Flushing complex fishes for buyers with ‘gummy bear’ bait: PHOTOS

Skyview developer won't market second tower until first one is 75 percent sold

The sales team behind Flushing’s $1 billion luxury condominium towers Skyview Parc won’t be marketing tower two until towers one and three are 75 percent sold. And that isn’t expected to happen until spring 2013, Helen Lee, the director of the Onex Group, which is marketing the building, told The Real Deal. As The Real Deal previously reported, towers one and three recently hit the 50 percent sold mark. Lee said that the prices of units in tower two, which Onex touts as having Skyview’s best light and Manhattan views, have not yet been determined.

The development recently celebrated the opening of “dEmo at the Parc,” an alfresco exhibit featuring the work of the Spanish artist Eladio de Mora, who is known as dEmo. In the four-acre rooftop garden, which boasts a tennis court, a playground and a putting course, dEmo’s 30 rainbow-colored plastic “gummy bears” of various sizes were on display. Top-40 hits played from a D.J. booth added to the promotional event’s playful vibe.

The event’s curator, Maria Boobis of Flushing’s Crossing Art, told The Real Deal that the artist’s goal was simply to make the party’s 81 brokers and 189 residents, guests and VIPs smile.

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Lee said the building is seeing both local and international interest, with prospective buyers hailing from Manhattan and throughout the Tri-State area, as well as from Southeast Asia. So far, Skyview’s buyers have ranged from young families to empty-nesters, she said. Units are selling in the $600- $700-a-square-foot range, and Lee said that the development is attracting both all-cash buyers and those who are choosing to finance.

Nevertheless, Skyview’s primary challenge will be attracting the Manhattan professionals it seeks. To lure these target buyers, the Onex marketing team is emphasizing the area’s 17-minute, two-stop commute to Penn Station on the Long Island Railroad. Other selling points: in-building big-box retail, such as Target and Best Buy, luxury amenities and three-inch thick windows that block out airplane noise.

The mall-top condo, located at 40-22 College Point Boulevard, is only in phase one of development, with a multi-tower addition planned, should Onex hit its target.