曼哈頓到底空著多少房子？

曼哈頓到底空著多少房子?

The marble lobby at CitySpire, a skyscraping 72-story tower in Midtown, bustles with rushing people bundled against the cold. Nattily dressed doormen hail taxis and see to a constant stream of deliveries.

CitySpire是中城區(qū)(Midtown)的一座72層摩天大樓。在它鋪滿大理石的大堂里，熙熙攘攘的人群裹緊衣服抵御寒冷。衣冠楚楚的門衛(wèi)招呼著出租車，并打理著絡(luò)繹不絕的郵件。

Yet the mixed-use building — the first 23 stories house offices — is not as crowded as it appears. CitySpire, at 150 West 56th Street across from Carnegie Hall, is one of the least occupied buildings in Manhattan, with more than 60 percent of its residential floors made up of investment properties and pieds-à-terre, according to data from the New York City Independent Budget Office.

不過，這座23層以下是寫字間的混合用途建筑，并不像它看起來那么擁擠。CitySpire位于西56街150號，卡內(nèi)基音樂廳(Carnegie Hall)的對面，是曼哈頓占用率最低的建筑之一。根據(jù)紐約市獨立預(yù)算辦公室(New York City Independent Budget Office)的數(shù)據(jù)，其住宅層內(nèi)有超過60%的房源是投資標(biāo)的或臨時住所(pieds-à-terre)。

The issue of occupancy in New York City has become a hot-button topic in recent months, with much made of foreigners who buy expensive apartments to use for just a few weeks a year. Some argue that they drive up prices, while others bemoan the fact that these buyers do not pay personal income taxes. A bill has been introduced in Albany that would impose an annual pied-à-terre tax on properties worth $5 million or more.

最近幾個月，紐約市的房屋占用率(occupancy)問題已成為一個熱點話題，有很多房屋的使用者是外國人，他們購買了昂貴的公寓，但是一年里只住短短幾周時間。有些人認(rèn)為這些購房者哄抬了房價;還有人哀嘆這些購房者不繳納個人所得稅。奧爾巴尼會議(Albany)已經(jīng)提出一項法案，將對價值超過 500萬美元(約合人民幣3130萬元)的房產(chǎn)每年征收臨時住所稅。

Despite all the interest, few hard figures have been available. At the request of The New York Times, the budget office, an independent city agency, reviewed New York City tax data. The agency determined that nearly one quarter of the apartments in New York City are not used as primary residences, serving either as pieds-à-terre or investment properties that are rented out to tenants.

盡管人們對這個問題抱有很大的興趣，但很少有硬性數(shù)據(jù)可供參考。預(yù)算辦公室作為一家獨立的城市機構(gòu)，應(yīng)《紐約時報》要求，審查了紐約市的稅收數(shù)據(jù)。該機構(gòu)認(rèn)定，紐約市有近四分之一的公寓未被當(dāng)做主要住宅使用，而是作為臨時住所或用于放租的投資房產(chǎn)。

As a tenant at CitySpire, Nicholas Richards has a front-row seat on a pied-à-terre-packed building. “If you pay attention to the lobby on a Friday or a Monday, you’ll see a lot of key exchanges taking place and people with suitcases coming and going,” said Mr. Richards, who rents a studio in the building, returning home to Boston on weekends.

尼古拉斯·理查茲(Nicholas Richards)是CitySpire的一名公寓租戶，可以近距離觀察這棟滿是臨時住所的樓盤。“如果你在星期五或星期一注意觀察大堂，就會看到有很多人在交換鑰匙，提著行李箱來來往往。”理查茲在樓內(nèi)租了一套單間公寓，周末則回到波士頓的家里居住。

“Twenty-four percent of co-op and condo apartments citywide are not the primary residence of their owners,” said George V. Sweeting, the deputy director of the budget office, who oversaw the research. “Not all of these units are pieds-à-terre; many are likely owned by investors or original sponsors renting out the units.”

