Add Northern Tribeca to the list of Manhattan micro-neighborhoods that have gone from under-the-radar to next-big-thing. This section of Tribeca stayed underdevelped for years, but no longer: developers are responding to high demand by building numerous luxury apartment buildings in Northern Tribeca. It was only a matter of time before the westernmost section of Canal Street became the next hot section of Manhattan, and now . Pioneering Manhattanites are paying top dollar to live in this enclave, partly because it has that up-and-coming cachet that gives buyers of Manhattan luxury apartments the feeling that they’re living in the “It” neighborhood, and partly because the luxury apartments for sale in Northern Tribeca cater to current tastes. They're large, converted industrial spaces, exactly the kind of Manhattan properties that buyers of luxury apartments in Manhattan love.

Developers have been looking to build new luxury apartments in this cul-de-sac of a neighborhood for some time, and now their efforts are paying dividends to the tune of large sales and stratospheric prices per square foot (PPSQ). Zach Vella, a partner at VE Equities, told theNew York Post that, “It’s been an area that we’ve been investing and developing in for the past 12 years.” VE developed 471 Washington Streetand the results were impressive: the apartment building sold out last year with an average PPSQ of over $1,800. They were also responsible for 1 North Moore Street, where all but one of the luxury condos have sold. At 250 West Street, the popularity of the converted condos in that apartment building, many of which sold long before they were finished, showed that Northern Tribeca’s former industrial buildings could sell at similar prices to apartment in newly constructed buildings.

The industrial character of Northern Tribeca, once a liability, is now drawing many new buyers who are looking for lofts, the trendiest and most expensive kind of luxury apartments in Manhattan. There’s plenty of conversion projects on the way to help meet demand. At , about 35 new loft-style condos ranging from 2-bedrooms to 5-bedrooms are planned; the Arman at will have 8 new 3-bedroom units including a two-story duplex penthouse; and at 52 Laight Street, two garages will soon become a handful of large lofts ranging in price from $2.95 million to $6.95 million. According to a broker from Prudential Douglass Elliman, average PPSQ in the area range from $1,800 to $2,000, largely because demand for larger apartments in Manhattan is “relentless.”

Looking closer at the unique advantage that Northern Tribeca affords to residents, it's not hard to see why. Vella told the Post that, “It’s the location of TriBeCa in relation to the rest of Manhattan. It’s this great neighborhood with buildings and architecture with high ceilings and open floor plans that you don’t get inthe West Village. It’s close to the Financial District for the proximity to work, and it has access to SoHo for the more social areas of Manhattan.” With such a wide range of different neighborhoods so close by, residents of Northern Tribeca apartments won't have any trouble enjoying the best that downtown Manhattan has to offer.