In the past couple of weeks, the luxury condo project at 196 Orchard St. finally popped out of the ground. After a long stretch beneath the surface of East Houston and Orchard streets, crews are starting to pick up the pace, with work progressing this week on the third floor of the 11 story building from Ben Shaoul’s Magnum Real Estate Group and Real Estate Equities Corp. Meanwhile, there’s an aggressive marketing push for the 94 condo units being offered at prices starting above $1 million.
The public relations team working with the developers recently sent along these photos of the showroom, located in one of the otherwise vacant retail spaces connected to the Hotel Indigo. We spoke with Leonard Steinberg of Compass, the real estate firm handling sales at 196 Orchard.
We, of course, asked how things are going so far (sales launched this past September), but Steinberg said the development team does not permit him to disclose the number of units sold and at what price. “We are,” he said, “very happy with the interest in our building. Prices have been very solid.” Steinberg said price-per-square foot has been close to $2,300.
Only a small number of the available apartments are listed on StreetEasy (10 units ranging in price from $1.1 million for a studio all the way up to $4.8 million for a 3-bedroom unit. Another 15 apartments are listed as “no longer available.”)
Steinberg said he’s confident excitement about the project will only build as, “the skeleton begins to take shape” on Orchard Street. Many of his prospective buyers are empty-nesters choosing to move back into the city after raising families in Westchester, New Jersey or Long Island. “They have an emotional or personal connection to the Lower East Side,” he noted. Reprising a line from a real estate panel held several months ago at the doomed Sunshine Cinema, Steinberg said, the neighborhood is, “probably as cool as Williamsburg but without the L Train.”
The location, right on the border of the Lower East Side and the East Village, is a major selling point for Compass. Another big draw is a 30,000 square foot Equinox Health Club that will be located in the building (residents will be able to access the club directly from their lobby). Then, of course, there’s the condo project’s next door neighbor, Katz’s Deli. “The food component is a big deal,” said Steinberg, explaining that many of the potential residents of 196 Orchard are drawn to both the old and new culinary destinations the neighborhood has to offer.
The building is expected to be completed in early 2018.