“全市有24%的合作公寓和共管公寓不是業(yè)主的主要住宅，”預(yù)算辦公室的副主任、負(fù)責(zé)這項調(diào)查的喬治·V·斯威廷(George V. Sweeting)說，“這些單元也并不都是臨時住所，很多有可能是投資者或開發(fā)商用來放租的。”

The data the budget office used is based on the New York City co-op and condominium tax abatement, which the city began restricting to primary residences in recent years. The agency compared the number of apartments that received the abatement in 2012 to the number that received it this fiscal year to determine its results.

預(yù)算辦公室所使用的數(shù)據(jù)，都是基于紐約市合作公寓和共管公寓所享受的減稅政策而來的。近年來，市政府已開始將該政策的執(zhí)行對象限定為主要住宅。預(yù)算辦公室是比較了2012年和本財年享受該減稅優(yōu)惠的公寓數(shù)量，進而得出的結(jié)論。

The figures may be underestimates, since the agency did not include apartment buildings that receive 421a tax exemptions, which leaves out some more recently built condos that are widely known to have high concentrations of foreign buyers, including One57 and 15 Central Park West.

這些數(shù)據(jù)可能低估了真實情況，因為預(yù)算辦公室并沒有考慮那些享受421a免稅優(yōu)惠的公寓樓。因此，雖然按照外界的普遍看法，有些新建的共管公寓樓里集中了許多外國購房者，但它們并沒有被包含在數(shù)據(jù)統(tǒng)計范圍內(nèi)，比如One57和中央公園西15號(15 Central Park West)。

In Manhattan, the number of nonprimary residences is slightly higher than the citywide average, 29 percent, and in some neighborhoods favored by investors, such as Midtown, the share of nonprimary residences ranged as high as 44 percent.

在曼哈頓，非主要住宅的比例占到了29%，略高于全市平均水平，在中城區(qū)這類深受投資者青睞的社區(qū)，非主要住宅的比例高達44%。

“Many of these buildings were built or converted in the 1980s, and are largely made up of smaller apartments, such as studios and one-bedrooms,” said Jonathan J. Miller, the president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel. “The smaller the apartments, and the more smaller apartments there are, generally the higher the pied-à-terre factor.”

“這其中，有很多建筑是修建或改建于20世紀(jì)80年代，其中的戶型大多是單間公寓和一居室這類較小的單元，”房地產(chǎn)估值公司米勒·塞繆爾 (Miller Samuel)的總裁喬納森·J·米勒(Jonathan J. Miller)說，“一般來說，戶型越小，作為臨時住所的可能性就越大。”

And perhaps surprisingly, the data indicated that “the vast majority of pieds-à-terre are middle class,” Mr. Miller said. “They are owned by people who have a studio in the city and a home in the suburbs, or maybe it was their first apartment that they chose to keep and rent it out.”

或許令人意外的是，數(shù)據(jù)顯示，“絕大多數(shù)臨時住所的業(yè)主都是中產(chǎn)階級，”米勒說，“這些業(yè)主在市區(qū)有一套單間公寓，但是家在郊區(qū);又或者，這些公寓是他們的第一套房，但他們選擇將這套房子保留下來放租。”

That’s what Swarna Kuruganti did. In January 2008, she bought an apartment at Madison Green, a towering complex at 5 East 22nd Street. The 424-unit building is a block from Madison Square Park, and the subway is just steps from the front door.

斯瓦納·庫魯甘緹(Swarna Kuruganti)就是這么做的。2008年1月，她買了一套公寓。公寓所在樓盤叫做麥迪遜綠地(Madison Green)，位于東22街5號，是一處氣派的建筑群，包含424套單元，距離麥迪遜廣場公園(Madison Square Park)一街區(qū)之遙，出了前門走幾步路就能到地鐵站。

“I had been looking to buy for several years and had built up savings, and even though it was the peak of the real estate market, I signed the deal,” said Ms. Kuruganti, who purchased a one-bedroom on the 26th floor, with views of the Empire State Building.

