Elliman takes over Tribeca penthouse listing that passes the McDonald’s smell test

Developer has struggled to sell unit after past complaints over truck fumes

8 Thomas Street and Toni Haber (Building photo by Mark Maurer)
8 Thomas Street and Toni Haber (Building photo by Mark Maurer)

The five-story condominium building at 8 Thomas Street in Tribeca doesn’t have golden arches. But the complex has been linked to McDonald’s in recent years, amid residents’ complaints over the smell of exhaust fumes from delivery trucks parked outside the adjacent fast food restaurant at 317 Broadway.

The supposed smell has made it difficult for developer Anand Gajjar to sell the building’s duplex penthouse, where he lives with his wife, Rita.

The couple, who has struggled to sell the unit, is now turning to a third set of listing brokers, Toni Haber and Steven Kramer of Douglas Elliman, to market the three-bedroom apartment. The 3,197-square-foot condo will hit the market tonight with an asking price of $5.399 million, Haber told The Real Deal.

Previously, Timothy McCarthy of Stribling & Associates listed the penthouse for $3.995 million in 2009. The couple decided to live there and pulled it off the market in February 2010.In February this year, Laura Moss of Brown Harris Stevens stepped in and listed it for $5.995 million, StreetEasy shows. The three other units in the building have all sold.

“Each individual property needs a very specific way to market it,” Haber said. “Do you need to de-clutter and adjust the price? The owner said it wasn’t getting a lot of activity.”

Brown Harris Stevens was not immediately available to comment.

In 2009, residents of the Thomas Street building — Between Broadway And Church Street — filed a petition to the local community board and McDonald’s headquarters that called on the chain to relocate its unloading spot, which allegedly blocked access to other cars, as previously reported.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

8-thomas-street-living-room

Living room at 8 Thomas Street penthouse (Photo by Mark Maurer)

However, the trucks rarely park out front to unload food and supplies anymore, instead lining up along Broadway, eliminating the noise and exhaust issues, Rita said. She said she never smelled the odor.

Indeed, when TRD visited today, the apartment did pass the smell test: It was free of unwanted scents.

The unit has a family room library that can be converted into a fourth bedroom. There is also a 1,000-square-foot rooftop terrace and, for $300,000 extra, a 1,000-square-foot wine cellar and game room in the basement of the building, Kramer told TRD.

Ashnu International Corporation, headed up by Nayan Parikh, led the building’s $1.6 million conversion to condominiums in 2007. Architect Jarvis Morgan Slade designed it Victorian-style in 1875 to house a soap manufacturer, the David S. Brown Store.

Correction: A previously published version of this article said the couple struggled to sell it for three years. The couple took the unit off the market between February 2010 and February 2013.