Ever since the early 1800s, when Clement Clarke Moore first started offering sub-divided lots of his Chelsea estate in West Manhattan for sale to the newly rich New Yorkers, property in Chelsea has been at a premium. Larger buildings holding several residential units have long been common. Back in 1930, when the London terrace was completed, it was one of the world’s largest apartment blocks, containing a swimming pool, gymnasium, and solarium. Its doormen were even dressed as London bobbies (policemen).
The whole Chelsea neighborhood is primarily residential, with townhouses, tenements, apartment blocks, and city housing projects intermixed with renovated rowhouses. The population is ethnically and socially diverse and this is reflected in the wide variety of shops, small businesses, restaurants, and bars in the neighborhood. In addition, the west end of Chelsea has grown to be a center for the arts in New York.
New Ones Are Rare
The officially designated Chelsea Historic District was set up in 1970 and has been subsequently extended by both the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and the National Register of Historic Places to protect buildings and city blocks which are considered to be especially significant examples of period architecture. Even the old elevated railway line has been preserved by turning it into a unique, 1 mile long but relatively narrow public park known as the High Line Park. Besides providing a stretch of open-air greenery within a city, the park is also used to host cultural events.
However, not everything can (or should be) preserved, and opportunities for redevelopment do crop up from time to time for new condo blocks within the Chelsea district. Some recent examples have been in West Chelsea, close to the Hudson River, particularly in locations that used to be near the derelict railway that is now the innovated High Line Public Park.
So at this moment in time, it is still possible to find new condos for sale in West Chelsea. For more information, Contact Lantern House.
