One among Brownstone Brooklyn’s most energetic townhouse builders is attempting to make it in Manhattan.
Eckstrom, the eight-year-old development firm run by husband and spouse duo Carlos Saavedra and Nicole Eckstrom, is increasing into town with two West Village properties. The agency’s bounce throughout the river is in partnership with Compass agent Carl Gambino on a portfolio of 5 properties that may launch within the subsequent two years.
For Eckstrom, the enlargement comes after an ascendant two years creating houses in Brooklyn’s toniest neighborhoods. The corporate, which started by doing apartment conversions in additional inexpensive components of Brooklyn, discovered a distinct segment turning multifamily properties in Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill into high-end townhomes.
The developer has notched a spate of expensive gross sales, together with a conversion at 170 Clinton Street that closed for $14 million this month, on the again of a hot luxury townhouse market.
A unique ballgame
Eckstrom is betting it might probably trip the wave of wealthy buyers to pricier submarkets.
Within the final three months, the agency has picked up properties at 59 Morton Avenue, a landmarked residence in Greenwich Village, and 248 West twelfth Avenue, a two-family house within the West Village. In December, Eckstrom closed on the Morton Avenue property for roughly $12 million.
The closing worth is round thrice what Eckstrom has paid for many of its Brooklyn properties. However Saavedra says the upper worth factors in neighborhoods just like the West Village will permit him to soak up rising constructing prices whereas sustaining the standard he says has outlined the Eckstrom model to date.
Navigating the Manhattan market can be the place Gambino is available in. The pair met as a result of they have been neighbors in Brooklyn Heights and, by their skateboard-loving sons, struck up a friendship of their very own that ultimately turned to enterprise.
The Compass agent, who grew up within the West Village, is licensed in Los Angeles and New York and identified for brokering deals with celebrity and wealthy clientele.
“What I felt like our crew may do particularly is expose Carlos to all the opposite markets we work in,” stated Gambino. “Their firm ought to be often known as the go-to for individuals searching for townhomes within the West Village and prime areas of Brooklyn.”
Saavedra has not less than three extra developments deliberate in Brooklyn Heights, together with a house at 487 Henry Avenue slated to launch this spring. Eckstrom purchased the property for $4.65 million in 2024, in response to public data.
One among Eckstrom’s improvement quirks has been advertising and marketing its houses effectively earlier than they’re performed within the hopes of discovering a purchaser who will are available in and collaborate on the finishes. Up to now, the technique has appeared to work. Along with its sale at 170 Clinton Avenue, Eckstrom has a signed contract for a house at 307 Hicks Avenue asking $15.5 million, and closed an $11.5 million sale at 51 Tompkins Place final 12 months.
Saavedra stated the advertising and marketing for the remainder of the houses will fluctuate relying on elements like timing and the challenge’s complexity. The Morton Avenue house is already structured as a single-family house, which Saavedra says makes it extra palatable for early advertising and marketing. The opposite Manhattan challenge additionally requires much less structural work in comparison with among the multifamily conversions Eckstrom has performed up to now.
“We’ve performed so many issues in Brooklyn which can be so formidable, and we’ve performed effectively, that I really feel like now we deserve just a little respite in retaining issues just a little extra easy,” stated Saavedra.
Saavedra additionally has his eyes on different markets, just like the Hamptons, though the plans are rather less fleshed on the market. Saavedra closed on a property in Sag Harbor for $4.4 million for himself, with plans to renovate the house in a take a look at of the market.
Learn extra
The rise of the Brooklyn townhouse developer
How one developer is selling Brooklyn townhouses for eight figures
