Exclusive | Flatiron Building nears sellout as wealthy buyers race to claim a rare piece of NYC history
New York’s most-photographed landmark just became its hardest apartment to snag.Nearly every unit publicly listed for sale at Manhattan’s famed Flatiron Building has already found a buyer, cementing the century-old triangular landmark as the most sought-after residential conversion in Manhattan just as it prepares to open its doors this fall.Of the 22 residences StreetEasy has shown as listed for sale at 175 Fifth Ave., only four remain unsold, putting the building at roughly 82% absorption on its public listings.That kind of pace for a building still finishing construction has stunned brokers who track the city’s luxury new development pipeline, where units routinely sit for a year or more before finding takers.The latest proof came last week, when the Flatiron Building notched its second straight appearance atop Olshan Realty’s weekly contract report.
Unit 17-North, a four-bedroom spanning 4,626 square feet with a 63 by 27-foot great room overlooking Madison Square Park, went into contract asking $23.95 million.Its final price, as well as its forthcoming owner, are not yet known until the deal closes.It marks the second time in three weeks that a unit inside the building has claimed the No.
1 spot in the report, a rare feat for any single address.It’s also one that puts the successful conversion ahead of the ultra-exclusive new-construction towers it finds itself competing against for the city’s wealthiest buyers.Few buildings anywhere carry the instant global recognition of the building’s razor-thin silhouette, a shape so famous it lent its name to the entire neighborhood surrounding it.
Built in 1902 to a design by Daniel Burnham, the 22-story tower spent well over a century as commercial office space before Macmillan Publishing, its last major tenant, moved out in 2019 and left the building largely vacant.What followed was a saga befitting the property’s outsized reputation.When the Flatiron Building’s owners couldn’t agree on its future...