Haute Residence New York Luxury Real Estate Summit Recap: ‘East Coast Titan Developers’ Panel Disc...

During Haute Residence’s second annual New York Luxury Real Estate Summit, which took place November 18 in The Oak Room of The Plaza Hotel, New York’s real estate experts spoke about current luxury real estate trends, success stories, and what’s next for The Empire State’s booming real estate market.

The summit featured three panels, the first of which was the “East Coast Titan Developers”––moderated by Gerri Willis, business news anchor and reporter for Fox Business––followed by the second and third panels, the “New York Real Estate Power Players” and the “Next Generation of Power.”

In the first panel, big-name developers Robert Gladstone, Francis Greenburger, Miki Naftali, Don Peebles, Michael Stern, and William Zeckendorf, discussed where buyers are coming from, new opportunities for foreign capital, and defining a “luxury” property.

Gerri Willis: Where are the majority of the buyers in the New York City luxury market coming from and what are they looking for in a potential property?

William Zeckendorf: “We believe that 85 percent of the market is New York-driven, coming from the tri-state area, and 15 percent is from oversees. And that’s always been the number I’ve seen for as long as I can remember. The countries change in terms of which countries are coming to New York and which are not, but this market, unlike London, is mostly driven by the local market.”

Robert Gladstone: “One of the issues in New York is that there is flight capital and it’s coming here. Those buyers are afraid to be taxed like everyone else in this room is. So, that is the only deterrent to there not being a London experience in New York City. And if we did change our tax policies, and move the slogans aside, and try to encourage the wealth of the world to take homes here… Imagine what this city would be like if there was a loosening of some of the tax rules to really attract wealthy foreigners and not so wealthy foreigners.”

Photos by Craig Barritt