Luxury Development in NYC’s ‘Gritty’ East Village Quickly Sells Out as Last Penthouse Goes for $10M

One of the last neighborhoods in Manhattan to retain some of the gritty allure of "old New York" is catching up in price point to swankier neighborhoods like the West Village and Chelsea.

All 18 units ranging in price from $1 million to $10 million of an under-construction luxury development at 220 East 9th St. in the East Village sold out in 11 weeks, with the final unit going under contract just days ago.

The two 4-bedroom penthouses—A and B—were asking $9.95 million and $9.75 million respectively. (Penthouse C, at a lower $6.95 million, closed earlier in the year.)

These are prices routinely found in the more posh West Village (median list price: $2.05 million) or Meatpacking District, or in the costlier Tribeca or Chelsea neighborhoods, but not in the East Village (median: $1.49 million) that is still more in tune with former punk rock club CBGB's than Sephora.

"We never listed the building," Ian Lefkowitz, who heads up the sales team at Compass' Hudson Advisory, tells Realtor.com®. The team worked its "whisper campaign" through established marketing contacts and social media.

Lefkowitz says Hudson Advisory collaborated for three years with developer Arcus and architecture firm Colberg Architecture to nail a design that would appeal to East Village die-hards, who love the raw energy of the area's dive bars, live music venues, and authentic hole-in-the-wall food joints.

"It's a little grittier, a little edgier," says Lefkowitz of the neighborhood, which runs along the Bowery from 14th Street to East Houston and east to the river—getting less "gritty" as you move west. "That resonates with the people who live there. They appreciate that versus the super luxe and high end of the West Village or Tribeca.

"It's more old New York, less pretentious."

Buyers from the block

Lefkowitz says the majority of the building's buyers—including the two penthouse purchasers—came from within a five-block radius of the building and ran the gamut from young families to techies to fashionistas.

"They've been waiting for a better quality building in the neighborhood," he says. "We were building more of the caliber of what you'd see in the West Village or Greenwich Village."

Despite the luxury price tag, the aesthetic is "converted warehouse," with gigantic black framed windows, exposed concrete and metal ducts, and exposed board-formed ceilings that are 11-feet high, wrapped with an unassuming red brick exterior.

"The building really feels indigenous to the neighborhood," he says, "like a 100-year-old factory."

Built over the site of a dilapidated parking garage, Lefkowitz says the team wanted the building to "lean into the industrial feel of that" while still offering higher end finishes such as Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances and Celeste Grigio marble kitchens that buyers in the eight-digit range would expect.

While the building has some of the usual luxe amenities—a state-of-the-art gym and a Pilates studio, sauna, a 24-hour doorman, and even a dog washing station—multimillion-dollar buyers can get that anywhere.

It was the bright, industrial look and loft-like proportions of the units—plus substantial terraces—that lured the deep-pocketed buyers loyal to the East Village, says Lefkowitz.

"It was a real passionate project for all of us," he says. "We really wanted the building to be timeless and age well."