The prices for condominium apartments at the Apthorp apartment building on the west side of Broadway between 78th and 79th Streets have recently been reduced by about a third, according to an article by Candace Taylor yesterday at therealdeal.com.

The article said that Karen Mansour, director and sales and marketing for Prudential Douglas Elliman's Development Marketing Group that is overseeing the condo conversion, said that renovated condominium apartments in the limestone-clad building "will now sell for an average of roughly $1,950 per square foot," adding that "that represents a dramatic drop in prices from the building's initial offering plan, released in June, which called for prices of nearly $3,000 per square foot."

The article also said that Howard Lorber, the chairman of Elliman, said that buyers can also purchase unrenovated units for about "1,650 per square foot" and that the price reductions were an effort to sell the first 30 units to get the condo conversion plan declared effective by the Attorney General's Office," adding that once it is declared effective prices will rise.

The article said that Jonathan Miller, the president of the Miller Samuel appraisal firm said that "the price chop is the largest across-the-board reduction for a new condo or conversion project since the Wall Street meltdown this fall."

In 2007, Maurice Mann and Lev Leviev bought the 163-unit building for about $426 million and the article noted that by last October not a single apartment was in contract and the owners argued and Mr. Mann subsequently stepped down as the managing agent for the property and the Anglo Irish Bank and Apollo Real Estate Advisors asked the owners to come up with a revised plan to avoid foreclosure and the article quoted Mr. Lorber as stating that "all the documents are done and signed and it's ready," adding "they have all agreed on everything."