$2.5M 'Affordable Luxury' Condos Planned On LES: Developer

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — A developer is planning to build a 28-story condo building next to the landmarked Bialystoker Nursing Home in what he calls "affordable luxury" units.

Round Square Development filed permits with the Department of Buildings for a 28-story, 54-unit building at 232 East Broadway, between Clinton and Montgomery streets, according to the permits.

Last year, the developers lost a multi-year attempt at obtaining air rights from the nearby Seward Park Cooperative — some $54 million for 162,000 square feet of development rights to beef up Round Square Development's, formerly known as the Ascend Group, previously planned towers alongside the Bialystoker Nursing Home, landmarked in 2013 after the nursing home closed in 2011.

Once the air rights deal failed, Round Square reworked the plans into one large tower.

But despite a recent study showing many condos remain empty in Manhattan and another Lower East Side condo tower attempting to entice buyers through a rent-to-own scheme, Robert Kaliner of Round Square Development remains confident the condos will sell.

"We feel great about the project only because about 85 percent [of the residences] in a super high-end condo in a very much up-and-coming neighborhood ... are going to be priced below $2.5 million," Kaliner told Patch.

He calls the condos "affordable luxury" compared to $5, $10 and even $20 million residences.

"We're already fielding a lot of calls because of the location which ever since Essex Crossing came in there, it's considered to be the 'it' location."

The building will feature a swimming pool in the lower level, with each floor having one to three residences, the records dated Oct. 11 show and first reported by New York YIMBY.

The lot on the other side of the landmarked nursing home will be a residents-only park with barbecue grills and other activities for kids and adults. The nursing home itself is being renovated and converted into 18 more condos.

"How often do you find a huge lot [of] open space that's exclusive to a condominium, for residents?" Kaliner said. "It's a great amenity. It's being designed and developed to have just incredible spaces for activities, ping-pong tables, barbecue grills."

In April, a new rendering from S4Architecture shows the tower to the east of the nursing home, YIMBY reported.

The April design, which remains on the developers' website, is being tweaked, but is largely the same building planned for the Lower East Side condo building, said Kaliner.

The construction on the Bialystoker building is expected to be complete by about February 2021, with the condo tower about another six months after, Kaliner estimated.

This article has been updated with comment from Round Square Development. Additionally, a previous version of this article misstated the estimated completion date for the projects. It is in 2021, not 2020.