Extell Development all but wrote the narrative for Billionaires’ Row when it launched One57 in 2011. Now, as the luxury market slows, the developer is having a second act by repositioning 38 high-end rentals at the soaring tower as condominiums with mid-market pricing.
The developer said last week it would sell 38 units on floors 32 through 38 as condos starting at $3.45 million, Bloomberg reported. Seven units will ask $10 million or higher.
A $3 million pad at One57 – where a penthouse sold for more than $100 million in 2014 – may seem like a bargain to some buyers.
At One57, the average sale price is $6,521 per square foot, according to StreetEasy. While Extell did not disclose prices for all 38 units, it’s possible that a 1,021-square-foot one-bedroom unit, previously asking $13,350 a month as a rental, could fetch $3.45 million, or $3,379 a foot.
By pricing condos between $3 million and $10 million, Haber said Extell will appeal to a wide swath of the market.
Although One57’s new batch of condos won’t flood the new development market, Extell may face competition from developers targeting an increasingly popular price point.
There are now on the mareket about 1,000 new condos for sale asking between $3 million and $10 million. The average new development price was $3.9 million during the first quarter, up nearly 30 percent year-over-year, according to real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel.
“The strength in the new development space has been on the lower end of the price spectrum,” said Jonathan Miller to The Real Deal magazine. “High price points are saturated with supply. So you’re seeing a lot of [developers] re-think what can be absorbed. Right now, the $1 million to $5 million price range is what most developers are focused on.”