Manhattan Condo Property Sees Rapid Sales

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

New York—In another example of the revived heat of New York’s condo market, the developers of Citizen, a new condo property in Manhattan, report that about 85 percent of its units have been sold in roughly eight months of active marketing. Citizen is at 124 W. 23rd St, between the Chelsea and Flatiron neighborhoods.

Sales at the property actually began about a year ago, but according to developer Anbau Enterprises principal Stephen L. Glascock, the initial response was strong enough so that “we took the summer off to complete the larger, upper floor models.” Sales began again in October 2012.

The 29-unit, 16-story structure includes residences ranging from studios to three bedrooms, plus a penthouse. The studios began at about $650,000, while the penthouse was listed at roughly $4 million.

BKSK Architects designed Citizen, and it includes a number of features to promote healthful living, notes the developer. For example, each residence features double-filtered fresh air, active exhaust systems and sound-attenuating windows. High ceilings and open floor plans increase natural light and improve air quality.

The project was planned and originally designed in a somewhat different form before the housing crash. Early plans called for a glass-facade building marketed to singles, but the economic turmoil of the late 2000s put the kibosh on that plan. Re-formulated plans, which were ultimately built post-recession, featured a brick façade, as well as larger kitchens and storage space.

The property ultimately came to the market at a time of “acute shortage of inventory,” according to the most recent report on Manhattan for-sale housing by Miller Samuel. In the first quarter of 2013, listing inventory was 4,960 units, down 34.4 percent from a year earlier. Despite the drop, sales were up during 1Q13 by 6.3 percent, Miller Samuel noted.