THE CONDO BOOK PROJECT

Tower Units At One Manhattan Square

252 South Street (Aka 225 Cherry Street), Manhattan, NY 10002

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Overview

An 815-home Extell tower at 252 South Street that shares a condominium with a 205-apartment affordable rental building, a retail unit and a garage. The cellar holds a bowling alley, basketball and squash courts and three pools. The offering plan specifies wood floors, Miele appliances, a washer and dryer in each apartment and ducted heat pumps for heating and cooling.

  • Address: 252 South Street (also 225 Cherry Street and 85 Pike Slip), Manhattan 10002
  • Plan: CD150185, accepted for filing in October 2015
  • Residences: 816 tower units, of which 815 are offered. Unit 9L is planned as the resident manager's apartment, and a non-residential Unit DR in the cellar isn't offered.
  • Height: the West Tower has 72 stories above a cellar and rises about 817 feet above the design flood elevation to the top of the bulkhead. Floors 4, 13, 14, 32, 44 and 56 are skipped in the marketing floor numbers.
  • Other units: a Rental Unit of about 205 apartments in the East Tower, a Retail Unit with frontage on Cherry Street and Pike Slip, and a Parking Unit
  • Parking and storage: a garage of about 105 spaces entered from South Street, open to residents and the public. There are 166 storage closets of about 25 square feet in the cellar, sold as licenses.
  • First offering: 815 homes at about $2.07 billion in total, an average of about $2.5 million each, plus 166 storage licenses at about $8.7 million (sponsor offering prices, not sales). The Attorney General's record now lists about $1.94 billion for the whole offering.
  1. SubmittedNovember 2015
  2. AcceptedOctober 2015
  3. 28 amendments
  4. First sale
  5. Latest sale

Sales

595 of 815homes sold (73%)
Every sale: 595 homes, with price and dateSee it free →

From city records (ACRIS), through Sep 30, 2026.

First-Year Budget

From our research: NYC Co-op and Condo Tax Abatement: Is It Worth Paying Prevailing Wage? (Board Calculator)

Ask Claude or ChatGPT: How do Tower Units At One Manhattan Square's common charges compare with similar buildings? →

Property Taxes

The plan's first-year tax estimate, checked against the city's real bills for 5 homes.

Each home's estimate, city bills and tax breaksSee it free →

Closing Costs

The buyer pays the NYC and NY State transfer taxes, which a seller usually pays.

All 4 closing costs in the plan, with their pagesSee it free →

The Building

Finishes

The architect's specifications list the same core package in every home, with bigger appliances in three- to five-bedroom layouts (compare with our NYC condo finishes guide).

Kitchen

  • A Miele suite: refrigerator, convection wall oven, speed oven, gas cooktop, cabinet hood and dishwasher. One- and two-bedrooms get a 30-inch four-burner cooktop. Most larger homes get a 36-inch five-burner cooktop and a 36-inch refrigerator.
  • Four- and five-bedroom homes and the J-line three-bedrooms get a Miele double oven. Some penthouses list two refrigerators.
  • A Sub-Zero wine cooler in every home with two or more bedrooms, and a Miele coffee maker in three- to five-bedroom homes.
  • Blanco stainless steel sinks with Dornbracht Elio faucets.

Cooking gas isn't metered to each home. The plan budgets about $175,000 for it in the common charges. See our kitchen appliance brands guide for how Miele packages compare.

Baths

  • Primary baths: Waterworks tub fillers, faucets, showerheads and shower controls in polished chrome, Wet Style tubs and custom Town & Country integral sinks.
  • Secondary baths: Dornbracht Tara fittings and Wet Style drop-in tubs and sinks.
  • Powder rooms: a custom Boffi sink with a Kallista faucet.
  • Electric floor warming in primary baths and in secondary baths along an exterior wall. Steam generators in the primary baths of the penthouses and of the J-line homes on floors 57 to 77.

See how these names rank in our bathroom brands guide.

Floors, Ceilings and Windows

  • Engineered wood floors with a hardwood wear layer of about 3mm on a sound underlayment rated at least STC and IIC 50.
  • Ceilings of about 9 feet in most homes, about 10 feet on floors 7, 20, 39, 49, 60 and 69, about 11 feet on floor 77, and about 12 feet on floors 30, 54 and 78/PH. Hallways, baths and kitchens may drop to about 8 feet.
  • An aluminum and glass curtain wall in a chevron pattern, from Permasteelisa or equal, with at least two colors of glass. Out-swing awning windows open no more than 4 inches, and there are no screens.

