Late bloomers? 10 condo projects with no units recorded sold

By Adam Pincus

Despite the headwinds in the New York City condominium market, still about $170 million in new development condominium sales have been recorded each week, on average, over the past 12 months.

Developers have projects that start closings slowly and others that rack up sales right away.

But then there are some that have not recorded a single sale, months or even more than a year after the condo declaration was recorded.

PincusCo Media took a look at 10 projects that had not recorded any closed sales through July even as the developer had recorded the condo declaration between July 1, 2018 and January 1, 2020. The analysis sought to look at projects that had sufficient time to record sales but were also relatively new projects.

The projects ranged in sellout prices from $273 million at Fortis Property Group’s 161 Maiden Lane in the Financial District to $6.5 million for a small project in Bushwick at 189 Cooper Street.

Several projects had not yet been given a temporary certificate of occupancy, and others had.

A condo project has to pass through several stages to begin closings, including the plan has to be declared effective by the Attorney General, the condo declaration must be recorded and the temporary certificate of occupancy must be issued for the relevant apartments.

PincusCo reached out to the developers, but few responded.

One who did respond was David Kronman, president of Cape Advisors. The firm is developing 30 Warren Street, which has a current sell out price of $92.8 million. He said closings would begin shortly after the project’s temporary certificate of occupancy was filed. He sent that note earlier this month, and the TCO was issued last week, so closings will likely start soon.

The largest project by sellout price, developed by Fortis Property Group, has been in the works for at least six years, with the original plans pre-filed in May 2014, and the first permits issued in January 2015.

Despite that quick start, construction has halted several times, according to news reports, including from Yimby, which reported work had halted in 2019. However construction has resumed, and Yimby reported in May that the glass curtain wall was once again being installed.

The next largest project is Bill Cheng’s 150 East 23rd Street, which has a current sellout price of $139.6 million for the 51-unit project. The project was also filed about six years ago. Cheng pre-filed plans in July 2014 and was issued his first permits in July 2016. He has not yet filed for a TCO, but a review of DOB data indicates the project is not stalled.

The third largest project is 211 Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn Heights, which is being developed by Oestreicher Properties. This new construction projects was prefiled in February 2016 and was given its initial permits in February of 2017, to build the 48-unit project. The developer filed for the TCO in August 2019, but it has not yet been issued.

The current sellout reported in the Attorney General website is $99.85 million.

The fourth largest project is Cape Advisors’ 30 Warren Street.

The fifth largest, the Flushing Highline, was issued its new building certificate of occupancy in March 2019, 13 years after plans were filed in 2006. The 28-unit project at 136-46 41st Avenue has a current sell out of $60 million, but no units have been recorded as sold.

It is currently listed as a rental building in Streeteasy.

The next project is the Alston, a 46-unit project at 308 West 133rd Street in Central Harlem, with a current sellout of $41.7 million. The new construction building from Happy Living Development was issued its initial TCO on July 11, 2019.

The seventh largest project, Dongan Tower at 81-05 Queens Boulevard, with a current sellout price of $41.4 million, is being developed by Yu Kang Yang. The project was issued its initial TCO on July 10, 2019, 11 years after filing plans.

The next project, Bridgeview Tower, is a 37-unit condo at 23-01 41st Avenue in Long Island City, being developed by Zehao Fang, with a sellout price of $34.7 million. The building was completed much faster than most. Fang filed the plans in 2015 and the city gave the building its CO on September 13, 2018.  The building is listed on Streeteasy as a rental.

The ninth project is Living on Point in Long Island City and the final project is 189 Cooper Street in Bushwick.