A real estate developer for 1 Great Jones Alley in downtown Manhattan flew all the way to Italy for kitchen and bath material. He secured creamy calacatta marble from Cave Michelangelo for 16 kitchen islands and backsplashes at the new luxury tower.
The acquisition wasn’t just for stylistic taste. The Wall Street Journal reports that a contentious market requires developers to seek any edge they can get.
The devil is in the details for developers, who in a packed luxury condo market are competing over a limited number of qualified buyers. As of August, there were 65 luxury condo projects in the pipeline in Manhattan, down 23% from the same period last year, according to the data website CityRealty. … For builders with projects already in the pipeline, that means scouring for the rarest materials to woo buyers and to justify top-dollar prices.
