Sales at Extell's supertall One57 launched in 2011, but to date the building has yet to sell out—a quick perusal of StreetEasy shows that 22 units remain available, with some of those even marketed as rentals. To try and mitigate that dreaded sluggishness, the developer is taking a new tactic: According to the Wall Street Journal, Extell spent approximately $1 million to have interior designer Jennifer Post create a turnkey apartment. Every single detail—from the furniture to the linens to the soap in the bathroom—is already in place, so all a prospective tenant has to do is show up.
After handling sales in-house for much of the past few years, the developer tapped Douglas Elliman and Sotheby's to market some of its apartments, including a $30 million, three-bedroom unit.
But as the luxury condo market softens, it makes sense that developers would try new things to offload their outstanding units—in One57's case, the building is only 80 percent sold, despite its apartments being on the market for four years. But Extell honcho Gary Barnett seems confident that this experiment will pay off, and said that the developer is considering creating more turnkey units in the building. "We think this is really going to spur sales," he told the WSJ.
Post told the WSJ that she designed the apartment with an eye toward a "classical, modern aesthetic," and indeed, it's outfitted with neutral colors, high-end finishes, and custom furniture that's completely inoffensive. The 3,228-square-foot unit, which is asking $20.1 million, has three bedrooms and—thanks to its 45th-floor placement—views of Central Park.
· To Spur Sales, Extell Development Offers One57 Condo Decorated Down to the Bath Towels [WSJ]
· Extell taps outside brokerages to market remaining One57 units [TRD]
· All One57 Coverage [Curbed]
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