The story of a new development is often as follows: a project hits the market with a splashy ad campaign; a drawn out process of finding qualified buyers and signing contracts ensues; and closings happen all at once, often in a matter of weeks or months. But inquiring minds want to know: how much are these new developments raking in when the deals are finally done? Using data from real estate database CityRealty, The Real Deal ranked the Manhattan new developments that brought in the most money from closed sales in the first half of 2013.
While a couple of large, headline-grabbing projects, such as 250 West in Tribeca, made the list, the results are dominated by high-end boutique condos, such as 250 Bowery on the Lower East Side and the Abingdon in the West Village. Those buildings appeared on the ranking by virtue of selling out quickly — at prices in the upper echelons of the market. Some Harlem developments are also there because low- and middle-income buyers snapped up their affordable units in a hurry. (Sales at blockbuster new developments like One57, 432 Park Avenue, 56 Leonard and 150 Charles Street have not yet closed, so their totals were not included in this ranking.)
250 West
250 West Street, Tribeca
$313 million, 93 units closed
The former fruit and vegetable warehouse overlooking the Hudson River in Tribeca’s historic district was converted by developer Elad Group into 106 luxury condos. Aside from recently attracting celebrity attention (actor Leonard DiCaprio reportedly scoped out the building’s $42 million penthouse), the development had the highest sales volume of closed deals in the first half of this year.
Since going on sale in September 2011, the majority of units at 250 West — 93 to be exact — closed in that time period, and only two remain available. One three-bedroom apartment is currently listed for $10.95 million. The penthouse will hit the market in September when construction on it is complete, said Samantha Sax, the director of sales and marketing at Elad. The building is occupied but some finishing touches are still needed, she said.
Ariana Meyerson of Cantor Pecorella, which is exclusively marketing the building, noted that storage units at 250 West have been selling for as much as $1,000 a square foot, and residents are using them for everything from wine cellars to offices. The building’s closed sales have averaged $1,588 per square foot, StreetEasy shows.
The Abingdon
607 Hudson Street, West Village
$136 million, nine units closed
With embattled hedge fund magnate Steven Cohen among its residents, the boutique Abingdon closed $136.23 million in sales for the majority of its units in the first half of this year. Its one remaining unit is listed in contract on StreetEasy for $10.5 million. Tim Crowley of Flank Brokerage is handling sales for the building but did not respond to requests for comment. Flank’s development arm converted the building from a 200-unit nursing home into 10 luxury units.
Cohen snapped up a $23.4 million maisonette in the building, but the development has been making headlines for its pricey sales for some time. One penthouse in the building closed in May for $29.8 million — about $10 million more than its $19.5 million asking price, as The Real Deal previously reported. That same month, another penthouse sold for $22.4 million, but its asking price was $25 million. Flank purchased the West Village building in January 2011 for $33 million.
18 Gramercy Park
18 Gramercy Park South, Gramercy Park
$80 million, five units closed
The team behind the famed 15 Central Park West — Zeckendorf Development and Robert A.M. Stern Architects — closed on $80.6 million in sales at 18 Gramercy Park, a former Salvation Army building that is now a 16-unit boutique condominium building, in the first six months of 2013.
The five recorded sales at the building average $16.12 million, according to StreetEasy. Units hit the market in September 2012, and by the next month, as many as seven units in the building were under contract, including a $42 million penthouse purchased by Leslie Alexander, the owner of the Houston Rockets. Units at the development, which are listed for no less than $14.7 million, have even set neighborhood price records, as previously reported. A building representative did not return calls for comment.
The Touraine
123 East 65th Street, Lenox Hill
$44 million, 13 units closed
This new construction building’s “boutique” feel is what sets its apartments apart from “your average new condo development,” said Todd Dumaresq, a marketing manager at Toll Brothers, which developed the building. So far, 13 of the units have closed, all within the first half of 2013. With only one duplex penthouse left — asking $19.995 million — the Touraine in Lenox Hill is on track to close its remaining 21 units by the end of this month, Dumaresq said. Asking prices range from $1 million to $20 million and the building’s amenities include a library, private wine lockers, a fitness center and a landscaped rooftop terrace.
