One Manhattan Square leads NYC new development sales

Projects in Brooklyn and Queens tie for the second spot

One Manhattan Square, Extell Development’s 814-unit condominium in Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood, is selling faster than any other new development in New York City, according to Marketproof’s analysis.

When looking at the past three months, One Manhattan Square saw an average of 12 contracts per month, 30 percent above the two buildings following it. Interestingly, the projects tied for the second spot were both in the outer boroughs. Downtown Brooklyn’s 11 Hoyt Street and Long Island City’s Skyline Tower sold at a rate of 9.3 contracts per month.

“A building’s sales velocity reveals insights about pricing, discounting, and buyer tastes and when we analyze that data across the entire condo landscape we get a new perspective on performance; we see that a project with 50% of its inventory remaining is actually outperforming the rest of the market,” said Dana Schulz, Marketproof editorial director. “It takes time to sell 800 units but One Manhattan Square is selling faster than anyone realizes.”

The 81-story glass tower began sales in 2016 and is credited with being the first major development project in the neighborhood abutting the Lower East Side and Chinatown. Its all-time sales velocity over the past five years is 6.4 contracts per month. When we narrow it down to the past year, we see that this number has steadily increased by two additional sales every three months.

Units at One Manhattan Square are selling at an average 10 percent discount, which is pretty standard for the new development market. So what’s the reason for its more recent upward trajectory? A likely possibility is its 100,000-square-foot amenity package, one of the largest in the entire city. It includes perks like a 75-foot saltwater pool, an outdoor grilling/dining deck overlooking the Manhattan Bridge, basketball and squash courts, a two-lane bowling alley, and the city’s largest outdoor private garden. In a post-Covid world, access to outdoor space and work-from-home areas has become increasingly sought after. And though units at One Manhattan Square are priced up to $13 million, more than 200 of them are below $1.5 million, a more attainable end of the ultra-luxury market.

It’s also interesting to look at Skyline Tower and 11 Hoyt as top performers in the sales velocity category. These projects, respectively, reported the most and second-most sponsor contracts of any NYC new developments in 2021. Coupled with their continued sales velocity strength, it’s clear that demand for luxury condos in the outer boroughs is growing.

Similar to One Manhattan Square, Skyline Tower has a total of 801 units. The fact that the city’s two largest developments have the strongest sales velocities shows that there is an appetite for big buildings that have many conveniences. With more people in New York City working from home, larger amenity packages are key.

To learn more about sales velocity among NYC new developments, click here >>

Photo of One Manhattan Square by Evan Joseph