Those who have stood at the bottom of the East River Tower usually come away asking the same thing: How can this building possibly exist? Oh, but it does, even if its size, pricing and somewhat remote Astoria waterfront location don't seem to make a whole lot of sense. Buyers haven't been quick to embrace the building?in fact, StreetEasy doesn't show a single sale?and whether that can be blamed on the bus or not is no longer the issue. The future of this ghost tower is clear: It's auction time!
A tipster points us to eastriverauction.com, where we're told that on Sunday, February 13 at the Roosevelt Hotel on Madison Avenue at 45th Street, Sheldon Good & Company will be banging the gavel on 25 one- and two-bedroom condos in the building. The site also says "15 to be sold subject to low minimum bids starting at $195k." The apartments were originally priced from $385,000 to $870,000.
Open houses kick off this Sunday, and there's an auction brochure available for download (some interior photos are in the gallery above). Auctions of unsold condo inventory haven't quite caught on the way some experts thought they would when the credit crunch was wreaking havoc, but maybe a success story here will convince other developers to go that route. The building may be a failure up to this point, but those views at the right price should attract some serious attention, no?
· Auction - East River Condominiums [eastriverauction.com]
· East River Tower coverage [Curbed]