Midwood sells $33M penthouse at UES condo project

Combined unit atop 150 East 78th Street closed around initial asking

Midwood's John Usdan and 150 East 78th Street (Midwood Investment & Development)
Midwood's John Usdan and 150 East 78th Street (Midwood Investment & Development)

John Usdan wasn’t keen on having a combined unit at his Midwood Investment & Development’s condo building on the Upper East Side, but has pulled in 33 million good reasons to do so.

The sale of the penthouse at 150 East 78th Street closed almost two years after sales launched at the building, which the firm developed with EJS Group.

The apartment, which previously asked $32.75 million, is a combined unit of the top two penthouse floors of the building. The result is eight bedrooms and eight and a half bathrooms across 7,000 square feet of interior space, plus 1,500 square feet of outdoor space.

“Developers are always reluctant to do unit combinations,” Usdan said. “We will continue to be reluctant to do unit combinations, because it’s just a whole other level of detail.”

The 16-story, 25-unit condo building, designed by Robert A.M Stern Architects, is now sold out. Completed in 2021, the building’s interiors were designed by Robert Couturier and a team led by Compass’ Alexa Lambert marketed the property.

The condo building provides a different option for buyers in an otherwise co-op-heavy area, Usdan said.

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“It had to be of [co-op] quality and there was an inherent demand from younger families who didn’t want to deal with the restrictive work rules,” said John Usdan, CEO of Midwood.

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The building’s retail portion closed a deal of its own, with French patisserie Angelina Paris signed for its second U.S. location.

Some of the building’s other sales activity has made headlines. Another penthouse, asking $17 million, entered contract and scored the top spot on Olshan Realty’s weekly report of priciest homes to enter into contract in Manhattan in October.

The 3,800-square-foot duplex has four bedrooms, five bathrooms and a library, along with a nearly 300-square-foot terrace.

The last unit remaining in the building, penthouse 11B’s asking price at the time of going under contract ranked near the top as New York City’s new development market hit bottom in October.