South Street Seaport gains residents, commands high prices

Demand to purchase in the residential enclave of South Street Seaport is growing so rapidly that some properties are sold before they are publicly listed, Phyllis Pei, an agent at Prudential Douglas Elliman, told the New York Times, a sign that the area is rebounding, independently of the Financial District.

So far in 2011, 273 sales have closed in the Seaport/Fulton Street area stretching west to Broadway, with an average sales price of more than $915,000, Streeteasy.com data shows. The average rent for the area is $3,775.

South Street Seaport, the 13-block historic district bounded by the East River and and Dover Street and the Brooklyn Bridge to the north, is a neighborhood with two very different faces, the New York Times said — a residential area is growing in the North, and to the South, a tourist destination served by Pier 17.

“There is a divide between the touristy area that most New Yorkers think of when they think of the Seaport, and the residential area that locals frequent,” Pei said.

New developments in the area include 254 Front Street, an eight-story Rental Building On Dover Street that was originally designed as a condominium, but stalled as a result of the financial crisis, and 272 Water Street, a new condominium with prices ranging from $595,000 to $1.189 million, according to Streeteasy.com. [NYT]