Off Broadway: Leonard Street’s cachet draws developers

From left: 101 Leonard and 56 Leonard Street
From left: 101 Leonard and 56 Leonard Street

Broadway may be the stuff of New York City dreams, but these days, developers are putting down roots on Leonard Street.

Developers like Steven Della Salla, managing principal at Bizzi & Partners Development, took over the former office building at 350 Broadway only to rejigger his condominium conversion’s address to reflect a Leonard Street locale. The Peebles Corporation is following suit, transforming the McKim, Mead & White-designed 13-story building at 346 Broadway, which will boast 110-140 condo units, into 108 Leonard.

“For the American buyer, Leonard is a much trendier, Cooler Street than Broadway,” Della Salla told the New York Post. “For the foreign buyer it might be different.”

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The Leonard, a 66-unit condominium at 101 Leonard Street, began sales this summer and is now nearly 90 percent in contract. And 56 Leonard, which arguably started the influx of hip, shattered downtown records with the $47 million sale of a penthouse unit.

“It doesn’t hurt that they were making this spectacular building down the block,” Della Salla said of 56 Leonard’s impact on his own sales and marketing. [NYP]Julie Strickland