Air prices still affordable, industry insiders say.

It turns out last week's record-breaking sale of air rights for $430 per s/f is likely to be a one-time deal.

Industry experts say the sale, which involved the transfer of air rights over Park Avenue and East 60th Street to the Zeckendorf brothers for the creation of a new luxury condominium high rise, achieved such a great value because of the developers' certainty that they would get their money back once the condos started selling.

In general, however, air right prices are still hovering around the $300 per s/f level and might go down if the residential market continues to cool off.

According to Ron Solarz, senior managing director of Eastern Consolidated, "Air rights could potentially be the most valuable part of the development, but the price depends on how bad the developer wants the air rights and if it will add a tremendous amount of value for the building."

"Everything depends on location--that was such a great price because it was a great location," adds his colleague Eric Anton.

Even Robert Von Ancken, the Grubb & Ellis appraiser who served as an advisor on the deal, admits that the price was not representative of the general market.

"There are so many air rights available in New York City, but you have to have the right site," he notes. "I think this is a special situation. The Zeckendorfs feel that they can afford to pay more for the air rights, more than anyone else, because they are in a great location and they'll get some really high prices for the condominiums."

How high? To justify what they paid for the extra heights each square foot would have to go for around $1,500 to $1,600.

"If there is still demand for condos, if the value of condos will keep going up, this deal is going to make sense," says Bart Zimmerman, of Itzhaki Properties. "And for a property overlooking Central Park? Yes, I think they'll get that. It's all about location, location, location and you can't beat that one."

Von Ancken notes that air rights can also be of great value when it comes to office buildings because commercial rents tend to go up with each floor--successful air right deals have recently been completed at 300 Madison Ave. and 505 Fifth Ave.--but he assures that there are a lot of air rights in New York City that are not worth a cent.

"The majority of buildings here have some sort of air rights, but you can't use them," he explains. "When brokers are selling properties now, they say that you have a five-story multiple dwelling with air rights, but if next to it is another five-story building no one will ever buy them. You can never do anything with them."

"One thing you shouldn't do is generalize," says Solarz. "The price of air rights is very deal specific and always location specific."

"People who own property in New York can make or break fortunes based on what kinds of air rights they have," adds Zimmerman. "You really have to go case by case."