Newsday from New York, New York • 82

View From the Top Of Condos, Co-ops luxury as a major building in an established location having the ultimate in amenities. Metropolitan Tower, at 146 W. 57th is one of those, he noted. Of course, being the exclusive sales agent for Metropolitan might prejudice Burnett, but the condos amenities offered do back his definition. Theres a health club and dining room on the 31st floor.

Room service is also available. Up one flight is a housekeeping floor consisting of 14 units. This enables your domestic help to live close at hand, yet not in your own apartment. Each at those units goes for $140,000. Other amenities include a rooftop observation deck, an indoor garage and a waiting lounge so long as interest rates stay down, this will be a strong market.

Added Dennis A. Herman, developer of 60 East 88th Street, If you have a quality product with a certain degree of uniqueness, in the right location certain degree oi uniqueness, in tne right location your chauffeur doesnt-have to sit udiiy ufyour and know your market, you should makeout OK. Eusineuntil you arrive. Theres also a eommu- you i Continued from Page 1 cauae the kind of people who participate dont have to worry about layoffs. In recent years the upper-cruet segment has been propelled by a combination of factors, including foreign investment, the metropolitan areas healthy economy, people who have built up piles of equity as housing prices soared and corporations who have gotten into the act.

Another factor is that the condominium market did not exist in New York City until 1981; since then it has attracted more and more interest. SOME STUDIES have indicated that the increasing number of condominiums in this rarefied class has made the market soft in Manhattan, but Sopher, whose firm rents or sells 200 units a week, thinks a better word is competitive. With 12 buildings under construction and 14 more on the boards, people have a bigger and are taking longer to make up their minds. As a result, it takes longer for some things to sell. Theyre saying its soft because some guy who bought an apartment seven or eight years ago for $75,000 on Central Park West is trying to sell his place for $1.5 million, but can only get $1.2.

As. On Long Island, not only is the market strong, but "Theres a shortage of luxury product on the North Shore, especially in Great Neck, said Jade Sommer, managing agent for North Shore Towers on the Queens side of the border with Nassau. Thumb through the realty ads and theres little doubt that one of the most used words is luxury. "I think every builder would like to perceive his building as being luxurious, said Herman. "However, upon inspection, the term disintegrates very quickly if you look at what you get.

There are three categories of luxury how, said Robert Burnett, vice president and director of new construction sales at Manhattans J. Raynes Inc. super-luxury, luxury and those that claim the label of luxury but really arent. In the first category are "only a handful, he said. "I define super- ni cations center with telex and stock ticker.

And should you need your shoes Bhined, just place them outside your door for the concierge. Already one-third sold, prices for the 246 units start at $840,000 for a one-bedroom and go up to $5 million for the penthouse. Of course, tbues a bonus attached to owning the penthouse sitting atop this 78-story black-glass building. Having it would make you the owner of the highest residential apartment in all Mnliwjn YOURE EXCITED NOW, but before you make out your check to Metropolitan, consider 60 East 88th Street. To developer Dennis A.

Herman, "One of the key factors in luxury is not being trampled by one or two hundred people circulating through the building at the prime times of 8 to 10 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. His 15-story condominium has only 18 apartments, with no more than two on any one story. Six are full-floor units. Buying into this building, with its whirlpool a and ing, wil tubs and circular driveway leading up to the An interior view of the penthouse condo at The Tower at Montauk, which comes completely furnished down to the silverware, and an $800,000 view of the village and the ocean from the eighth-floor balcony of the tallest building in the area en-.

trance, are large corporations and people who want a certain style of living that cant be duplicated anywhere else, said Herman. Were attracting some incredibly well-known people, he added. "But many of these people dont go looking for themselves. They send out two or three representatives who go through the marketplace and come back with a list. Included on that list are the prices, which at 60 East range from $810,000 for a two-bedroom to $2.2 million for a 5-bedroom, 4V4-bath, full-floor unit.

To stand out among the clutter, many of the new buildings entering the market have found it a must to be unique. The Channel Club, on York and East 86th, offers a media room with a large-screen TV for business conferences. Theres also a wine cellar and an adjacent bed-and-b reakfast inn where visiting guests can stay. The Royal, on 188 E. 64th boasts a grand salon for residents personal entertaining use, an iron fence complete with gate at the entrance and a uniformed gatekeeper, Should tbs exact lu be available.

Hank Sopher said hes buying three adjacent units in a building, ijqdown the walls and creating their own million- Still not tempted? Why not head for Long Island to sample offerings currently on the market. For a first stop, consider North Shore Towers, in Floral Pkrk. The three 33-story buildings, constructed in 1975 by managing agent Jack Sommers father, had been rentals and are now going co-op. In all, there are 1,844 apartments. Here you can get up in the morning, work out at your health dub, shop for groceries, pick up a prescription, bank, visit your diet counselor, go to the dentist and then attend a first-run movie followed by dinner at a restaurant, all without leaving your building.

With underground puking, a shopping arcade connecting all three buildings, outdoor indoor and an 18-hole golf course right on the prem- pools, 26 Real Estate NY NEWSOAY, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8. 1986 UMtI the complex boasts an impressive list of amenities. A studio measuring more than 680 square feet will cost you $129,500. The penthouse costs $1,069,000 but places you on the highest point in Queens. Have a car? A spot in the mulion-square-foot garage is an additional $15,700, plus an annual maintenance charge of $568.

Sales to the public began recently, and Sommer, yho sees his market including everyone from singles to empty-nesters, believes sales will be brisk. "Phenomenal is the way John Cannon, sales director for Spruce Fond in North Hills, describes business there. His 69 units are already two-thirds 4.