Why we moved from Dallas to Battery Park City: We wanted to spend our retirement years in NYC

Eileen and Michael O’Connor were splitting their time between Dallas/Fort Worth and Upstate New York and looking forward to retiring in Manhattan. After a four-year search they finally landed a Battery Park City condo. Here’s their story as told to Kelly Kreth.

I was born and raised on the Upper East Side and my husband, Michael, was born and lived in the Philadelphia area.

We met when our airline jobs relocated to Dallas/Fort Worth and quickly discovered that real estate in Texas was more affordable, much easier to qualify for and that the cost of living was also much lower.

Our last home located in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex town of Bedford was purchased in 2001 for $169,000. It was a 2,200-square-foot, two bedroom, two bath built in 1996 with a two-car garage. Our short commute to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was a breeze. 

[Editor’s note: Brick Underground’s series The Newcomers features first-person accounts about why a renter or buyer decided to take a chance on NYC.]

We also own a home in Upstate New York; a 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath house. We spent most of our time in the Dallas area and visited New York occasionally.

We loved the warm weather, the cowboy culture of Fort Worth and the cosmopolitan feel of Dallas and enjoyed many happy years in Texas. We were able to make significant contributions to our retirement savings accounts.

Why they decided to move

A big draw was the weather: We both like the multiple seasons and we have friends and family in New York State. After 40 years as American Airlines employees in flight operations, we sold our home in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for $400,000 and decided to move up north to Manhattan.

We kept our upstate home but wanted our primary place to be in New York City. We were downsizing and choosing to retire in Manhattan instead of living down south in a bigger space. We wanted more culture and considered Dallas a “NYC Wanna Be.”

Wanted: A one bedroom for $400,000 to $600,000

We felt that a one bedroom would suffice. We mainly looked in door-person buildings with elevators and our budget was $400,000 to $600,000. Our finances were in good shape: Thankfully we didn’t need to take out a mortgage because we would be dipping into our retirement funds.

Initially we looked on the Upper East Side and then decided to prioritize Downtown, focusing on Battery Park City.

We worked with Kunal Khemlani, an agent at the Corcoran Group who I found on social media. When we first met him in the summer of 2021, he showed us apartments even though he was on crutches because he was recovering from an accident.

We took a break from our search for two years before reaching out in 2024 to Kunal via Facebook Messenger. I wasn’t sure if he would remember us, but he did. He stood out from other agents for his understanding of our needs and his patience.

What they like about their new place

We saw about 20 units over a span of four years and considered a few. After going into contract on a $535,000 Albany Street unit, an undisclosed $16,000 assessment came up during due diligence. We backed out.

We liked another unit for $525,000 on South End Avenue, but then we finally found the one: A one bedroom with a balcony in an elevator building called The Cove Club. It’s a well-maintained condo building on the waterfront in Battery Park City, and we have a large roof deck, gym, lounge, and 24-hour doormen. Our condo was $555,000.

Our closing was in May and we opted to move our stuff ourselves but we had to downsize in a big way, including getting rid of our car, but it wasn’t a struggle at all.

The building appears to be in good shape and we love the downtown area and waterfront, as well as being near the 6, 2 and 3 trains.

We don’t miss much about Dallas except the Tex-Mex food, but there is plenty of great food in NYC. We like Mezze on the River and Treadwell’s and we continue to discover new restaurants.

It’s easy to get to Update New York via Amtrak and we tend to go every other week. We’re so happy to have retired in NYC.