Touring Extell’s Art Deco Upper East Side condo, The Kent

While designing Extell’s relatively understated Upper East Side condo, The Kent, the architects at Beyer Blinder Belle looked to the past. Richard Metsky, a partner at the firm, cited the neighborhood’s Art Deco architecture as inspiration for the project on a recent tour of the building.

That vision is becoming clearer now that the Kent has topped out at its full 23 story height. While it’s evident that this is a modern condo, several design elements, including the hand-laid brick facade interwoven with limestone and metal, are a nod to the past. And while it’s not as flashy as some of Extell’s other projects, like Billionaires’ Row skyscraper One57, the Kent is likely to catch the eye of those walking along Third Avenue in the East 90s—an area that’s not exactly known for its stand-out buildings.

The Kent, part of Extell’s extensive New York City portfolio, is one amid a crowded field of new developments on the Upper East Side. Anbau’s SHoP-designed Citizen360, Ben Shaoul’s adjacent condo conversion, and the massive 1,100-unit AvalonBay rental are all in various stages of completion in the vicinity. The fact that the Second Avenue Subway is now up and running means more new developments in the neighborhood are likely to follow.

Sales at the Kent launched in May last year with prices starting at $2.45 million. Among the currently available condos, prices range from $2.57 million for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit spanning 1,351 square feet and go up to $8.27 million for a five-bedroom, four-bathroom condo with 3,564 square feet of space.

For its part, Extell declined to provide a sales update on the building, but Anna Zarro, senior vice president at Extell, and J.P. Forbes, the director of sales at The Kent, don’t seem too concerned about the competition—Forbes went so far as to call it a “game-changer” for the neighborhood.

It’s not just the facade and the design that (they hope) will make it stand out: The Kent’s interiors will be designed by Alexandra Champalimaud, known for her work on high-end hotels in the city, and residents will be able to choose from three different finishes for their apartments—Ivory, Opal, and Onyx, in case you weren’t already aware that it was going to be very fancy.

Grid View

• The condo building has unusually large windows on some of the lower floors, measuring eight feet tall in some cases.
• One of the penthouse units at this 83-unit building.
• Inside one of the seventh floor units, which comes with a massive private terrace.
• An inside look at the massive eight foot windows.
• The entrance to the building which will have double height ceilings.
• The views from atop The Kent.

The building’s amenities, meanwhile, will be similarly upscale: they’ll include a “Sound Lounge”—a recreational space designed by Lenny Kravitz (who also has a Nolita development in the works)—a fitness center with a heated indoor pool, and a stroller valet (because it’s the Upper East Side). West8 Landscape Architects, the firm responsible for much of the new parkland on Governors Island, will also design a landscaped courtyard for residents.

To give prospective buyers a sense of what all of this might look like, Extell has opened a sales office a block away from the construction site—a miniature version of the grand lobby, which will be paneled in rosewood, can be experienced as you enter the facsimile office.

When it’s complete, the Kent will have a total of 83 apartments that will come in two-bedroom through five-bedroom options and vary in size from 1,285 square feet to more than 5,000 square feet. Construction has been moving along steadily since last year and Extell hopes to welcome the building’s first residents before the end of this year.

• Extell's Art Deco-Inspired Upper East Side Condo Launches Sales From $2.45M [Curbed]
• Checking in on Extell’s Art Deco-inspired Upper East Side condo tower [Curbed]
• Extell’s Upper East Side Condo Seeks Modest $535M Sellout [Curbed]