“那時候，我想買房已經(jīng)想了好幾年，也存了錢，所以雖然是在樓市的高峰期，我還是簽了約。”庫魯甘緹說，她買下了26樓的一套一居室，坐擁帝國大廈的景觀。

At the time, Ms. Kuruganti was single and working as a management consultant, which involved a lot of travel. “I wasn’t really home other than two or three months a year,” she said. “I would come home on the weekends, but on Monday morning I would be back on the plane.” She knew her neighbors well enough to say hello as they passed in the hall, “but these high-rises are like mini cities, with so many apartments and so many people. It is like a world unto its own,” she said.

當(dāng)時，作為管理顧問的庫魯甘緹是單身，需要經(jīng)常出差。“一年當(dāng)中，我其實只有兩、三個月在家，”她說，“我會回家度周末，但是一到星期一早晨，我就又回到飛機上了。”她跟鄰居都是點頭之交，平常在大堂里擦肩而過時會打個招呼。“但是這些高樓就像一座座小城市，有那么多的公寓和居民。就像是個自成體系的小世界。”她說。

After three years of living at Madison Green, Ms. Kuruganti met the man who became her husband, and they moved to Bloomfield, N.J. She debated selling the apartment, but “it was my first real estate investment, and all the people I talked to swore it was a good investment and told me I should keep it.” So Ms. Kuruganti, who is a founder of the start-up Wellwatch.co, began renting it out.

在麥迪遜綠地住了三年后，庫魯甘緹結(jié)識了她后來的丈夫，他們搬到了新澤西州的布盧姆菲爾德(Bloomfield)。她考慮過要把紐約的公寓賣掉，但“那是我第一筆真正的房地產(chǎn)投資，所有人都跟我發(fā)誓，這是一筆很好的投資，我應(yīng)該留著房子。”于是，現(xiàn)為初創(chuàng)公司W(wǎng)ellwatch.co創(chuàng)始人的庫魯甘緹開始將房子出租。

“The monthlies are low, partly because the building has so many apartments, and it is a great location, very central,” said Nathaniel Faust, the associate broker at Citi Habitats who helped Ms. Kuruganti find her current tenants, who pay $4,500 a month in rent. “Since the common charges and real estate taxes are low, Swarna can cover her monthlies and then some with the rent, so it is doing very well for her.”

“月供比較低，部分原因是樓里有很多公寓。而且這里的位置很好，比較靠近市中心，”房地產(chǎn)公司花旗居屋(Citi Habitats)的助理經(jīng)紀(jì)人納撒尼爾·福斯特(Nathaniel Faust)說，他幫助庫魯甘緹找到了現(xiàn)在的租戶，每月支付4500美元(約合人民幣28166元)房租。“由于物業(yè)費和房產(chǎn)稅比較低，斯瓦納可以用收來的租金支付月供，還有部分剩余。所以這樣的安排對她來說很好。”

Almost half the apartments at Madison Green are nonprimary residences. Like many of the properties flagged by the Independent Budget Office data, Madison Green is a relative bargain for its neighborhood. A two-bedroom apartment is on the market at Madison Green for $1.895 million, while nearby at the newly completed condominium tower One Madison, a two-bedroom is on the market for $4.65 million, according to StreetEasy.com.

在麥迪遜綠地當(dāng)中，幾乎有半數(shù)公寓是非主要住宅。和獨立預(yù)算辦公室標(biāo)出的許多房產(chǎn)一樣，麥迪遜綠地的房價在其所在社區(qū)中相對便宜，現(xiàn)有一套兩居室以 189.5萬美元(約合人民幣1186萬元)的價格上市;而在附近剛落成的共管公寓樓麥迪遜一號(One Madison)中，一套兩居室的掛牌價為465萬美元(約合人民幣2910萬元)。上述數(shù)據(jù)來自StreetEasy.com。

The building that tops the Independent Budget Office list for the highest percentage of nonprimary residences is the Executive Plaza, at 74.4 percent. Just 97 of the building’s 379 apartments that received the tax abatement in 2012 are still recipients. The building, at 150 West 51st Street, allows owners to rent out their apartments by the month, and the units are generally small, “some very small, like less than 400 square feet,” said Pej Barlavi, the owner of Barlavi Realty, who is familiar with the building. “It isn’t surprising that it would have the highest ratio of investor apartments, because it operates more like a hotel than a condo.”

