The real estate issue
Sutton Tower, Olympia Dumbo, The Astor, 15 Hudson Yards, 450 Washington, One Clinton, 118 Forsyth, MORE
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ABOUT FOUND • Real Estate
A fresh take on the property market
Where to live is the fundamental question of life in the city (and suburbs). FOUND is on the ground in New York City and surrounds, tracking real estate listings and sales, new developments, and shifts in the built environment that shape the way we live.
Our aim is to provide actionable real estate intelligence — about specific properties, yes, but also market movements, design trends, and architectural statements. In sum, FOUND’s real estate coverage captures (in bright colors) the reality of living well in the New York City area — not in nine figure penthouses with the oligarchs, but in new and/or noteworthy co-ops, condos, and houses.
We are also obsessively tracking second-home getaway markets, particularly those within driving distance of the city, including the Hamptons, the North Fork, Hudson Valley, the Catskills, Litchfield County, the Berkshires, and the Jersey Shore.
Here, a sampling of the year that has been in FOUND real estate.
REAL ESTATE • FOUND Development
Millionaire’s row
Standing on the terrace of the penthouse at Sutton Tower (above), I took in a view of New York City I’d never seen before. To the east, I looked across Roosevelt Island to the towers of Long Island City; south, straight down the East River to the Brooklyn skyline beyond; and to the west, I followed Manhattan’s skyline all the way up to Billionaire’s Row, just a few avenues west of where I stood above 58th Street.
“We’re the exclamation point on Billionaire’s Row,” one of the building’s developers explained when FOUND dropped by recently to tour this new development. But what’s going on here is a more interesting bet than that of those stratospherically priced buildings. Rising from the mostly lower-slung, residential Sutton Place neighborhood (almost-but-not-quite the Upper East Side), Sutton Tower aims to deliver top-quality residences at lower price points than those other Midtown supertalls — albeit, a few avenues east (hence the lower price point).
For the penthouse, with those dream horizon views in every direction, that translates to an ask of $19 million. But for the 2379-SF sponsor unit 17A, with four bedrooms and three baths, the developer is asking a mere $4.84M (down from $5.175M); the 1776-SF two-bedroom unit 16B wants $3.45M (down from $3.775M). Inside, the quality seems to be there, from tile to lighting, designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen. (Or as Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman — whose Corcoran Sunshine Group is marketing the building — told me: “This building’s fixtures can compete with any building in New York.”) Same for the amenities, which include a spa, pool, and tricked out children’s play room.
Maybe it won’t be enough for the billionaire set, but for Manhattan’s millionaires, it might make the walk east worth it. –Lockhart Steele
→ Sutton Tower (Sutton Place) • 430 East 58th St • Developer: Gamma Real Estate + JVP Management.
REAL ESTATE • FOUND Development
The Olympia at full sail
Who among us has not cast an eye on Olympia Dumbo’s elevated outdoor tennis court, flanking the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge (above) and thought: I’d play a set there? Perhaps with the new owners of 24B, a 2617SF three-bedroom, which closed for $5.7M last month. Or with actor Michael B. Jordan, if he ever closes on PHB (the $17.5M unit for which he’s reportedly in contract). The elevated prices — some of Brooklyn’s highest — haven’t deterred buyers; the developer says Olympia has cleared 50% sold (update: 54% per Marketproof).
We like the building’s sail-shaped waterfront profile — designed by Hill West Architects — more than some, as well as the interiors, by Brooklyn’s Workstead. (Workstead is the ascendant design group behind the upscale craft aesthetic of the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, as well as the Rivertown Lodge, up in Hudson.)
Rising 33 stories and featuring two pools, a private garage, and expansive terraces, Olympia is not your grandfather's Dumbo. But that Dumbo sailed away long ago. 09/15/23
→ Olympia Dumbo • Developer: Fortis • Sales: Douglas Elliman Development Marketing with the Eklund Gomes Team and the Heyman Team at Sotheby’s.
REAL ESTATE • FOUND Development
In the clouds at Hudson Yards
Who says Hudson Yards is dead? Of the seven new development units that traded above $10M in NYC last week, three are inside 15 Hudson Yards, the 88-story tower designed by the ubiquitous Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
In the southeast corner of the neighborhood at the base of another DS+R design (The Shed), the building is a big, glassy tower most of the way up. At the top, it resolves into a four-leaf clover of sorts (vaguely reminiscent of Chicago’s “Wilco” Towers). The flourish is meant to maximize the kinds of views on striking display in PH88B, a 5211-SF unit last listed for $24.975M (update: and sold for $20M). A sister unit, PH88C, remains on the market for $23.975M (update: now $21.95M).
The recent sales at 15 Hudson — the first of the new neighborhood’s residential towers to come online in 2016 — have the building at 92% sold, per Marketproof. Prices for the remaining first-time sales start at $6.395M for a 3BR, 2500 SF unit on the 88th floor, up to the penthouses above. Just don’t tell them about The Vessel. 10/13/23
→ 15 Hudson Yards PH83B (Hudson Yards) • 4BR/4.5BA condo, 3203 SF • In contract: 10/05/23 • Closing ask: $10.5M (update: closed 03/06/24 for $9.95M) • Common charges: $9,220, monthly taxes: $102 • Marketing: Corcoran.