Laundry, Heating and Cooling

  • One- to three-bedroom homes get a stackable 24-inch Bosch washer and condensing dryer. Four- and five-bedrooms and the J-line three-bedrooms get a 27-inch Whirlpool washer and a vented dryer.
  • Each home has vertical stacked water-source heat pumps by Climate Master or equal, fed by gas boilers, a rooftop cooling tower and a cogeneration plant. There is no central air conditioning.
  • Fresh air is delivered to apartments through energy-recovery units that reuse apartment exhaust.
  • Electricity is submetered to each home. The plan estimates about $2,700 a year for a 695-square-foot home and about $5,900 for a 3,054-square-foot home, at 2015 rates.

More on these systems in our heating and cooling guide and in-unit laundry guide.

Amenities, Staffing & Transportation

The amenities fill the cellar and the podium floors, and they're for tower residents only (compare with amenities by building size).

Cellar

  • A bowling alley, a basketball court, a squash court, a golf simulator and a billiards room.
  • A theater for up to 74 people, a lounge with a gas fireplace, a wine room and a cigar room with its own exhaust.
  • A spa with a sauna, a hammam, treatment rooms, a hot tub and locker rooms. Pools include a three-lane lap pool of about 75 by 20 feet, a kids' pool and a chilled plunge pool.
  • A dog wash, and a card-operated laundry room with eight washers and eight dryers.

Ground, Third and Fifth Floors

  • A lobby with two fireplaces and reception, a mailroom, a package room with refrigerated storage, and a bike room for about 408 bikes, first come, first served.
  • Third floor: a children's playroom, a game room, a business center, and a demonstration kitchen with a lounge that opens to the landscaped roof.
  • Fifth floor: a fitness center with locker rooms, cardio and weights areas and fitness studios, open around the clock by fob.

Outdoors

  • At the third-floor level: a social courtyard with an outdoor fireplace, an outdoor kitchen and dining area, a herb garden, a tree house and a children's play area.
  • At the seventh floor: a garden with a wooden tea pavilion and lawn.
  • At ground level: a fenced dog run facing South Street, a birch garden and sloped gardens linking the street to the third-floor courtyards.

Good to know: the first-year budget sets aside about $800,000 for an outside amenity company to provide lifeguards, management, reception and event staff. Many amenities may not open until 12 months after the first closing or until half the homes close, whichever is later. The sponsor also kept the right to give a neighboring property at 235 Cherry Street access to the amenities, and to lease the cellar laundry room to itself for $10 a year and keep its revenue.

Staffing and Services

Staff costs are split between two budgets. The shared condominium budget covers a general manager, an assistant manager, a handyman and two porters. The tower budget adds a large Local 32BJ union staff:

  • Three handymen and ten porters.
  • Seven concierges and about 2.8 full-time doormen, with a doorman in the lobby around the clock.
  • About 2.8 package room attendants and about 2.8 service entrance staff.

Tower staff wages and benefits come to about $2.5 million. A contract security firm also staffs the main entrance gate and a roving guard around the clock, at about $380,000 a year shared across the property. Seven passenger elevators by Fujitec or equal serve the tower in low-rise and high-rise banks. Our doorman cost guide puts these numbers in context.

Tip: until full service starts, the plan only promises a lobby attended 24/7 and at least one elevator to every floor with occupied homes.

Transportation

  • Subway: 5 min walk to East Broadway F; Grand St B D, 13 min
  • Parking: 1 parking unit in the plan
Amenities, Staffing & TransportationSee it free →

Fine Print

What's Specific to It

  • A very large tower: 815 homes offered on marketing floors 7 through the penthouse level, from one-bedrooms of about 695 square feet to five-bedrooms of about 3,699 square feet.
  • Two buildings, one condominium: the West Tower holds the condo homes. A separate East Tower holds about 205 rental apartments meant to stay affordable, with its own lobby on Cherry Street.
  • A cellar of amenities: a bowling alley, basketball court, squash court, golf simulator, billiards room, a 74-seat theater, a cigar room, a wine room and a spa with a three-lane lap pool, a kids' pool and a plunge pool.
  • Tax abatement tied to the rentals: the sponsor planned to apply for a 20-year 421-a exemption by setting aside 20% of the condominium's apartments for low-income households.
  • A sponsor that may rent instead of sell: the plan only commits to selling the 15% of homes needed to declare it effective, so owners may never control the board.
  • A bridge next door: the plan warns that the Manhattan Bridge, with two levels of traffic and four train tracks, will be heard at the building.

