Manhattan’s Bowlmor project finds buyers

Bloomberg

As Manhattan developers grapple with how to sell their luxury condos in a slowing market, Billy Macklowe’s Greenwich Village project is an anomaly: He’s found buyers for both penthouses in less than two months.
Macklowe, who with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is planning a 52-unit condo tower at the site of the former Bowlmor Lanes, said the two priciest apartments — duplexes at $14.75 million and $16.5 million — are under contract. Since sales began on June 9, deals have been signed on 36 percent of the apartments at the still-unbuilt project, known as 21 East 12th.
“We were surprised,” Macklowe said in an interview.
“Everything has pretty much sold off asking price.” The quick penthouse sales are atypical in the current New York market, where buyers — including foreign investors buffeted by global economic turmoil — are taking their time to choose among an increasing number of high-end offerings.
This year through July, there were 677 contracts to buy Manhattan properties priced at $4 million or more, a 23 percent decline from the first seven months of 2015, according to luxury brokerage Olshan Realty Inc.
There were only 12 such deals last week, making it the slowest seven-day period for luxury sales since the first week of January.