Luxe condo near Morningside Heights seminary campus launches sales

The Vandewater, a new condo building in Morningside Heights—one of the first of its kind for the area—has launched sales for its 183 apartments, with prices for studios beginning at just under $1 million.

The 33-story condo designed by INC Architecture and Design—the same firm behind 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge Park and 121 East 22nd Street—took cues from the surrounding neo-classical architecture of nearby Columbia University for the building’s exteriors and interiors.

The building’s studios through four-bedrooms will come with classically-oriented interiors including craftsman-inspired kitchens featuring two tones of oak cabinetry, pewter hardware, honed Perla Venata quartzite countertops, and Miele appliances. Master bathrooms will come with honed Windsor Cream marble walls and white oak double vanities with black travertine countertops.

“The Vandewater is the first development of its kind in Morningside Heights,” says Christopher Schlank, founder and managing partner of Savanna, which is developing the project, says it’s “the first development of its kind in Morningside Heights”—and indeed, the median condo price in the area is slightly lower, at just over $756,000, according to a Furman Center report.

“The property will add a new level of modern living to the neighborhood,” he says, “while paying homage to the iconic architecture of the surrounding area.”

The development’s moniker is a nod to the neighborhood’s original name of Vandewater Heights, after one of the first families that owned in the area. The 33-story tower is rising near the campus of the Jewish Theological Seminary, which inked a $100 million deal with the developer for the property and surrounding air rights. The the tower’s upper floors will enjoy a certain amount of protection from view-obstructing buildings for the foreseeable future.

The building’s 24,000 square feet of amenities will be spread across three floors and include a salon, a great room, and a club room. The building will also feature two private gardens and a cobblestone motor court drive designed by Michael Van Valkenburg Associates.

Apartments will be priced from $900,000 to upwards of $6 million and marketed with Halstead Property Development Marketing. Construction on the condo, which is located at 543 West 122nd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, is already underway.