One Manhattan Square sits on the east side of Pike Slip between Cherry Street and South Street, near the Manhattan Bridge and the East River Waterfront Esplanade. Its offering plan tells you who shares the property, what's in the apartments and what it should cost to run.

Fine Print Worth Knowing

  • Sponsor may never give up control: the sponsor can rent unsold homes instead of selling them. The control period runs until the later of five years after the first closing or 90% of homes closed, so owners may never control the tower board. The sponsor also keeps a board seat as long as it owns Unit DR.
  • The affordable rentals affect your costs: if the rental building can't afford its share, its common charges can be cut and the other owners pay the difference. While those rentals are rent-stabilized, the boards can't cut services without the rental owner's consent.
  • Taxes depend on 421-a: the planned exemption is 12 years of full abatement, then phases out over eight more years. If HPD doesn't approve it, homes are fully taxed and buyers get no refund or price cut. Without the abatement, the tax lawyer estimated about $18.9 million a year in taxes for the tower.
  • Permanent C of O for top floors: homes on floors 66 to 78 used air rights from the affordable building, so their permanent certificate of occupancy waits on that building's own certificate and HPD sign-off.
  • The resident manager's apartment: every buyer pays a share of its $2.29 million cost at closing. If the board can't repay the rest of the sponsor's three-year note, owners may face an assessment.
  • Flood zones: parts of the site are in FEMA flood zones AE and VE. The 1,500 kW backup generator sits on the fifth floor but powers only one outlet and the refrigerator in each home. Portable flood shields protect the bike room and garage doors.
  • Rules on owners: no resale listing before closing or for 12 months after, leases of one to five years with a board right of first refusal, white-backed window treatments required, and terraces that can't be enclosed.
  • Costs at closing: buyers pay the city and state transfer taxes and the mansion tax, a $4,000 closing fee to the sponsor's counsel, and deposits of 25% split into two payments. The plan offers no Housing Merchant Implied Warranty.

FAQ

Does One Manhattan Square have a pool?

Yes. The cellar spa has a three-lane lap pool of about 75 by 20 feet, a kids' pool, a chilled plunge pool and a hot tub, along with a sauna, a hammam and treatment rooms. The first-year budget pays an outside operator to provide lifeguards.

Is One Manhattan Square part of an affordable housing building?

It shares a condominium with one. The East Tower holds about 205 rental apartments meant to stay affordable under the city's Inclusionary Housing Program. It has its own Cherry Street lobby, and its residents can't use the tower amenities. Those rentals are also what qualifies the tower homes for the planned 421-a tax abatement.

Who controls the board?

At first, the sponsor does. It can rent unsold homes rather than sell them, and its control lasts until the later of five years after the first closing or 90% of homes closed, so owners may never gain control. Tower owners hold four of the seven seats on the wider condominium board.

Where this comes from: the building's offering plan (CD150185) as filed with the New York Attorney General, including its Special Risks, Description of the Property and Improvements, the architect's Description of Property and Specifications, Schedule A notes, Schedules B, B-1 and B-2, the 421-a section and Identity of Parties. Prices are the sponsor's offering prices, not sales, and budget figures are the sponsor's first-year projections. Later amendments may change them. Updated October 2026.

Team

The plan doesn't name an interior designer; prnewswire.co.uk reports Meyer Davis Studio.

Zoning

Zoning district
C6-4

Today's zoning, from city data (PLUTO 26v2).

Nearby

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The Condo Book Project Are Tower Units At One Manhattan Square's common charges high for the area? No, they're on the low side. Tower Units At One Manhattan Square budgets $0.40 per square foot a month, against a $1.28 median for the 10 most similar Manhattan plans.Schedule A Do you want to see the list of similar buildings?
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