→ 15 Hudson Yards PH84B (Hudson Yards) • 4BR/4.5BA condo, 3185 SF • In contract: 10/05/23 • Closing ask: $10.5M (update: closed 12/08/23 for $9.934M) • Common charges: $9,429, monthly taxes: NA • Marketing: Corcoran.
→ 15 Hudson Yards PH88B (Hudson Yards) • 4BR/6.5BA condo, 5211 SF • In contract: 10/07/23 • Closing ask: $24.975M (update: closed 0/18/24 for $20M) • Common charges: $16,983, monthly taxes: $188 • Marketing: Corcoran.
REAL ESTATE • On the Market
Astor’s new nests
The second in a trio of new duplex penthouses built atop Upper West Side grande dame, The Astor, hit the market last week, asking $13.95M.
The unit makes ample use of The Astor’s rooftop, with two terraces covering 1700 square feet — one wraps around the great room and kitchen on the east, and the other faces west off the primary bedroom. There’s also a private elevator, floating staircase, and four more bedrooms, all en suite.
PH2 is the second of the three penthouses up for grabs, each of which was designed by Pembrooke & Ives, who also overhauled the rest of The Astor late last decade. The first of them (3438SF, 4BR) sold last summer before it even made it online. The buyer of that unit also bought another apartment in the building, with plans to combine the two, per the NYP. The third penthouse is expected to be listed later this year.
Downstairs, eight more units in the building are currently listed, from a $999K studio to a $6.75M three-bedroom. 04/19/24
→ 235 W 75th St PH2 (The Astor, Upper West Side) • 5BR/7BA, 4805 SF condo • Ask: $13.95M • skyline views, separated eat-in kitchen • Monthly taxes: $10,397 • Monthly maintenance/cc: $7833 • Days on market: 11 • Agents: Michael Kafka, Katherine Gauthier, and Kyle Egan, Elliman • Image: Binyan Studios.
REAL ESTATE • FOUND Development
Shaved truffles in Tribeca
The building formerly known as Truffles Tribeca used to be an obsession of ours when it was built in 2009. It worked for a certain breed of downtown renters for a moment, until it didn’t and Related ripped it up and converted to sales. In the process, they reduced the number of units from about 300 to 176, put in floor-through windows to maximize views, installed updated finishes and amenities, and stripped the name down to the studs.
The new product, 450 Washington, is a full block of 2023, at home on a stretch of the west side where neighbors include 70 Vestry (another Related project, by Robert A.M. Stern). The views are indeed spectacular. Per Marketproof, the building is 50% sold (update: 81%!). 09/29/23
→ 450 Washington (Tribeca) • Developer: Related; Architect: Roger Ferris + Partners; Landscape architect: Hollander Design; Interior design: MAWD; Marketing: Corcoran Sunshine.
REAL ESTATE • FOUND Development
Limestone among the brownstones
One Clinton, a 38-story slice rising above Cadman Plaza Park on the edge of Brooklyn Heights, is 97% sold since launching in 2019. It’s not surprising, given the spacious, light-filled interiors and bounty of amenities in a neighborhood not usually associated with cutting-edge developments.
There’s a new double-height public library on the ground floor, and the building’s handsome limestone facade references the old Brooklyn Heights library — details that reportedly helped make friends in the nabe (or at least fewer enemies).
Closings began last year, and last week, two high-floor, three-bedroom duplexes were the biggest sales in Brooklyn. Both took million-dollar price cuts to get there. Unit 30C, last asking $4.95M, originally came online for $5.995M in 2022 (update: and sold for $4.195M). And Unit 28C, also at $4.9M, was down from the 2022 price of $5.895M (update: and sold for $4.3M). 03/01/24
Admission to St. Ann’s is not included.
→ One Clinton (Brooklyn Heights) • Developer: The Hudson Companies • Architect: Marvel • Sales: Corcoran.
REAL ESTATE • Town & Country
Upstate antlers, downstate antlers
Introducing Town & Country, a new FOUND feature where we pair NYC listings with listings in nearby second-home markets. Today, inspired by our lead item, here’s one within shouting distance of The Henson in the Catskills and one down the street from Wildair on the Lower East Side. A classic bang bang. 05/24/24
→ 118 Forsyth St #4 (Lower East Side, above) • 1BR/1BA, 2300 SF coop • Ask: $3.375M (update: reduced to $3.15M on 07/02/24)• floor-thru open-plan loft • Days on market: 22 • Monthly maintenance : $2400 • Agent: Glenn Schiller & Tifany Gangaram, Corcoran.
→ 150 Trailside Rd (Windham, NY) • 79BR/7BA, 6859 SF house • Ask: $2.775M • rustic-modern (see also, antlers), slopeside at The Windham Mountain Club • Days on market: 20 • Agents: Regina Tortorella & Aaron Joseph Perer, Coldwell Banker Village Green.