-ceiling windows frame bamboo floors, and all homes feature Asko washer/dryers. Sub-Zero, Viking and KitchenAid appliances fill the open kitchens as does bamboo and glass cabinetry and Imperial White Danby marble countertops. Simena limestone master baths with Tirreno Gold marble-topped vanities come with Kohler Maestro soaking tubs, and some have separate tubs and shower stalls. The amenity list is long: two roof decks (one with a wading pool, the other with a BBQ grill and outdoor fireplace), fitness centers, yoga studios, lounges with catering kitchens, billiards rooms, playrooms and a screening room. The full-service buildings include around-the-clock doorman service and valet parking. From low $700,000s. LATE 2010

MARTIN BRADY – LIBERTYLUXEGREEN.COM –  THE MARKETING DIRECTORS, INC.

LIBERTY LUXE AND LIBERTY GREEN

LIBERTY LUXE AND LIBERTY GREEN: Located at 200 and 300 North End Avenue adjacent to “The Ballfields” In Battery Park City. Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green feature 471 condominium residences in one of New York’s most family-friendly neighborhoods. Rising 33 and 23 stories high, the new “Green” buildings from Millstein Properties offer dramatic views and a variety of studio-to-four-bedroom floorplans ranging from 615-2,741 square feet. Private amenities Include fitness centers with yoga rooms, lounges with catering kitchens, children’s playrooms, valet-operated garage. 24-hour doormen and outdoor roof terraces with a wading pool and barbeque area. The Asphalt Green Battery Park City
community center connects the two buildings.

For more information, call 212-945-4200 or visit www.libertyluxegreen.com.

Fannie Mae warms to BPC’s Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green

April 26, 2010

Fannie Mae warms to BPC’s Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green
Grants ‘conditional approval’ to mortgage sales in Milford’s new condominiums

There’s a glimmer of good news for people whose attempts to buy or sell condos in Battery Park City have been frustrated by confusion among lenders over Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) proscriptions. Fannie Mae buys mortgages from banks and bundles them into securities that are then sold to investors. The banks use the proceeds from these sales to make more mortgage loans, but can sell the original mortgages only when Fannie Mae agrees that they meet its guidelines. Fannie Mae has balked recently at backing mortgages secured by real estate subject to Battery Park City’s ground leases.
 
The most recent development is that Fannie Mae has granted “conditional approval” to the two newest condominiums in Battery Park City, Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green, now under construction on North End Avenue and expected to open in 2011. A spokesman for Fannie Mae explained that “‘conditional approval’ means that even if a building does not currently meet our requirements, we are satisfied that it will and have therefore notified lenders that we will purchase mortgages for apartments within that project.”
 
Concerning the larger problem of existing Battery Park City condos where lenders appear to have stopped making loans until they receive assurances from Fannie Mae that it will accept these mortgages as consistent with its guidelines, a source familiar with ongoing discussions between real estate companies, Fannie Mae and the Battery Park City Authority, says that “we’re very close to getting approvals for three more buildings – Liberty House, Liberty Terrace and Liberty Court.” This source says that Fannie Mae officials have already given informal, verbal approval about a number of technical issues (such as whether each building has a sufficient reserve fund) that were the last obstacles delaying official acceptance of each of these buildings. The final, written approval for these three is expected in the next several weeks.
 
Further progress on this issue, which should benefit all Battery Park City condos, has also recently been made in separate discussions that have focused on the ground leases each building has with the Battery Park City Authority. A source familiar with these discussions notes that Fannie Mae, assisted by an outside law firm that it retained for this purpose, is nearly finished reviewing all of the ground leases and is expected to issue soon a written declaration that they meet the agency’s guidelines. Once released, this letter will be made available to the managing agents and boards of each condo, and can be used by condo buyers or sellers to assure a prospective lender that a mortgage is eligible for sale to Fannie Mae. “Overall, they now appear to be satisfied with the leases,” this source explained. “We’re just waiting for the final sign-offs and then the problem should be resolved.”

  – Matthew Fenton

Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green, now rising on North End Avenue, gained Fannie Mae's "conditional approval," enabling mortgage sales to go forward. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Fannie Mae Begins Thawing Frozen BPC Market

Battery Park City’s market has been in the midst of a little ice age since Fannie Mae all but stopped buying individual mortgages on BPC condos and co-ops. The problem? The area’s complicated ground leases. But there were signs of a thaw when Fannie enlisted an outside law firm to come up with ground lease CliffsNotes. And now it looks like Battery Park City’s skipping spring and heading straight for summer. Broadsheet Daily reports that Fannie will soon be issuing a statement okaying all ground leases. And two new condos on North End Avenue, Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green, have already gotten “conditional approval,” meaning Fannie is likely to purchase mortgages within the building. A Broadsheet Daily source says approval will probably follow for three more buildings, Liberty House, Liberty Terrace, and Liberty Court. Is it getting hot out here?

From Crain’s New York Business.com; Fannie cuts Battery Park City a break

Big mortgage buyer gives green light to purchasing loans secured by condos in the lower Manhattan neighborhood after an extensive review of the terms of the buildings’ ground leases.

By Amanda Fung

Battery Park City residents hoping to sell their apartments can breathe a little easier. Fannie Mae said it will back loans in the Manhattan waterfront neighborhood now that it has completed its review of the neighborhood’s ground leases.

Residents in the neighborhood have to pay rent for the land their buildings stand on. Each of the dozen or so buildings in the area has its own ground lease. Those ground lease fees, which are factored into residents’ monthly payments, could more than double as the leases expire in 2011. That potentially steep rise would have to be taken into account in the underwriting of loans in the neighborhood. Two months ago, Fannie Mae said it was reviewing these ground leases.

“Fannie Mae is sending a letter to the lenders who have originated—or have expressed to us an intent to originate—mortgages secured by condominiums in Battery Park City, informing them that the ground leases on the established condominium projects have been reviewed and are acceptable,” the government-backed entity said in a statement. “We will continue to accept deliveries of eligible loans secured by condominium units in Battery Park City.”

Just last month, two new luxury condominiums in the neighborhood developed by Milstein Properties—Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green—were granted preliminary approval by Fannie Mae. That meant Fannie Mae would purchase mortgages granted to buyers in the buildings. The conditional approval makes it easier for buyers to purchase condos in the two new sprawling developments. In total the two complexes will have 471 units.

“I think Fannie Mae made the right decision,” said Cynthia Crowley, director of relocation at boutique residential brokerage Olshan Realty. “I’m glad they are looking at the value of the area as a whole.”

Last month, Fannie Mae said it has more than $100 million in loans secured by condominiums in Battery Park City in its mortgage-backed securities and portfolio. Since September, Fannie Mae has purchased more than 30 loans for condo units in the area.