Townhouses stage comeback after more than 100 years

New-build townhouses are back.

In the post-recession boom, an increasing number of developers are working new-build townhouses into their master plans. This is particularly true for developer Abby Hamlin, who is working on townhouses in a section of the St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral School at 34 Prince Street.

“New townhouses are absolutely desirable once again,” she told the New York Post.

Her project follows Hamlin Ventures’ State Street master plan, which included 23 townhouses on a Brooklyn city block between State and Schermerhorn streets. The first 14 townhouses there were finished in 2007 sold out at an average of $2.6 million per home. The second phase was completed in 2014, when the homes went for an average of $3.5 million each.

The addition of ground-up townhouses in Brooklyn and Manhattan is happening at a rate not seen since the late 19th century.

A number of other townhouse developments from a few years back can be seen across the city. In 2004, One Morton Square opened with 283 units and six townhouses, one of which is still available for $9 million. In 2009, starchitect Robert A.M. Stern put seven serviced townhouses at the base of his 53-unit Superior Ink building on West 12th and Bethune streets. [NYP] — Claire Moses