在獨立預(yù)算辦公室列出的榜單中，非主要住宅占比最高的樓盤是行政廣場(Executive Plaza)，其比例為74.4%。2012年，行政廣場內(nèi)享有減稅優(yōu)惠的公寓有379套，而現(xiàn)在，在這379套公寓當(dāng)中依然享有減稅優(yōu)惠的，只有97套了。行政廣場位于西51街150號，允許業(yè)主按月出租他們的公寓，樓內(nèi)的單元一般都較小，“有些房子特別小，還不到400平方英尺(約合37平方米)，” 巴拉維地產(chǎn)(Barlavi Realty)的所有人派伊·巴拉維(Pej Barlavi)說，他對這個樓盤很熟悉，“難怪它的投資房占比最高，因為它的運營更像酒店而不是共管公寓樓。”

The building has 12 apartments for sale, including a one-bedroom that is listed for $725,000, as well as 95 units for rent, according to StreetEasy.

根據(jù)StreetEasy的數(shù)據(jù)，這棟樓內(nèi)有12套公寓待售，包括一套掛牌價72.5萬美元(約合人民幣454萬元)的一居室，另外還有95套出租單元。

Other buildings on the list include Three Worldwide Plaza at 393 West 49th Street, where more than 54 percent of the units are nonprimary residences; the Vanderbilt at 235 East 40th Street, with nearly 53 percent; and the Zeckendorf Towers at 1 Irving Place, 51 percent.

其他榜上有名的樓盤還包括，西49街393號的環(huán)球廣場三號(Three Worldwide Plaza)，那里有超過54%的單元為非主要住宅;東40街235號的范德堡大樓(Vanderbilt)內(nèi)有近53%的非主要住宅;而在歐文廣場1號的澤肯多夫大廈(Zeckendorf Towers)，該比例為51%。

Some full-time residents who live among a large number of pieds-à-terre or investment properties say their buildings still seem like a home. “While not all of the apartments in the building are owner-occupied, I know many of the landlords, and it doesn’t feel the tiniest bit transient,” said Patti Galluzzi, who owns a duplex penthouse at Madison Green.

在臨時住所和投資房產(chǎn)占比很大的樓盤里，有些常住居民(full-time resident)表示，他們的大樓依然像個家。“雖然樓里并非所有公寓都是自住房，但我認(rèn)識很多業(yè)主，一點也不覺得這里是流動人口聚居區(qū)。”麥迪遜綠地復(fù)式頂層公寓的業(yè)主帕蒂·加盧齊(Patti Galluzzi)說。

In 2000, Ms. Galluzzi and her husband purchased the apartment, which has a wraparound balcony and nearly unimpeded views of the city skyline, for themselves and their two children. “This place is very much my home,” said Ms. Galluzzi, surveying her living room, which has a lived-in feel, with toys scattered about and paperwork and coffee mugs strewn on the dining table.

2000年，加盧齊和丈夫為自己及兩個孩子購下了這套公寓。公寓帶一座環(huán)繞式陽臺，城市天際線近乎一覽無余。“這個地方很有家的感覺。”加盧齊說著，打量著她的客廳?？蛷d里很有生活氣息，玩具丟得到處都是，文件和咖啡杯隨意放在餐桌上。

Alan Ebert feels much the same about the two-bedroom he has lived in for 48 years at the Parc Vendôme, at 353 West 56th Street. Of the apartments there that received the abatement in 2012, roughly half are no longer eligible because they are pieds-à-terre or investment properties, according to the budget office. But to Mr. Ebert, who serves on the condominium board, it doesn’t seem the least bit vacant.

艾倫·艾伯特(Alan Ebert)對于自己住了48年的兩居室也是一樣的感覺。這套房子位于西56街353號的旺多姆公園(Parc Vendôme)。根據(jù)預(yù)算辦公室的數(shù)據(jù)，在2012年獲得免稅優(yōu)惠的公寓當(dāng)中，現(xiàn)在約有半數(shù)不再具備減稅資格，因為它們是臨時住所或投資房產(chǎn)。但是對于身為該共管公寓樓管委會成員的艾伯特來說，這處樓盤一點都不像空樓。

“We are not a bed-and-breakfast, you cannot rent out your apartment for less than three months,” he said. “We have a very strong community feel here. We just held a cabaret night and it was packed with about 100 people in attendance.”

