At Manhattan's biggest condo project, 100 sales is just a start

New York

MANHATTAN'S biggest new condo tower has reached a milestone: Buyers have signed contracts for 100 units at the property that Extell Development Co is building on the Lower East Side. Only 715 more sales to go.

In a market brimming with luxury construction and wealthy buyers holding back amid so many choices, Extell is tasked with selling out a veritable neighbourhood at its One Manhattan Square project on South Street. At 815 units, the tower has the second-largest number of condos in any single Manhattan building and the most for a newly built property.

Extell began sales in late 2015 with an outreach to Asian buyers, and then cut prices on many of the homes. Now, with a new sales office open, the US$1.4 billion construction tab fully financed and the tower more than halfway to its 823-foot (251-metre) height, the developer is pushing harder,…