Named after Alexander Hamilton (you know, the famous Broadway musical guy), Hamilton Heights– including the subsection of Sugar Hill… is pretty sweet. Here’s your geographically appropriate soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKTUAESacQM
Hamilton Heights runs from 135th st to 155th st between the Hudson river and St Nicholas Ave and is a interesting blend of edgy and polished with enough cool little restaurants and bars to have you at a different place every night of the week (that said, you would likely find yourself running out of good options after a couple weeks). Overall I like HH way better from a livability standpoint way more than say SoBro or East Harlem and there is still some good value to be found from real estate there.
For some background history, check out the Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Heights,_Manhattan
Transportation: It was a very fast ride as it took almost exactly 10 minutes on the (express) A train to get from 145th st to Columbus circle and a few minutes more to 42nd St.
Prices are relatively cheap but maybe not as cheap as you would expect… A sampling of 24 rental apartments showed:
Rental prices (average):
-one bedrooms = $1,499
-two-three bedrooms = $1,108 per bedroom
A sampling of 7 townhouses from the map below showed:
Sales prices for brownstones:
-$2,442,000 average price*
-$407,000 per bedroom average
-$582.78 per sqft average (compare to the UWS at $2,069 per sqft)
-Note that I see the majority of newly renovated listings in HH selling in the $700s per sqft.
*In regards to brownstones, Anything below $2m needed some substantial work.
Listings to Note:
Cheapest town house around right now (needs a lot of work) asking price is $443 per sqft: http://streeteasy.com/sale/1199493. Also what the pictures do not show is the top floor has plywood on the windows which is not a good sign for the habitability of the floor.
Also this is a new 5 unit reno job that includes a commercial space on the bottom and an FAR (floor to area ratio) of 4 which allows for approximately another 4,000(!) sqft of buildable living space… $513 per sqft:
http://streeteasy.com/sale/1211999
Here is the list of currently available condos and single/multi family buildings for sale in HH:
http://streeteasy.com/for-sale/hamilton-heights/type:D1,X,M?page=1&sort_by=price_desc
Click on the picture for a link to the interactive google map:
Note that upper manhattan (generally referred to as above 96th st) and the UWS have consistently shown the lowest inventory in all of Manhattan. In June 2016 that number was 4.5 months of housing supply. See the Brown Harris Stevens June Absorption Report here for details on housing supply/absorption rates:
http://media.bhsusa.com/pdf/BHS-Absorption-Report-June-2016.pdf
According to StreetEasy, price per sqft in Hamilton Heights is running $656 on average. If you want to see StreetEasy’s statistics on Hamilton Heights, go here:
http://streeteasy.com/area/hamilton-heights
Like all of the UWS, Hamilton Heights has easy access to Hudson River Park which has tons of great events all summer long. Check out the website here:
https://www.hudsonriverpark.org/events/upcoming
Architecture:
Not a lot of high-rises in Hamilton Heights. Lots of smaller prewar buildings and brownstones with some really nice, well kept blocks and architecture A HUGE noticeable exception is Riverside Park Community apartment complex at the southern border of Hamilton Heights that is just a ridiculously big building
https://www.google.com/?ion=1&espv=2#safe=off&q=riverside+park+community
Food/Nightlife:
Sprinkled throughout the area are a number of great little bars and restaurants interspersed throughout the area including Harlem Public which sports a surprising collection of great microbrews and good pub food and was packed early on a saturday evening.
In addition to Harlem Public, here are some of the cool, new looking places. Click on the links for menus, etc:
-The Drafthouse http://harlembespoke.blogspot.com/2015/05/introducing-first-look-at-draft-house.html
-The Grange http://thegrangebarnyc.com/
-Hogshead Tavern http://www.hogsheadharlem.com/
-Sweet Chef bakery http://www.yelp.com/biz/sweet-chef-southern-style-bakery-new-york-2
-Loft 142 http://yaphamiltonheights.com/2015/09/06/official-loft-142-grand-opening-in-hamilton-heights/
It is also worth noting that Columbia University is spending $6.3 billion on a satellite campus that should reach up to HH southern border, although not without controversy. Read more here:
http://theharlemtimes.com/online-news/harlem-columbia-expansion
Hamilton Heights is also home to the City College of New York (CCNY):
https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/