During the building boom, condos were snatched up as soon as the offering plan went out, based on sleek Web sites, downloadable floor plans and hype. “Fueled by a sense of urgency and afraid to lose on the next Tribeca or Williamsburg, buyers were willing to purchase condos in unproven neighborhoods, nearly sight unseen,” writes New York magazine. Today, not so. Fearful that unbuilt buildings will remain that way, buyers are sticking to finished construction projects, not buying based on floor plans. At On Prospect Park, for instance, sales were “sluggish” when the doors opened to the unfinished project. Since they’ve leapt from the floor-plan phase, two apartments a week have gone into contract. You gotta love what you see, say developers, so you gotta, you know, be able to see something. Maybe this should sway developers and financers who are fearful of continuing projects in this market. If you wanna sell it, you have to actually build it.
They Might Come If You Build It [NY Mag]