Union Square has always been more of a retail destination than a residential neighborhood. The area, anchored by the second-busiest subway stop in the city, is surrounded by stores fronting on Union Square Park, from Whole Foods to the Virgin Megastore.
Now developer Josh Guberman and marketer Michael Shvo are bringing high-end housing to the bustling crossroads.
Shvo, president of the Shvo Group, is currently marketing 8 Union Square South, a 20-unit condo building on the corner of University Place and East 14th Street.
Guberman, CEO of Core Development Group, last month launched Union Square Lofts and Flats, a two-building complex on 10 East 14th Street and 5 East 13th Street.
“There’s a demand to live in Union Square,” says Steve Lari, the developer of 8 Union Square South, also known as 8USS. He says that co-ops along Fifth Avenue are the only housing stock to be found in abundance in the area, and notes that they’re peripheral to the park.
While students from nearby New York University dominate Union Square in several dorms — and the majority of sales this year were studios and one-bedroom apartments according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel — the developers are targeting families and older couples with family-size, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
8USS, which is expected to be completed by early next year, is just two units per floor, with two to three bedrooms per apartment.
The project, which offers its residents pre-wired units and a private gym, is a departure from recent studio-heavy developments marketed by Shvo, including Bryant Park Tower and Jade condominium.
Shvo says he is looking beyond young urban professionals and instead seeking empty nesters and families attracted to the Downtown scene.
Meanwhile, the Union Square Lofts and Flats, which consists of two buildings stretching from 13th to 14th streets, are being marketed to a broad scope of buyers, including upscale families with children, urban professionals and creative types.
The north building holds four full-floor lofts behind a historic cast-iron façde. The more modern-looking south building holds two duplexes and one triplex.
Constructing housing right on the park is nearly impossible as all four sides are packed with commercial developments, leaving little room for residential inventory.
“Union Square is very tight; it hasn’t been so much a neighborhood as a park,” says Rob Gross, a senior vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman, who is currently working with Ultimate Realty, the developer of another area residential project at 128 East 13th Street.
That seven-story 25,000-square-foot luxury building will consist mostly of studios and one-bedroom units. The project, which doesn’t hit the market until next year, kept the units economical in size to keep the unit dollar amount affordable, Gross says. The project is targeted to singles, young married couples and international buyers.
According to data from Miller Samuel appraisers, the current average price per square foot for co-ops and condos in Union Square and the surrounding neighborhoods is $924, while for three-bedroom units, the average price per square foot is $1,170.
By contrast, units at Union Square Lofts & Flats are priced from $1.8 million to $5.5 million, with an average price of $1,380 per square foot.
8USS is listed for an average square foot price of $1,600 a square foot, Shvo said.
While areas like Lower Manhattan that are seeing an upsurge in development have to wait for retail to come in abundance, retail in Union Square is already in place.
“Usually retail is at least five years behind the residential development, but at Union Square the retail is all developed,” Lari says.
With the recent arrival of discount gourmet supermarket Trader Joe’s, Union Square has become a destination for foodies. The park is already home to Manhattan’s largest greenmarket, and Whole Foods opened last year.
“The caliber of these new stores is appropriate for the type of high-end residential coming in. It’s converged at a perfect point,” Guberman says.
The developers are also capitalizing on the charm of Union Square Park’s playgrounds and greenmarket in marketing their projects. Shvo is boldly promoting 8USS as “a place to call the park your own.”
Still, the consistent bustling activity of Union Square Park may be an issue for people choosing to reside in one of the busiest quadrants of the city.
“It’s a positive thing for more people than not,” argues Gross. “It’s a downtown park; it has a verve and energy that you won’t get anywhere else in the world.” TRD
Union Square condo takes amenity to 35,000 feet
A new condo project, 8 Union Square South, is catering to the jet-set crowd with private-jet services. Owners of the 20-unit condo building overlooking Union Square Park will have automatic general memberships to Quintessentially, a 24-hour concierge service.
The service will allow residents of 8USS, as the building is known, to arrange last-minute private jet services. The concierge will also provide other services ranging from restaurant reservations to personal shoppers to front-row tickets for events.
The service is free to owners but would otherwise cost $2,500 a year, according to Quintessentially. Hotel-style concierges in condo buildings is a trend that began a few years back with the development of One Beacon Court and the Residences at Mandarin Oriental in the Time Warner Center.
Whether residents of 8USS will be needing private chartered flights at the last minute remains to be seen, but Caroline Homlish, director of Quintessentially in New York, says other residential buildings that use her concierges utilize services including interior decorating, housekeeping staff and travel arrangements to Europe.