Financial District

Location: The Financial District is located in Downtown Manhattan. It lies to the south of City Hall and to the east of Broadway.

Sub-divisions: The Seaport/Fulton Street area and its surroundings are included in our definition, although some consider it a separate neighborhood. Ditto for the area adjacent to City Hall, sometimes referred to as "Civic Center".

Character: For most of the 20th century the Financial District was a 9-to-5 kind of neighborhood that emptied out at night. No longer! Thanks to the myriad building conversions, new residential towers, and NYU dorm additions, the number of local residents is higher than ever. Nowadays, it is entirely possible to bump into a neighbor on the way home around midnight, especially on the massively "residentialized" streets like John Street.

That said, the neighborhood is not as lively as, let's say, the East Village.

Apartments & Real Estate

Most building (the most recently constructed towers excluded, obviously) are conversions from office towers. This may be an advantage (most of those buildings were built in an age when builders knew what they were doing, so the quality of construction was generally high), or a disadvantage ("amenities" such as light were not considered crucial for office space back then), depending on the building/location and other specifics. Layouts vary from small studios to palatial apartments and (again, thanks to the conversion phenomenon) include all manner of weirdly shaped "loft-style" configurations.

The market is cyclical. Generally, when rentals slow down, managers in the area tend to become flexible and willing to throw in various "perks," from free months and broker fee reimbursements (should you decide to use a broker) to... well, other perks. When the Downtown Manhattan occupancy rate plunges and demand skyrockets, though, don't expect too many extras.

Selected Rental Buildings

• 10 Hanover Square (Financial District) [18 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A post-war high-rise concierge building offering a gym. The apartments have high ceilings.
• 116 John Street (Financial District) [13 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A doorman building offering a gym and laundry facilities. The apartments have high ceilings.
• 2 Gold Street (Financial District) [23 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A 51-story tower, joined to a smaller "sister" building of 26 stories. The façade alternates between cream-colored brick and "high-performance" windows with recesses for balc....
• 20 Exchange (20 Exchange Place, Financial District) [17 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A converted landmark building; one of the tallest in Downtown Manhattan. The apartments have very high ceilings.
• 95 Wall (95 Wall Street, Financial District) [28 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A post-war high-rise doorman building offering a gym. The building, which once served as JPMorgan Bank headquarters, was (re-)designed by P. Starck.

See all Financial District Rental Apartment Buildings (37 buildings)

Selected No-Fee Rental Listings

See all Financial District No-Fee Rental Apartments (166 total)

Condo & Co-op Buildings

• 15 Park Row (Financial District) [2 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A turn-of-the-century high-rise landmark condo building. For a good eight years the tallest residential building in the world, 15 Park Row is architecturally unique. In fact,....
• 99 John (99 John Street, Financial District) [7 listings: 5 no-fee and 2 fee apts]
  A high-rise concierge condo building offering a gym, a garage and laundry facilities. Originally an office building, 99 John has been converted into luxury rentals in 1999 an....
• William Beaver House (15 William Street, Financial District)
  A modern high-rise doorman condo building offering a gym, a pool and laundry facilities. The apartments have high ceilings.

See all Financial District Condo Apartment Buildings (30 buildings)

• 55 Liberty Street (Financial District)
  A high-rise landmark doorman building.
• Seaport Mews (264 Water Street, Financial District)
  A historic warehouse building converted to a residential one.

See our list of Financial District Co-op Apartment Buildings (3 buildings)

NAME

The Financial District (sometimes called the "Wall Street area," or, more annoyingly, the "FiDi") is named quite appropriately in that it's an area where many financial institutions are concentrated, although less densely than in the past.

Additional Links

Please note that the site(s) mentioned below are not affiliated with NYBits

• 17/Aug/2011: Rez complaints about W.T.C. construction (Downtown Express)
• 22/Jun/2011: Iconic building landmarked (Downtown Express)
• 11/May/2011: DT businesses getting makeovers (Downtown Express)
• 10/Dec/2006: Win-win-win (StartsAndFits.com)