The 53 units for sale at Toll Brothers’ Chelsea building, located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, will start at $1.5 million, Von Spreckelsen said. Asking prices for the apartments, almost 80 percent of which will have one or two bedrooms, will average $2,200 a square foot. That’s less than the average of $2,663 for new-development listings across Manhattan in the second quarter, according to Halstead Property Development Marketing.
Fifty percent of new-development listings were priced at more than $5 million in the three months through June, according to Halstead.
The strategy for other sites Toll is developing on Barrow Street in the West Village and on lower Broadway in Tribeca is likely to be similar, Von Spreckelsen said.
“We’re seeing it in the market data that we observe, and we’re seeing it in some of our buildings,” he said. “There only a few buyers who are going to have north of $7 million to spend on an apartment.”
Luxury Features
The Chelsea project will still have many of the luxury features that are hallmarks of New York condo developments, such as walk-in closets, oak floorings and wine refrigerators. Amenities include concierge service, a billiards lounge, a movie screening room and landscaped terrace.
The tower will have 26 two-bedroom apartments with an average size of 1,492 square feet, and 15 one-bedroom units with about 824 square feet, according to Von Spreckelsen. The nine three-bedroom units will average 1,955 square feet, and three four-bedroom apartments will average 4,374 square feet.
A duplex penthouse with a rooftop sun room and pool will span the tower’s top two floors. That unit and a few others haven’t been priced yet.
The tower’s average price per square foot is “compelling” for the Chelsea market, Von Spreckelsen said.
“It’s pretty targeted to where we think the market is,” he said. “We anticipate that we’re going to sell rapidly and have some price increases.”