According to StreetEasy, the average price for recorded sales in the building was $3.39 million. Units hit the market in October 2011.
La Celia
64 East 111th Street, East Harlem
$43 million, 84 units closed
La Celia, in East Harlem, is an income-restricted building developed as a joint venture between L+M Development Partners and the Urban Investment Group at Goldman Sachs. Homes in the 123-unit building range from just $140,000 to $373,000.
The building sold out after a lottery for available apartments wrapped up last year, as previously reported. According to Lisa Gomez, an executive vice president at L&M, there was 3,600 applicants for the available units. Those applications were put in a locked box and chosen at random, she said. Now, 108 of the building’s 123 units are closed, while the remainder of La Celia’s purchasers are wrapping up their mortgage paperwork, Gomez said.
L&M is no stranger to this type of lottery system. It has other affordable buildings in Harlem and the Bronx, such as 1428 Fifth Avenue and Parkview Commons, respectively.
Meanwhile, the apartments in La Celia were sold to individuals with incomes ranging from 80 percent to 130 percent of New York City’s median household income, L+M’s website shows. The in-house sales office opened in April 2012 and construction was completed in fall 2012.
345meatpacking
345 West 14th Street, Chelsea
$39 million, 16 units closed
DDG’s boutique condominium 345meatpacking was not supposed to achieve the high prices it eventually did, said Tamir Shemesh of Corcoran Sunshine, who is heading sales at the new development.
“I remember talking to many brokers, people in the industry, who said [the building would sell for] well below $2,000 [a square foot],” he said. “We did much better.”
The 11-story, 37-unit building is sold out, and is set to be finished in the next few months, Shemesh said, after sales began in November 2012. Closed sales in the building average $2,067 per square foot, StreetEasy shows.
The site of the building was reportedly vacant since 2006 but once housed a bicycle shop and school. DDG bought the property owner’s mortgage notes in 2010 when they were in financial distress, it has been reported.
46 Lispenard
46 Lispenard Street, Tribeca
$13 million, five units closed
Originally built by architect Isaac Duckworth in 1866, 46 Lispenard has been converted into 11 loft units priced between $2.65 million and $8 million and ranging in size from 1,920 to 4,171 square feet. Fredrik Eklund of Douglas Elliman and “Million Dollar Listing New York” fame is the exclusive listing broker.
The sold out building’s 11 units hit the market last summer, and 80 percent of the units were under contract within just five days, as The Real Deal previously reported.
Copper Hill Condominium
1595 Lexington Avenue, East Harlem
$9.47 million, 13 units closed
Built in 2009 by developer P&G Equities, the Copper Hill Condominium is a luxury East Harlem property with recorded sales averaging $823 per square foot, according to StreetEasy. Still, its 40 units include washer/dryers, and the building has a fitness center, lounge, roof deck and playroom. The development’s website shows that the building is sold out.
250 Bowery
250 Bowery, Nolita
$8 million, five units closed
Also marketed exclusively by Eklund’s team at Elliman, 250 Bowery offers 20 one- and two-bedroom apartments and four duplex penthouses. Developed by VE Equities and designed by architecture firm Adjmi and Andreoli, the development made numerous appearances on “MDLNY” while Eklund and co-star Ryan Serhant of Nest Seekers International “fought” over the listing. StreetEasy shows that the building’s sale prices average $1,791 per square foot.
The development also grabbed headlines when retailer Anthropologie broke its lease contract to occupy 10,000 square feet of retail space at the building, as previously reported. But David Edelstein of Tristar Capital purchased the retail component of the building for $15.75 million.
At least one of the penthouses in the building broke a price per square foot record for the Bowery when it sold earlier this year.
Pell Building
24 West 30th Street, Chelsea
$7.67 million, three units closed
Built in 1909, the NoMad building has been converted into lofts by developer Fiam Building Associated and designed by Cornerstone Architects. Marketed by Jacky Teplitzky’s team at Elliman, the 18-unit, 12-story building’s three sales averaged $2.56 million, according to StreetEasy. Teplitzky did not respond to requests for comment.