So with the spring renovation season beginning in the Northeast — identified in the housing study as one of the areas of the country where remodeling spending is highest — what should prospective renovators keep in mind?
Mr. Duffy, whose company is backed by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, immediately outbid five other prospective tenants and began renovations.
He said that the archdiocese originally expected only a half-dozen students, but that continuing renovations prevented parents of prospective students from touring the school.
Jonathan Scott will use CGI to show you what your prospective house can look like after renovations.
One complicating factor, he said, is that a museum annex next to the retail space is undergoing a major renovation and that some prospective tenants have expressed reservations about noise and other distractions.
The prospective buyers would have to spend millions on renovation, but agent Paul Massey says buyers are already in the wings.
Prospective buyers should plan for other costs that may arise, such as insurance, renovations and maintenance, Evans says.
Once prospective tenants had a chance to see the results of the $100 million renovation, they would be won over, he predicted.
Showing a prospective tenant actual improvements, he said, is vastly more effective than showing plans for renovations to be done contingent on the signing of a lease.
The 140,000-square-foot building, which has spectacular views of Manhattan and New York Harbor, will undergo $36 million in exterior and roof renovation work, to be completed in 2003, to make it more attractive to prospective developers.
Under the plan, prospective tenants could lease a corner or an entire floor, but they would need to pay for most of the cosmetic renovations, said Betsy Jacobs, vice president of operations for the Y.M.C.A. of Greater New York.
