The ascent of Astor Place

Once a hangout for college students and skateboarders, Astor Place is evolving from a subway stop into a full-blown neighborhood as higher-end development fills its small confines, the latest addition being a celebrity-architect designed tower.

Real estate brokers say the gradual upgrading of the area began about five years ago with the conversion of the Carl Fischer building at 62 Cooper Square into condominiums. Then in 2003, 21 Astor Place, a landmark building from 1892, was converted to luxury lofts. The trifecta was completed with 445 Lafayette Street, called simply Astor Place, a luxury tower designed by star architect Charles Gwathmey, which opened for sales this past fall and now commands prices of as much as $2,600 a square foot, according to data from the Corcoran Group.

“It is literally a reflection of how far this neighborhood has come,” said Meris Blumstein, a Corcoran senior vice president and longtime neighborhood resident. “The amorphous glass walls of Astor Place mirror surrounding loft buildings that have gone from warehouses to offices to celebrity homes. The presence of Cooper Union and NYU has always given the area a young, exciting edge.”

The gentrification sweeping Astor Place, a bridge area that was once the inviolate dividing line between the East Village and Greenwich Village in the late 1970s, now means condominium conversions are driving out the urban grit. The latest casualty is the Hells Angels’ store at 102 St. Mark’s Place, which will soon close.

Another Corcoran senior vice president and longtime East Village resident, Glenn Schiller, said he sold out quickly last year on 10 one-bedroom condos at 15 St. Mark’s Place, right in the midst of the retail strip that draws students, tourists and downtowners. The units averaged $565,000, or a little north of $600 a square foot. Schiller, who consulted on the development, said the developers initially envisioned a mix of two-bedrooms and studios before changing their minds.

“We thought one-bedrooms would do better than full-floors,” he said, “Because you have Cooper Union and NYU as monuments in that neighborhood. We got half [our sales from] parents buying for their kids in grad school and the other half were young guys just into the job market.

“The funny thing is, we sold the front side units faster than the back side units most people who wanted to live on that street wanted to see the street.”

The area may be moving a few notches up as far as prices and spending options, but that has not quite curbed the allure of the boisterous street and its vibrant nightlife. Brokers are watching the streamlined physique of 445 Lafayette to see how the ritzy development fares among the neighborhood’s converted historic buildings, with 65 Cooper Union and 214 East 9th Street among them. Wall Street executives and entertainment industry folks are reportedly moving in.

“There’s nothing there on the scale of 445 Lafayette,” said Daniel Levy, president of CityRealty. com. “Certainly, the price point is a pretty unique price point in that area.”

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Levy said that what he likes about the combination of 62 Cooper Union, 21 Astor Place and 445 Lafayette Street is that they provide a contemporary alternative to the dated walk-up buildings that predominate in the area.

“Without those three buildings, you really don’t have that much in terms of a more upscale product,” he said. “Those three buildings definitely filled a void exceptionally well, and there’s always that demand.”

Alicia Goldstein, a spokeswoman for The Related Companies, which developed the 21-story, 39-unit Astor Place tower, said the building differentiates itself from the two other condo developments in ways other than price.

“We’re very different from the Carl Fischer building and 21 Astor Place, because those are not new construction from the ground up,” she said. “It’s very European, a modern building sort of reflecting the neighborhood that has a lot of historic buildings. There’s definitely an international aesthetic.”

Goldstein said 45 percent of the building’s units, which range from two-bedrooms to penthouses, have been sold at prices ranging from $3 million to more than $12 million.

Buyers have been “young, old, empty-nesters, downtown enthusiasts, people who are design savvy,” she said. “I think it’s more of a lifestyle and a mindset and an aesthetic that they’re interested in, and they can’t be pigeon-holed as entertainment or Wall Street.”

Corcoran’s Blumstein said skeptics have questioned the viability of the most luxurious of highend developments in the neighborhood. Developers at 21 Astor Place had to cut up a 9,000 square-foot penthouse with a wraparound terrace into three penthouses to sell the space. But buyers seem to be embracing 445 Lafayette.

“The reality is, the neighborhood is accepting the prices, the buyers are accepting the prices, and even though it may take a little bit longer to sell them, they’ll definitely sell out somewhere along the line,” she said.

Blumstein remains a booster of neighborhood culture as well, citing the presence of the Public Theatre, the American Indian Community House, the Ukrainian Museum and the home base of the New York Shakespeare Festival. Long-time retail fixtures like Astor Wines & Spirits are now joined by the likes of K-Mart and city staples such as Starbucks and Barnes & Noble.

More importantly, unlike much of the far West Village, there is an existing foundation of retail and restaurants upon which to build, and which may be upgraded in the near future.

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