Manhattan

Manhattan new developments reported 204 contracts last month, an 89% increase from the same period in 2020 and a 71% increase from 2019. Manhattan also saw the slightest holiday slump of the three boroughs, with a 10.5% decrease in activity between November and December.

109 East 79th Street and One Manhattan Square stood out in December, with the former inking the borough’s two most expensive deals (a $35M penthouse and a $29.8M penthouse) and the latter seeing by far the most contracts (20 compared to next top performer 130 William’s 11 contracts.)

These two projects represent opposite ends of the new development spectrum in Manhattan. Legion Investment Groups’ 109 East 79th Street is a 33-unit condo with classically-inspired design that agrees with the mature Upper East Side submarket. Average asking price per square foot is $4,368.

Extell Development’s One Manhattan Square (aka 252 South Street) is a large-scale, glassy tower that brings 814 units to the emerging and highly contentious Two Bridges district. Average asking price per square foot is $2,300.

Brooklyn

The 2021 recovery jumpstarted in Brooklyn and then held steady all the way through December, when 128 new development contracts were reported. The borough saw an 8% increase over the same period in 2020, which is indicative of Brooklyn showing the earliest signs of the recovery prior to 2021, and a 45% increase from 2019. The monthly activity dropped a little more than 11% from November 2021.

Median unit price jumped 63% year over year and the median ppsf of signed contracts jumped 43% from December 2020. This price trend is reflected in the month’s top contracts, which included a $7.7M penthouse deal at Forest City Ratner and Greenland Group’s 550 Vanderbilt Avenue, the final and most expensive of the development’s three penthouses.

Tishman Speyer’s habitually top-performing 11 Hoyt stood out once again in December, with 14 contracts reported, the most of any project in the borough. The Studio Gang-designed project is now 65% sold. View the stacking plan.

567 Ocean Avenue wasn’t too far behind with 10 deals reported last month, bringing the New Empire Real Estate project to 74% sold within two years of launching sales. View the stacking plan.

Queens

Of the three boroughs, Queens was the only one to see an increase in activity around the holidays, with 47 reported contracts representing a 9.3% increase from November 2021. The numbers show an even more sizable uptick from December 2019: a 370% increase in the number of contracts signed, a 470% increase in the aggregate dollar volume of signed contracts, and a 76% increase in median unit price, while the median ppsf inched up 5%.

New development contract activity in Queens is always far below the levels in Brooklyn and Manhattan because the borough has fewer new developments in progress. However, there is one project that is arguably the market-maker: Skyline Tower (aka 3 Court Square).

Developed by Risland US Holdings, United Construction & Development and FSA Capital, the 67-story 801-unit tower swept Marketproof’s top 3 list in December with the borough’s most expensive contract (a $2.1M two-bedroom), the third most expensive closing (a $1.837M two-bedroom closed for full ask), and the most contracts signed of any building (35 deals reported). Skyline Tower is 52% sold since sales started in 2019. View the stacking plan.