Extell ditches luxury rental plan at One57

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development is abandoning plans to put 38 unsold units at its One57 project on the luxury rental market, and will now try to sell those apartments instead.

The units in question, located on the 32nd through 38th floors of the supertall skyscraper at 157 West 57th Street[TRData] in Midtown, will start at $3.45 million. Extell’s move to sell the apartments as condos corresponds with slipping demand and an influx of supply in Manhattan’s luxury rental market, according to Bloomberg.

“We recognize the demand for efficiently-sized luxury inventory below $10 million,” Barnett told Bloomberg in a statement. “There is absolutely no comparable product currently on the market.” Seven of the 38 units will be priced at north of $10 million, according to a project spokesperson, and all the units will be delivered fully furnished.

Increased supply in Manhattan’s luxury rental market has pushed rents down for the priciest units; the median monthly rent for apartments in the top 10 percent of the market fell 3.5 percent year-over-year in March to $8,228, according to Miller Samuel data.

Extell initially expected to reserve the lower floors of the 75-story building for rentals, and began marketing units on the 37th floor for lease last May. Those rentals ranged from $13,350 per month for a one-bedroom, 1,021-square-foot apartment to $50,336 per month for a three-bedroom unit. The condos on the upper floors of the building have commanded some of the highest prices in the city, with one penthouse selling for a record-breaking $100.5 million. Some condos remain, however, and have struggled to sell.

The developer also attempted to sell all 38 rental units in question as a single package being offered to investors for $250 million, the Wall Street Journal reported in November. [Bloomberg] – Rey Mashayekhi