The delays could work to the sales team’s advantage. The building, at 125 Greenwich St., initially had to compete with a glut of new condos across the city just as demand was waning. Options are more limited now, including in the Financial District, where years of ground-up construction and office-to-apartment conversions have upped the residential population, bringing more services into the area.
“The neighborhood over the past decade has really shifted from more of a Wall Street briefcase neighborhood into a more residential, young couple, family-oriented neighborhood,” said Stacy Spielman of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, who’s the project’s director of sales. “There’s not a lot of options downtown, quite frankly, so I think we are launching at really the perfect time.”
The number of new-development listings on the market in Manhattan at the end of 2023 was down 16% from a year earlier, according to data from Elliman and appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. With fewer units to choose from, closed sales fell 27%, while the median price for those deals climbed 2.2% to $2.025 million.
While many new projects are stocked with large apartments, roughly 90% of the 272 condos at the Greenwich are studios, one-bedrooms or two-bedrooms that max out at 1,668 square feet (155 square meters). The emphasis on smaller homes keeps asking prices below $3 million for three-quarters of the building.
At 912 feet (278 meters), the tower is the tallest residential property south of City Hall Park. In an unusual move, the developers opted to put three amenity floors — rather than pricey penthouses — on its very top levels. A 50-foot saltwater lap pool, a fitness center, spa treatment rooms and event spaces are spread across the 86th through 88th stories.
“In a way, we’re selling views to everyone,” said Alessandro Pallaoro, managing director of co-developer Bizzi & Partners.
Upper floors have open views in every direction, with Tribeca to the north, the Hudson River to the west, the Statue of Liberty to the south and many of downtown’s early 20th century buildings to the east.
While the best vistas are often reserved for Manhattan’s largest, most expensive apartments, even many smaller units at the Greenwich have expansive sightlines. The building’s studios, priced from $1.115 million and starting at 418 square feet, are all located on the 61st to 78th floors.
There are larger apartments, including three-bedrooms, on lower floors, making them less expensive than they’d be higher up. They’re priced from $3.9 million for a unit with just over 1,900 square feet.
Spielman, the Elliman agent, said the building has drawn a positive response from people brought in before sales formerly began. Some contracts have been signed, but she declined to reveal how many.
While deals from the original round of sales were ultzmately canceled, some of those buyers were given an early chance to make new offers, according to Spielman. At least one has, agreeing to take two units. Others moved on, but many of their agents are returning with fresh clients.
“The brokers are coming back with their new buyer pool and that’s really what is going to be a driver for the building,” Spielman said.
Also helping the project is that buyers don’t have to commit to deals just based on floor plans. With construction at the Greenwich almost complete, shoppers can tour units that are in progress and already have kitchens, bathrooms and other elements installed.
The interiors were created by MAWD, drawing on its history of designing private jets and mega-yachts. The units have white oak floors, marble countertops and Miele appliances. Living areas have 10-foot ceilings and walls of windows
The public marketing effort comes a decade after a group including Bizzi & Partners bought the land with plans to build a condo skyscraper, an effort that was hampered for years by financing challenges and other obstacles. It wasn’t until early 2023 that Bizzi and Fortress Investment Group — which bought debt on the project after a lender threatened foreclosure, and later converted that into equity — obtained funding from Northwind Group to finish the tower. Bilgili Holding also joined.
“We’re a very strong partnership now,” Bizzi’s Pallaoro said.
With the building needing only finishing work, Pallaoro said he’s not worried that buyers will be scared off by the history: “People are really not focused on these kinds of concerns.”
The article was originally posted by Bloomberg.com
Authored by Jennifer Epstein