Shaoul plans a similar strategy at his next project, at 196 Orchard St., where the foundation is being poured. Marketing won’t start at the Lower East Side building until it reaches its third floor in about four months, he said. He will set prices within the next two weeks, so that he can at least sell to people who have inquired about the property through its website.

There’s always a risk a developer takes when waiting and trying to read the tea leaves, said Joe McMillan, chief executive officer of DDG, a seven-year-old firm with projects in New York and San Francisco.

At its XOCO 325 project, on West Broadway in Soho, DDG waited to begin sales until after the scaffolding was removed to reveal the building’s facade -- a cast-aluminum grid overlaid on a glass curtain wall. It had legal approval to start marketing units in July, but held off until October.

“You always have to balance selling sooner and potentially not maximizing the experience and the value,” he said. “There’s never a perfect time.”

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