You have read about China’s “Ghost Cities,” but America’s own ghost towers are a frightening reminder of what’s going on in America’s major cities. New York’s Hudson Yards development was supposed to be a luxury buyer magnet. Instead, it sits half-empty and sells units at deep discounts. Katherine Clarke explains the situation at Hudson Yards in The Wall Street Journal:
When the Related Companies set out to build Hudson Yards, a roughly 28-acre mega-project on Manhattan’s far west side, its goal was lofty: The developer wanted to turn a windswept railyard into the next hot destination for the global elite. That meant building and marketing a brand new neighborhood with office towers, luxury stores, restaurants and high-end amenities.
The project’s condominium towers—15 and 35 Hudson Yards—were designed to lure moneyed buyers further west than ever before, and set a new benchmark for pricing outside of traditional high-end enclaves, with executives at Related promoting the neighborhood as “the new Park Avenue.”
Now, roughly a decade after Related broke ground on Hudson Yards, it has struggled to make that vision a reality. At the luxury glass-and-limestone tower 35 Hudson Yards, approximately 50% of the units were still unsold as of the last week of June, more than four years after sales launched, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal based on sales recorded with the city’s Department of Finance. Related is slashing prices and offering incentives at the condominium, such as covering buyers’ taxes and closing costs, local agents said.
Recorded sales at 35 Hudson as of late June had closed for an average of 30% less than the original prices filed with the New York state Attorney General’s office, and active listings were discounted by up to 50%, the analysis shows. At least four large units at the building have sold for more than 40% off, records show. A four-bedroom apartment recently traded for $8.5 million, about 46% less than its projected asking price of $15.725 million, records show.
Related’s Sherry Tobak, who heads sales for the two condominiums alongside new development marketing firm Corcoran Sunshine, said the developer had been forced to reassess its expectations at 35 Hudson Yards.
“When we first opened the job, we thought we’d be able to get a higher price,” she said. “The message [from the market] was that we were overreaching a little bit.”
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