150 Charles penthouse, asking $34M, in contract

A month into marketing for the hotly anticipated yet divisive condominiums at 150 Charles Street, the penthouse is already in contract, according to Streeteasy.com. The last listing price for the five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath unit was $34 million, although the sales price was not immediately known.

The Douglas Elliman sales team of Leonard Steinberg, Raphael DeNiro and Darren Sukenik did not immediately return calls for comment. Steve Witkoff, of developer the Witkoff Group, declined to comment.

Another penthouse at the conversion, which will have an asking price of $35 million, is not yet on the market, a source close to the developer told The Real Deal today.

According to Streeteasy, 48 of the 98 units have come to market thus far, with 34 in contract as of today. Prices at the building (except for the remaining penthouse) range from $4.2 million for a two-bedroom, 1,577-square-foot unit, to $8.95 million for a four-bedroom, 3,956-square-foot unit.

The 98-unit building, at Washington Street, is the rare new construction condo project in the West Village, and it did not rise without significant objections from the surrounding community. Last August, 11 nearby residents filed suit in New York State Supreme Court, arguing that Witkoff had violated zoning rules because it had filed plans to redevelop a warehouse — the Whitehall Storage building — on the site, but in fact had demolished that structure and rebuilt from the ground up. The plaintiffs agreed to drop the lawsuit in early December, court documents show.

Early plans for the building included waterfalls, or “cascading water features,” throughout the structure that were to terminate in a common courtyard, previous reports show. The building was then slated to be called the Watershed, but those plans have been abandoned, the source said.

According to the Elliman site, however, the building is still well-appointed, especially when compared to other housing in the West Village, which, with the exception of celebrity magnet Superior Ink, lacks 150 Charles’ luxury amenities like a gym, pool, valet and concierge service.

The condos hit the market last month, after Witkoff late last year nabbed a $230 million construction loan from Wells Fargo and M&T Bank.