Linden 78 sees marketing firm shakeup

alternate text
Linden 78

The Marketing Directors has replaced Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group as the exclusive marketing and sales agent at Upper West Side condominium Linden 78 — the latest in a series of shakeups for the project.

The Marketing Directors released a statement earlier today announcing that it is now handling sales at the 34-unit condo, which is located at 230 West 78th Street.

Corcoran Sunshine has been marketing the building since it went on sale in 2007 and had sold nearly all of the building’s units by the end of 2008. But the project hit a major speed bump in April, when it was required to offer all of its buyers the opportunity to back out of their contracts.

The developer, Urban Residential, said at the time that buyers were given that option because construction delays caused the project to miss its “outside date,” meaning it had not begun closings within a year of the date it had originally projected for the commencement of the condo: April 1, 2009. One buyer did close on a $3 million purchase on March 31, but it reportedly was not counted by the state attorney general’s office, since the building did not yet have a temporary certificate of occupancy.

It’s unclear exactly how many buyers chose to rescind their contracts. Today’s press release from the Marketing Directors noted that the project has “34 impressively appointed condominium residences,” though it did not say how many of them are now for sale.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

By signing up, you agree to TheRealDeal Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

Corcoran Sunshine issued a statement of its own in response to today’s announcement.

“Corcoran Sunshine is proud to have marketed and launched Linden 78 for sale,” the statement said. “Under our representation, the building achieved 90 percent sold, and notably reached 84 percent sold within the first year of sales. It is unfortunate that the building experienced construction delays. The outside construction date was missed and buyers had the right to rescind.”

The company did not offer further explanation for the decision to switch sales teams.

Curiously, the Marketing Directors’ release names the developer as Amsterdam 78 rather than Urban Residential, suggesting that there may have been some change in the ownership or financing structure in addition to the marketing shakeup.

Calls to Urban Residential and Marketing Directors were not returned by press time.

In May, former Corcoran Sunshine sales director Nancy Reese sued the sponsors of Linden 78, claiming that they owed her $70,000 in commission fees for canceled contracts. That case is still pending, according to Reese’s attorney, Debra Guzov, a partner at the law firm Guzov Ofsink.