Steiner East Village: Usherer of Alphabet City Gentrification More than 50% Sold

By Ondel Hylton | From Future New York Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Steiner East VIllage exterior (renderings by Williams New York)

A few decades ago, no one would have believed that the East Village’s Parish of Mary Help of Christians would be replaced by a record-breaking, multi-million-dollar condo development. Home to a church, school, and rectory, the complex was founded in 1908 to serve the huddled masses of newly-arrived Italian immigrants flooding into the area a century ago. Its worn and then-disfigured two-towered church stood at 12th Street and Avenue A for 105 years until it met its date with the wrecking ball in 2013. Now with the church all but a distant memory, a new 82-unit condominium complex called Steiner East Village is ready to open its doors.

Church of Mary Help of Christians. (Photo credits NYC AGO)

Developer Douglas Steiner, owner of the Brooklyn Navy Yard's Steiner Studios and an East Village local, purchased the parish property in 2012 for $41 million. To the dismay of preservationists and local organizations, the developer hurriedly filed demolition permits the year after and razed all three religous structures.

With NoHo and the western blocks of East Village already sought-after, Alphabet City seemed next in-line for a game changing residential development. The area had already shaken much of its seedy reputation and due to a dearth of development sites, only a handful of upscale projects had squeezed onto its tenement-filled blocks. “We’ve seen a huge pent up demand for luxury services in the East Village, and only a few have been done,” Steiner told the Observer in 2015.

Google Earth aerial showing location of Steiner East Village

With the unique size of the property, whatever residential development planned here promised to be big. Steiner first pitched a 158-unit rental development, but the recent success of the Jefferson and 123 Third farther west, likely swayed the developer to commit to condos in early 2015.

Zoning envelopes were tightened under the Bloomberg administration in 2008, limiting the parcel's building height to a modest 85 feet. But with a 30,000-square-foot lot to play with, Steiner comfortably tucked 82 one to four-bedroom condos underneath.

Steiner East Village along 12th Street

Construction progress as of mid-July (CItyRealty)

CityRealty

Would you like to tour this property?

Just complete the info below.

Or call us at (212) 755-5544

Knighted Steiner East Village, the building is shaped like a “U” and tightly hugs all three of its streetwalls. S9 Architecture shaped the design whose orange- and gray-brick facades pays some homage to the neighborhood’s unpretentious past. Sections of color alternate and break the building’s mass into more digestible segments. Oversized casement windows framed in statuary bronze evenly wrap the building, and the interior of the “U” provides for a gardened courtyard designed by Future Green Studio.

The apartment interiors are refined by Paris Forino Interior Design. They feature elegant finishes of 7”-wide plank white oak flooring and 8' high interior doors. Custom kitchens come with Italian cabinetry, Calacatta marble countertops, and appliances by Wolf, Bosch and Sub-Zero.

Model apartment living room (Douglas Elliman)

Model kitchen

Model bedroom

The building has an East VIllage record-breaking sell-out of $225M. Per our data, 44 of the building’s 82 condos are now in contract. As of mid-July, ten residences are listed — all two- and three-bedroom units. A 1,190 sf two-bedroom on the fourth floor is listed for $2.295M ($1,844 per ft²). The home overlooks tree-lined 11th Street and both its bedrooms have en-suite baths. One of the building’s most unique layouts is a 3-bed/ 2.5 bath home on the third floor. With exposures facing both Avenue A and towards the interior courtyard, its living spaces are enclosed in full-height glass walls that look onto a private 1,500-sf private terrace.

Residence #3F listed for $3.895M

Penthouse B listed for $5.25M

There will be more than 16,000 sf of indoor and outdoor amenity space. In addition to the landscaped courtyard, there will be a 5,000-square-foot “rooftop park,” a fully-equipped gym programmed by FitLore Health and Wellness, an indoor pool, steam room, sauna, and resident's library with fireplace.

As of mid-July, much of the building’s exterior is complete. Closings are expected to begin this fall with occupancy likely following soon after. A recent episode of Million Dollar Listing featured the building, where celebrity broker Fredrik Ecklund just so happens to be leading sales. Reflecting on the social impact Steiner East Village may have on the community, Ecklund and others commit thousands of dollars to fund a cooking program for kids at a local park.