A penthouse unit in the Sheffield and Marketing Directors President Jacqueline Urgo
Three weeks ago, the Marketing Directors unveiled the 10 penthouses on the 56th and 57th floors of the Sheffield, and The Real Deal got a sneak peek at the units and their impressive views — just as the overcast weather cleared — today (see photos above). Asking prices for the two- and three-bedroom penthouses at the condominium conversion at 322 West 57th Street range from $2.55 million to $5.25 million for a unit overlooking Central Park, and apparently buyers won’t have much room for negotiation.
“We’re hardly open to any negotiations on those units — being that they are the crown jewels of the building,” Jacqueline Urgo, president of the Marketing Directors, said. “We’re going to hold out for the best prices.”
Urgo said the buyers of the three penthouse in contract are not investors; rather they are home buyers who have looked elsewhere in the area, such as at 15 Central Park West and the Time Warner Center, but chose “the incredibly well-priced” apartments at the Sheffield. As previously reported, building-wide prices were cut 25 percent when the Marketing Directors came onboard and relaunched sales at the Sheffield in March of last year.
Thus far, 71 percent of the 597 units priced from $775,000 to $7.6 million have sold, Urgo said, while about 75 of the units are stabilized rentals — holdovers from before Kent Swig purchased the building for a record price in 2005 and converted the building to condo.
Swig lost control of the building, which has been involved in more controversy than practically any other Manhattan condo in recent memory, and Fortress Investment Group snapped it up at a foreclosure auction. While the tales of ice bucket attacks and marching bands drowning out protests were an obstacle for the Marketing Directors at first, Urgo said fewer and fewer buyers come in with questions about it. “During the first three months it was something that was talked about a lot,” she said. “But since we repositioned the building… we rarely hear about it.” About 30 brokers come to check out the residences each week, she added.