A model apartment with Central Park views at 1280 Fifth Avenue.
SoHo was once “transitional.” So was TriBeCa. And the same goes for West Chelsea (remember the days before the High Line?), Madison Square Park and even the West Village. The point is that Manhattan neighborhoods are always evolving, and well-informed real estate buyers can end up making very wise investments if they put down roots in a neighborhood on the verge of something big. Which is exactly what excited us about getting involved at 1280 Fifth Avenue, and the Financial Times seems to agree. The paper took a trip to upper Fifth Avenue over the weekend and was amazed by the value available at a Robert A.M. Stern-designed building right on Central Park that happens to be a few blocks past the traditional border of the Upper East Side’s ritzy Carnegie Hill neighborhood. The FT wrote:
Stern’s building sprawls nearly an entire block, with hotel-like leisure facilities including a rooftop pool and private dining room. The real appeal, however, is 1280 Fifth Avenue’s cost which averages at $1,250 per sq ft – 25 to 50 per cent lower than Fifth Avenue rates below 96th Street. Some are priced even lower: an 801 sq ft studio currently listed for $660,510 – or $824 per sq ft; or a four-bedroom, 3,171 sq ft unit offered for $3,724,450 or $1,175 per sq ft.
It’s getting harder for the secret of 1280 Fifth Avenue to stay a secret. The Wall Street Journal also took notice of the building and the growth of the surrounding neighborhood. CORE CEO Shaun Osher recently explained why such dramatic turnarounds tend to take time. Developers need to take chances, he told us: “This was a neighborhood that was on the fringe of a prime neighborhood. It takes a pioneer with vision to recognize the potential of a site like this.” And with an art museum, round-the-clock concierge and a rooftop swimming pool among the many amenities detailed on the building’s website, being a pioneer sounds pretty good.