A luxury building that is the cornerstone of the Brooklyn Bridge Park waterfront development is showing signs that the tanking economy is hurting the local real-estate market.
The developer of One Brooklyn Bridge Park says his sales are still strong — but he has begun giving “concessions” to close deals, including paying closing costs and helping buyers with financing options.
Nearly two-thirds of the units at 360 Furman St., the 449-unit former Jehovah’s Witness printing plant at the southern end of the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Park, remain unsold, said the developer, Robert A. Levine.
“There’s no hiding the reality that sales have slowed down, and we’re not going to kid ourselves about that,” Levine told The Brooklyn Paper this week.
“We’re guardedly optimistic about where we are in this market. There are things that are clearly out of our control,” he added. “I think we’re all looking for the things to start turning around.”
That’s a far cry from what Levine was experiencing before the bottom dropped out on Wall Street. Sales at his building, which boasts 14-foot ceilings, sweeping views of lower Manhattan and fancy amenities, had been strong up to that point, with nearly 150 units sold in one year.
When the building first went on the market last year, units sold for between $550,000 for a studio to upwards of $4 million for a penthouse, Levine had said. Prices now range from $550,000 to over $7 million, he said this week.
“We’re continuing to see traffic and we continue to sign contracts,” Levine said. “We are optimistic that the sales pace will improve.”