500 West 45th Street (Bloom on Forty Fifth)

Marvel's design pairs identical north and south wings, rectangular and symmetrical, in white stone panels and large floor-to-ceiling glazing. The upper floors step back to make room for wraparound terraces. The shared courtyard is the center of the plan: it rises over the retail base, is planted with trees, and has skylights that bring daylight into the attended lobby below. Two further common roof decks, with outdoor kitchens, sit on the upper roofs.

Apartment numbers run from the second floor (2xx) to the eighth (8xx). Confirm each line's exposure (courtyard, avenue or side street) against the floor plates before comparing units. The mix runs from studios to three-bedrooms, finished with marble kitchen backsplashes and wide-plank oak floors. The top-floor Premium Collection has the tallest glazing, the largest terraces and the duplex layouts.

The condominium is professionally managed and has a 24-hour attended lobby. Five commercial units, with Target as anchor tenant, share the structure and pay their allocated share of building costs. Ask for the budget split between residential and commercial units, and for any agreements governing loading, refuse and building systems.

Three operating questions matter more here than in a typical new-development condominium:

• Common-charge payment by the sponsor. Throughout the bankruptcy, and now with the lender affiliate holding 18 units, confirm from the condominium's financial statements that sponsor-held units are current on common charges and that no arrears are carried as receivables.
• Board control. Ask whether the successor sponsor still controls board seats and when control passes to resident owners.
• Construction-defect and warranty claims. A sponsor that has been through bankruptcy may not be able to answer for construction defects. Ask whether the board has pursued any claims and against whom.

The Department of Finance shows no 421-a or other exemption on any Bloom residential lot. That is expected. The new-building job was filed in July 2016, during the lapse of the old 421-a program. The Affordable New York program that replaced it offered its homeownership option only outside Manhattan. The tax on a Bloom unit is therefore the full assessed figure from the first year, with no phase-in cliff ahead. That is simpler to underwrite than an abated Brooklyn comparable.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01073-7505) and verified listing data. Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified by The Roebling Team research desk. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price.

Read the offering plan amendments. A bulk buyer that resells new units normally does so through an amendment naming it as successor sponsor. Confirm what it took on: the budget, the warranties, the common-charge obligations and board control.

Check financing early. Lenders look at how many units a single owner holds, how many units are delinquent, and litigation history. With 18 units still in one entity and a bankruptcy in the building's past, have your lender run the condominium questionnaire before you sign.

Take the tax bill at face value. No abatement applies, so there is nothing to phase in and no benefit to lose.

Use the successor sponsor's inventory as leverage. Remaining sponsor units put downward pressure on pricing. A lender-seller that bought in bulk usually has more room to negotiate on terms than a developer protecting a price list.

Pick your line by exposure. Courtyard-facing and street-facing lines live differently. Terrace size and floor move value more than address does.

Price against the sponsor's current asking prices first. Buyers will see the successor sponsor's listings next to yours. Position your unit on condition, line and outdoor space against that set.

Explain the bankruptcy and bulk sale before the buyer finds it. Per press, the October 2024 bulk sale ended the fight between the sponsor and its lender, and the lender affiliate has since sold most of the units it bought. Buyers who hear that from you first are more comfortable than buyers who find it in diligence.

Sell the courtyard and the scale. An eight-story, full-block building with an 8,000-square-foot planted court is rare on the West Side.

If you're considering 500 West 45th Street, also evaluate:

• 520 West 45th Street (Inkwell): the condominium next door on the same block
• 547 West 47th Street (The West): a 222-unit 2020 Hell's Kitchen condominium over retail at Eleventh Avenue
• 505 West 43rd Street (Charlie West): a 2017 ODA-designed condominium two blocks south, with a courtyard and pool
• 350 West 44th Street (LightSquare): a 29-residence condominium completed in 2024, east of Ninth Avenue
• 800 Tenth Avenue (Griffin Court): a courtyard condominium with an attended lobby on the same avenue
• 447 West 45th Street (The Clinton Club): a 1986 condominium in the Special Clinton District on the same street
• 310 West 52nd Street (The Link): a 2007 Hell's Kitchen condominium tower, for the tower-versus-low-rise comparison
• 429 Kent Avenue (The Oosten): Xin's Williamsburg courtyard condominium, which also went through lender action