Y2K will see spurt in Chelsea condo market.

There is no better proof of the depth of the market for high quality condominium homes than the fact that select residences at the Chelsea Mercantile have sold for an average of $580 per square-foot.

The Manhattan condo market h entered the year 2000 with so much momentum that it promises even to outdo 1999, which itself was one of the strongest ever years for sales an prices. For example, consume demand drove Rockrose Development Corp. to raise prices at the Chelsea Mercantile, our full service loft condominium building, 11 times last year.

But let's not forget another important factor driving new Manhattan condominium sales: the simple superiority of the product now on the market. The average conversion or new condominium today offers amenities, construction quality and other elements of enduring value that simply make them better investments than most existing condominiums. As they come onto the market, it follows that they will sell at higher prices.

Look at my favorite example -- the Chelsea Mercantile. The original structures were built around the last turn of the century. The building is attractive and solid. It offers huge windows, vast open loft spaces and uncommon ceiling heights, many as high as 14 feet.

To this promising raw material, we are adding a spectacular rotunda lobby that alone would be enough to convince buyers. There will also be a 10,000 square-foot rooftop sundeck and recreational area with views of the Downtown Manhattan skyline, the sunset on the Western horizon, and the Empire State Building to the Northeast.

Like other new condos, the Chelsea Mercantile offers other amenities that are not found or are not of the same quality in condos and cooperatives that came onto the market 10 or 15 years ago. There are private and secure storage rooms for every apartment. The courtyard will be a plush landscaped garden where the only sounds heard will be the trickle of falling water and the rustle of leaves.

The building is also pre-wired so that every apartment will have eight phone lines, cable wiring and choice of Time Warner or RCN telecom providers pre-installed. There will also be top-of-the-line energy-conserving thermostats, operable sound- and energy-insulated windows, garbage disposals, washer and dryer hook-ups and closed-circuit monitoring of the lobby via cable television. A fully equipped fitness center and adjacent children's play room, concierge, doorman and underground parking garage with direct elevator access complete the package.

Lofts Come of Age

Loft apartments were once considered somewhat unusual, as well as somewhat glamorous. They were found almost exclusively in the neighborhoods of SoRo and TriBeCa.

Today, loft living appeals to a far larger audience. Loft conversions are appearing across the city in neighborhoods where you would expect them, like Chelsea, and in neighborhoods where you might not, like the Upper West Side.

The lure of loft living and a more exciting environment is also breaking down neighborhood loyalty, among younger buyers in particular. A key element in this change is, again, that buildings like the Chelsea Mercantile offer service and amenities that parallel what is expected at the most exclusive uptown buildings.

The latest data from our sales and rental offices around the city show that residents of the Upper East and Upper West Sides are now moving Downtown at twice 1994's rate. In our data, current Downtown residents dropped from nearly two-thirds (67 percent) of buyers in new Downtown buildings, to less than half (40 percent).

Rockrose has developed more than 6,000 apartments in New York City over the last 29 years. We've never seen anything like this market. Condominiums in the year 2000 look set to party like it's 1999, and then some.