T O P C O N D O S I N T H E O U T E R B O R O U G H S

The top 10 most expensive Bronx condos

AddressThe Solaria, 640 West 237th Street $1,545,000

Price

The Solaria, 640 West 237th Street $1,400,000

The Solaria, 640 West 237th Street $1,300,000

The Solaria, 640 West 237th Street $1,465,000

Hayden on the Hudson, Douglas Avenue $1,395,000

The Boatyard, 1 Deepwater Way $1,140,000

The Solaria, 640 West 237th Street $1,070,000

The Solaria, 640 West 237th Street $1,200,000

Hayden on the Hudson, Douglas Avenue $1,100,000

2521 Palisade Avenue

RiverdaleNeighborhood

Riverdale

Riverdale

Riverdale

Riverdale

City Island

Riverdale

Riverdale

Riverdale

Riverdale $999,000

2,010Indoor sf

1,730

1,906

1,730

2,952

1,750

1,446

1,906

2,941

1,508

3Bedrooms

3

3

3

3

3

2

3

3

3

Sale dateFeb. 7, 2008

Feb. 6, 2008

Jan. 28, 2008

Feb. 28, 2008

Aug. 23, 2007

Jan. 23, 2007

Jan. 30, 2008

Mar. 13, 2008

Jun. 15, 2005

Dec. 13, 2005

BY SARAH RYLEY

A ll but one of the Bronx’s top 10 most expensive condominiums are in the lush, hilly neighborhood of River-

dale, seemingly cordoned off from the rest of the city by the Hudson and Harlem Riv-ers, Van Cortlandt Park and the Major Deegan Expressway.

They range from a $1.545 million apart-ment lined by floor-to-ceiling windows at the sleek new Solaria tower, to a $1 million apart-ment that practically hangs over the Hud-son River, facing the New Jersey Palisades at an older building on Palisade Avenue. The one exception to Riverdale is the borough’s seventh most expensive condo, on City Is-

Hed: Riverdale commands nearly all top spotsDek: Buyers of high-end condos want to be close to Manhattan, but not too closePullquote: Condo buyers “tend to be people downsizing from larger homes in Westchester, who want to be closer to Manhattan but don’t require Manhattan.” Susan Goldy, Susan Goldy Real Estate

Riverdale commands nearly all spotsBuyers of high-end Bronx condos want to be close to Manhattan, but not too close

land, a far-flung, 230-acre fishing-and-bed-room community of 5,000 in the Long Island Sound mainly accessible by a single bridge.

Access to mass transportation, elite pub-lic and private schools, a smattering of tidy shopping and dining options, and attractive scenery have long made Riverdale a desirable option for New Yorkers more interested in peace and quiet than a flashy urban lifestyle — at condo prices significantly lower than in Manhattan.

Susan Goldy, who owns a prominent real estate firm in the area by the same name, said condo buyers “tend to be peo-ple downsizing from larger homes in West-chester, who want to be closer to Manhat-

tan but don’t require Manhattan.” Inversely, she said, families from Manhat-

tan, or families transferring from out-of-town to work in Manhattan, are attracted to River-dale’s abundance of nature and top schools. “Sometimes the city is just a little too much for them; they need that blend of suburbia.”

Picturesque single-family homes com-prise a large part of Riverdale’s market. Sto-rybook mansions can run up to $4.5 million in the estate area west of the Henry Hudson Parkway, to as low as $625,000 in North Riverdale near the College of Mount St. Vin-cent, according to Trebach Realty.

Luxury condominiums are a relatively new phenomenon (most of the older multi-family buildings are co-ops). Prices range from around $300,000 to $1.5 million, up from $150,000 to $1.1 million three years ago, according to brokers.

Two of the Bronx’s priciest condos are ac-tually townhouses, part of the Hayden on the Hudson development, which has a large, crescent-shaped tower as its centerpiece. It was finished in the 1980s and is nestled on a private hillside road across from Riverdale Park. Each of the townhouses has a private yard and access to the development’s pool, gym, tennis courts and nature trails. Such townhouse-style condominiums are scat-tered throughout Riverdale.

Bradford Trebach, a broker for 25 years and also vice president of Bronx Community Board 8, said 15 new buildings have either been recently completed or are slated for con-struction in Riverdale.

“This has been the biggest building push in Riverdale since the building boom in the 1950s,” said Trebach.

It’s also one that has met with fierce resis-tance. Community Board 8 led an effort to “prevent overdevelopment by the contextual downzoning of large parts of Riverdale and Kingsbridge,” he said. “And we advocated to create the Fieldston Historic District, which is a large area of high-end homes in Central Riverdale.”

He said Solaria, Riverdale’s tallest build-ing at 20 stories, “made it by the skin of its teeth … if Solaria had been just a few days late in completing its foundation, they would not have been able to build.”

Solaria developer Joseph Korff, principal of Arc Development, pointed out that as a result, many of the views from his tower are protected.

Solaria claims six of the top 10 slots, but it hasn’t sold too many more of its 66 units even after two years on the market. Korff said 30 percent of the building’s apartments are sold. But, according to Property Shark, a real estate data Web site, sales for only nine units have been recorded, just enough for a condo offering plan to take effect.

Korff noted that he recently revised his sales strategy, and is considering revising it again, to include more events and direct marketing. “I think people don’t know about

Riverdale, they don’t really appreciate the neighborhood,” he said.

In response to tightened lending practic-es, Korff has also engaged in “more creative solutions without giving up value,” in effect allowing a buyer to move in early even if he or she is having trouble selling their home.

A prominent broker in the area, who asked not to be named, said buyers are de-terred by the high price points at the Solaria, coupled with a lack of deeded parking and a defined dining area. Instead, most of Solaria’s floor plans adhere to the more modern trend commonly found in new Manhattan devel-opments, in which the kitchen is separated from the living and dining area by an open breakfast bar.

While that creates a bright, airy effect, particularly with the Solaria’s floor-to-ceiling windows, the broker said it’s a deal-breaker for many Jewish families who, as part of their faith, hold large family dinners every Friday in observance of the Sabbath.

The broker estimated that roughly 10,000 of Riverdale’s 45,000 residents are Jewish.

“Solaria is across the street from a major Orthodox synagogue, one of the largest in the city, the Riverdale Jewish Center, and it could have had tremendous appeal for that reason,”

Continued on page 172

PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THE REAL DEAL BY SARAH RYLEY66 September 2008 www.TheRealDeal.com

Six of the top condo sales in the Bronx were at the Solaria, Riverdale’s tallest building at 20 stories.

The Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North Railroad station in the Bronx is used by Riverdale residents.

Joseph Korff, developer of the Solaria. He said the project’s views are protected.

Sources: Property Shark, Ark Development, Port of Kall Realty, Trebach Realty. List includes only closed sales.