In mid-December, the Prime condominium tried to lure buyers to an open house by having Christmas carolers sing outside its West 14th Street building. According to the condo’s developer, the unconventional marketing push led to a sale.
That was cause for serious holiday cheer for the nine-unit development, which as of the middle of last month had been on and off the market for nearly two and a half years, but only had two signed contracts. The building is on its third marketing team, and has cut prices substantially from the initial asking price, which had units starting at $3 million. When asked whether he was disappointed with the sales thus far, developer Darren Hornig said, “I guess you could say ‘disappointed’ is the right word.”
Nevertheless, he said the project is “second-to-none,” and that the recent price cuts as well as other attempts to spur sales — including increasing commissions for procuring brokers to 4 percent — will lead to success.
As of mid-January, most of the active listings at the Prime were $2.5 to $2.8 million for 2,340-square-foot two-bedrooms. A 5,400-square-foot penthouse was listed at $7.5 million.
“We’re in the low $1,000s a foot,” said Hornig. “For that price, it’s hard to find that kind of value.”
Michael Katz, a sales associate with RP Miller & Associates, is now leading the sales efforts for the condo, which has struggled more than most Manhattan developments that launched sales a couple years ago. In December, RP Miller replaced a team of Brown Harris Stevens brokers on the job, who in turn replaced Century 21 NY Metro, the development’s initial brokerage.
“Now the pricing is very much in line with the market,” Katz said, referring to the price cuts at the end of last year. “A lot of developers are living in yesteryear, but we’re making adjustments.”
Katz said the new sales push included opening a sales gallery that is available to buyers 24 hours a day by appointment and revamping the Prime’s Web site. The building will also continue to hold themed open houses — including one for Valentine’s Day next month.
Katz acknowledged that holding events like the caroling open house meant “walking a fine line” in terms of giving off the appearance of desperation.
“What we always say is, ‘come in and look at the product.’ We just want to make ourselves available. We’re not desperate. We’re not giving things away,” he said.
Chris Poore, a Corcoran salesperson who has worked on many deals in the area, said the Prime’s current prices were in line with others in Chelsea.
“New development is the most difficult part of the market right now, because no one wants to be the first person to buy at a building when you don’t know what the future of that building is going to be,” he said.