Harlem condo takes new name from Museum Mile

An East Harlem development is banking on a new name, inspired by landmarks more than a mile to the south, to jumpstart sales of its 116 apartments. The Wall Street Journal reported Bruce Brickman and his new marketing team, Core, are changing the name of the Robert A.M. Stern-designed condominium at 1280 Fifth Avenue to One Museum Mile after calling it by its address since sales launched in October 2010 under Brown Harris Stevens.

The building is 1.4 miles north of where the traditional stretch of museums along Fifth Avenue starts, at The Metropolitan Museum Near East 82nd Street. But in 2010 the city extended the “Museum Mile” designation upwards to 110th street, the northern cross street of the condo, to include the Museum for African Art in the building’s base. However, Manhattan addresses typically start from the south and rise heading north.

But sales are slow. Even though Brickman has slashed prices, just three apartment closings appear in property records, the Journal said, and brokers report three more closed sales in the past few days. Core CEO Shaun Osher says interest has picked up, and believes the new address will help put the building on buyer’s radars. It would now be seen as a place “with all of those museums right on your doorstep,” he said. [WSJ]