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Read the press release here.

Extell's LES Luxury Tower Will Be Marketed to Overseas Buyers First: Report

By Lisha Arino | October 15, 2015 2:04pm
 Construction workers build Extell's luxury tower on the corner of Cherry and Pike streets on April 28, 2015.
Construction workers build Extell's luxury tower on the corner of Cherry and Pike streets on April 28, 2015.
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DNAinfo/Lisha Arino

LOWER EAST SIDE — The developer of a controversial luxury tower on the East River waterfront is targeting Asian buyers with a price set to appeal to that demographic and a marketing push that will begin overseas, according to a report.

Buyers in countries like China, Malaysia and Singapore will get first dibs on Extell Development Co.’s more than 800 condominiums currently under construction on South Street between Pike and Rutgers slips, as first reported by Bloomberg.

The units are expected to go for $1 million to $3 million, the outlet reported, a price that is intended to appeal to Asian buyers, who are typically looking for less expensive offerings that are in short supply in the city’s real estate market.

“There’s a tremendous hunger to purchase in New York for investment or for living or for safety or for a pied-a-terre,” Extell president Gary Barnett told Bloomberg. “It’s hard to find something which is a good value and that more people can afford.”

Amenities in the 80-story tower — which has been dubbed One Manhattan Square — include art studios for residents as well as a 40,000-square-foot outdoor space that will include landscaped gardens and a “tea pavilion,” the publication reported.

Extell, which had refused to discuss many of the project’s details prior to Bloomberg’s story, declined to comment on the development.

The luxury project has been a controversial issue in the neighborhood with many residents worrying it will further gentrify the area and push longtime tenants out of their homes.

Others think the tower’s height — which has been reported to be anywhere from 56 to 80 stories because the developer has amended its construction permit multiple times, according to city records — would make the building look out of place among the neighborhood’s mid-rise buildings.

One iteration of the permit allowed Extell to build a 72-story structure, which would have made it nearly three times taller than the Manhattan Bridge.

Neighbors surrounding the construction site have also raised safety concerns, pointing to cracked walls in their apartments, doors that no longer close and the caving in of a nearby sidewalk and street.

Extell has partnered with JLL, a global management firm, to help with international sales, according to the report and a press release issued by the developer.

Exhibitions touting One Manhattan Square’s offerings will begin next month, with stops in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Units will not be on sale in the U.S. until early next year, according to Bloomberg.