6 new condo buildings where you can buy for $500,000 (or less)

By Virginia K. Smith | September 30, 2014 - 11:59AM

Apartments in new developments are notoriously expensive—even by New York standards—and seemingly getting more so by the day. But lest we start thinking the only new homes hitting the market are luxury digs priced in the tens of millions of dollars, there are still options in brand new buildings, even if your budget maxes out at $500,000. (And more affordable offerings are apparently hitting the market soon.) In the interest of relative optimism, we combed the listings for units in new developments—amenities and all—that are within budget for the non-millionaire buyers out there.

At the Highbridge, located in Washington Heights at 446 West 167th Street, studios (what the marketing materials call "junior 1 bedrooms") come with private outdoor space and start at $499,000, and one-bedrooms start at $515,000.

A little farther downtown, at Harlem's Uptown 58 (located on West 129th Street), there's a studio available for $450,000. The building has bike storage, a roof deck and garden, a fitness center, and maybe most pertinently, a 15-year tax abatement.

The set-up on this one is a little unconventional: Observatory Place, a LEED-certified building in East Harlem, was a rental building when it first hit the market in 2008, but the developer is now selling off said rentals as condos. For instance: this $475,000 studio, which comes with a tenant in place until February 2015, who is shelling out $2,900 a month. The fact that the building is FHA approved and has a tax abatement til 2019 may help to sweeten the deal.

Part of the ongoing new construction boom in Long Island City, this one-bedroom at the Millstone is on the market for $505,000, with 12 years left on the building's 421A tax abatement.

If you're willing to try your hand at Elmhurst, Queens, the Continental Park (which features perks like a shared playground, as well as an event room and gym) has studios for as low as $167,000, and a three-bedroom currently available for $467,900.

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