After marveling at its high-tech elevators and then falling victim to the charm of its fancy napkins, the Aurora?the seven full-floor lofts that sit atop an extended-stay Marriott in Murray Hill?left us high and dry. Maybe it was overshadowed by its Williamsburg counterpart, or maybe, as the Times' Josh Barbanel reports, there was just nothing going on.
After more than a year on the market, city records show that Team Shvo and the developer couldn't sell a single unit, although the developer says the one he bought hasn't been recorded yet, and two more are in contract. The problem? The gigantic, raw loft spaces weren't worth it to buyers when they calculated the additional time and costs needed to finish the units. So over the summer, the developer replaced Shvo with Daniel Berman at Bellmarc, and they've divided up some of the full-floors into two units while working on finishing the rest. Will it work this time around? No clue, but the associate broker on the property sure does look like Jennifer Aniston, and only good things happen to Jennifer Aniston, right?
· The D.I.Y. Approach Wanes in Popularity [NYTimes]
· Adventures in Shvranding: The Aurora [Curbed]