Overview

We’ve been seeing more boutique projects like this popping up over the past 12 months. 330 East 57th is a wider building than its competing projects and has better floorplans as a result. The units have 3 bedrooms, 3 exposures, and loft-like dining/living spaces facing south onto 57th street. Light–which is often an issue with these floor-through apartments–is in abundance thanks to the reflective glassy exterior. The developer on the project is Francisco Rubio, and architect is Cesidio del Rio. These guys have done a nice job of putting up a handsome building (limestone, granite, and glass) on a block which is mostly large brick co-ops and rental buildings.

The lobby has a modern and earthy look as well, incorporating Burma teak woods and marble. Residents have some common space options between the club room and roof terrace. Interior finishes meet the discriminating high standards of condo buyers with lots of stainless steel and custom wood cabinetry.

Units and Prices

I really like the floorplans in the building. The front of these apartments (facing 57th street) is quite long (35′) so one half can be used for dining and the other half for entertaining. The kitchen sits behind one half of the 35′ living room, while the master bedroom sits behind the other. It all falls into place quite nicely and the 9’6 ceilings provide a loft-like feel all over. The back of the apartment is a bit more forced, with bedrooms that are long (18′) but thin (9′). The developer has it laid out as two separate bedrooms which share a common balcony facing north. The middle section contains a stairwell and 1 and 1/2 baths. The baths, master bedroom, and third bedroom have slices of a west exposure as well, which is a nice addition.

There are five units currently available. Four of them have the same layout consisting of 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The penthouse, also available, has an additional 600 feet and is substantially more expensive. The four similar units have 1,891 square feet and are priced at around $2.5M, give or take a few thousand depending on the floor. This puts prices around $1,300/foot–not so bad for a boutique project like this.

The building has a tax abatement, so taxes for the first couple of years will only run you about $550/month. They increase steadily from that point forward. Maintenance is a bit higher, coming in at just under $1.00/foot, or $1,764/month.

Features & Amenities

On the amenity front, the building offers a lot when considering the number of units. In terms of privacy, there is only one home per floor, secured by private-keyed elevators and monitored by a video system and concierge. As we mentioned above, the building has a few common spaces including a gym, roofdeck and club room. The concierge service is designed to handle all needs, large and small, 24-hours per day.

Individual finishes are impressive as well. Each unit has thick maple-wood floors, 9’6 ceilings (floor-to-ceiling glass) and washer/dryers. The kitchens have custom wood cabinets, stone counters, and stainless steel appliances (Sub-Z, Viking and Miele). The bathroom finishes vary depending on master, second, or third baths. Most have marble counters, and Kohler fixtures. The master bath has a separate stall shower.

Location

The building is located somewhere in the mix of midtown, turtle bay, and sutton place. I wouldn’t call it a great location, but its not terribly inconvenient or far from many attractions. On the upside, you can walk to dozens of shops, restaurants, bars, nightclubs–pretty much whatever you need. You can also get to Sutton Place park easily, and Central Park is about a 10 minute walk. On the downside, the entrance to the queensboro bridge is literally outside of your front door. This can get annoying with backed up traffic, honking, and angry cops directing traffic in the streets. 57th street runs east and west so it is fairly convenient to grab a taxi.

Investment Potential

This project has plenty of strengths and only one notable weakness. The developer/architect team did a beautiful job on the facade, including the limestone which matches the handsome limestone-clad building directly next door (with the yummy Mr. Chow restaurant on the ground floor). The lobby has warm, earthy tones and invites residents into full-floor units, each with their own button on the elevator. The layouts are lofty and have good light from multiple exposures. We can’t help but criticize the annoyingly close proximity to the bridge, but hey, life isn’t perfect. If you’re going to queens or long island life just became very convenient. B+ for investment potential.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 7:57 pm and is filed under Riverhouse Condo - 1 River Terrace. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.