Facade Going Onto South Williamsburg's Oosten as Building Hits 50 Percent Sold
Brick veneer and window glass are marching up the sides of the Oosten, the international luxury development surrounded on three sides by Hasidic apartment buildings on the waterfront in South Williamsburg. Designed by rising Dutch superstar Piet Boon, developed by Beijing-based Xinyuan Real Estate Co.’s U.S. subsidiary XIN Development, and marketed to overseas Chinese, the…
Brick veneer and window glass are marching up the sides of the Oosten, the international luxury development surrounded on three sides by Hasidic apartment buildings on the waterfront in South Williamsburg. Designed by rising Dutch superstar Piet Boon, developed by Beijing-based Xinyuan Real Estate Co.’s U.S. subsidiary XIN Development, and marketed to overseas Chinese, the building at 429 Kent Avenue occupies the entire block, with a total of 216 units, including 15 townhouses.
Since launching sales 10 months ago, in September, exactly half of the units — 108 — are now in contract or closed, a spokesman for the Oosten let us know when we inquired. Four are townhouses.
The in-land units — the ones with no water views — are furthest along, construction wise, and cluster along South 8th Street and Wythe Avenue. Their views are of neighboring massive brick apartments with the tell-tale stepped balconies for celebrating the harvest festival of Sukkot characteristic of this area.
A Hasidic development under construction next door to The Oosten last year
On Kent Avenue, with views of the water, the building skeleton has topped off but is not yet enclosed. Construction is expected to wrap in 2016.
This site, previously known as 421 Kent Avenue, was stalled for years before Xinyuan bought it for $31,610,034.91 in 2012, as we have reported.
In addition to all sorts of luxury amenities, the building will have a central green space, private terraces (some with their own mini pools), ventilated kitchens for wok cooking, and five to six bedrooms in some units.
The Oosten Coverage [Brownstoner] GMAP
421 Kent Coverage [Brownstoner]
Renderings via Halstead
I came back from Chicago a few weeks ago and was amazed how many apartment buildings have balconies. Even very tall residential skyscrapers. They’re really nicely done. We don’t have that culture in NYC. Obviously part of Sukkoth is that the outdoor living room must be open to the sky so it’s not allow the same aesthetic as Chicago. While I appreciate the building, I wish we did a better job of balconies in NYC.
The sales office told me it was 50% sold December of last year…