“我們這里不是B&B(住宿加早餐)旅店，你不能把公寓以短于三個月的期限放租，”他說，“這里的社區(qū)感是很強的。我們剛舉辦了一個歌舞表演晚會，現(xiàn)場大約擠了100名觀眾。”

While the budget office research sheds light on ownership across the city, the true number of part-time owners is difficult to pin down. That is because buildings that do not receive the particular tax abatement the budget office examined were excluded. Many of these unconsidered buildings are recipients of a more lucrative tax break known as the 421a tax exemption.

雖然，通過預(yù)算辦公室的研究結(jié)果，可對整個紐約市的住房所有者現(xiàn)象窺豹一斑，但是那些非主要住宅業(yè)主的真實人數(shù)，是很難被確定的，因為享有其他減稅優(yōu)惠的樓盤并未被包括在預(yù)算辦公室的統(tǒng)計范圍內(nèi)。其中有許多樓盤，享有的是優(yōu)惠力度更大的421a免稅政策。

“The I.B.O. data doesn’t include townhouses or 421a buildings, so there are a lot of misses, but of the condos and co-ops that are captured, the number of nonprimary residents is high,” said Andrew A. Beveridge, the president of Social Explorer, a firm that tracks census data and demographic information, and the chairman of the sociology department at Queens College.

“獨立預(yù)算辦公室的數(shù)據(jù)不包括聯(lián)排別墅或421a樓盤，所以有很多疏漏，但是在已統(tǒng)計的共管公寓和合作公寓中，非常住居民的人數(shù)很多。”Social Explorer公司總裁、皇后學(xué)院(Queens College)社會學(xué)系主任安德魯·A·貝弗里奇(Andrew A. Beveridge)說。Social Explorer是一家跟蹤普查數(shù)據(jù)和人口統(tǒng)計信息的公司。

To fill in the data gaps and to better inform the discussion about potentially taxing pieds-à-terre, the New York City Department of Finance has spent the past month examining the ownership status of units with the 421a tax exemption.

為填補數(shù)據(jù)空白，以便為圍繞臨時住所是否征稅的討論提供更充分的信息，紐約市財政局(New York City Department of Finance)上月(2014年12月——譯注)花了一整個月的時間，對享有421a免稅優(yōu)惠的公寓單元進行了所有權(quán)狀況的審查。

So far, it has been a tall order. “It is complicated, since there is no requirement that you have to be a permanent resident to be eligible for the 421a tax exemption,” said Theodore Oberman, the director of commercial exemptions for the Department of Finance. “So it isn’t something we typically capture.”

到目前為止，這是一項艱巨的任務(wù)。“這很復(fù)雜，因為并未規(guī)定你必須是一名永久居民，才有資格享有421a免稅優(yōu)惠，”財政局負(fù)責(zé)商業(yè)免稅事務(wù)的西奧多·奧伯曼(Theodore Oberman)說，“所以這不是我們通常統(tǒng)計的領(lǐng)域。”

To overcome this hurdle, the agency is reviewing apartment ownership by looking at owners’ Social Security numbers along with their New York City personal income tax records. So far, it appears that in Manhattan, around 36 percent of apartment owners in 421a buildings are nonprimary residents and a slightly smaller percentage are primary residents. However, results are inconclusive because the remainder could not be identified.

為克服這一障礙，該機構(gòu)正通過查看業(yè)主的社保編號及其在紐約市的個人所得稅記錄，來審查公寓的所有者情況。到目前為止的統(tǒng)計結(jié)果表明，在享受 421a優(yōu)惠的曼哈頓樓盤中，大約有36%的公寓業(yè)主并不是常住居民，而常住居民的占比略低于此。然而這個結(jié)果也是不確定的，因為無法識別其余業(yè)主的身份。