UPPER EAST SIDE
400 E. 70th St.

Two-bedroom triplex condo
Asking price: $2,950,000
Selling price: $2,300,000
Time on market: About 9 months

A two-bedroom, 2.5-bath triplex condo at 400 E. 70th St. sold recently for $2.3 million. The “oasis in the sky” is located on the 35th floor of the full-service Kingsley building and has panoramic views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the East River. Jacky Teplitzky of Prudential Douglas Elliman described the 2,530-square-foot apartment, which has a 300-square-foot terrace and a woodburning fireplace, as “unique.”

The seller was a man in his 40s who works in the entertainment business and is moving out of state. The buyers were a young couple in search of an unusual space – not exactly the kind of folk the happy broker was expecting. “We thought at the beginning that we’d find a single guy who likes to show off,” she said.

The price was very good, according to Ms. Teplitzky, who said that it broke the record for the building in terms of dollars per square foot. Her biggest challenge was marketing the apartment to a city unaccustomed to triplex style homes. “People usually want three bedrooms at that square footage,” she said. “But this was an unusual layout. The challenge was to find a buyer who would appreciate the uniqueness of the space.”

MIDTOWN WEST
200 W. 54th St.

One-bedroom co-op
Asking price: $499,000
Selling price: $490,000
Time on market: About 3 months

A one-bedroom co-op at 200 W. 54th St. sold recently for $490,000. The 750-square-foot apartment is in the Aldon, a pre-war building designed originally as a hotel by the famous French architects Blum and Blum.

The property was a sponsor unit, which means that it had been subject to rent control before the building converted to co-op in 1989. It was owned by a sponsor, the developer Orsid Realty, and became available for sale about four months ago, after the lease expired. Jude Dayani of Orsid, who was the listing agent, said that of the 130 apartments in the building, about 35 remain occupied by original rent-control tenants, some of whom have lived there for more than 50 years. By law, the developer is not allowed to force eviction.

Because the apartment wasn’t technically part of the co-op, the purchaser wasn’t subject to board approval, a big drawcard according to Justin Parks of City Connections, who represented the buyer. “It was basically a free ticket in,” he said.

CHELSEA
252 Seventh Ave.

Two-bedroom condo
Asking price: $1.85 million
Selling price: $1.85 million
Time on market: 1 week

A two-bedroom, two-bath condo at the Chelsea Mercantile closed three days ago for $1.85 million after being on the market for just a week. The purchaser was a woman who works as a research scientist at a major pharmaceutical company. She had been transferred to New York and had been searching for the perfect downtown pad, according to Brian Lewis of Halstead, who represented the buyer. The 1,365-square-foot apartment is on the third floor of the sought-after building and has unusually high 14-foot ceilings. She likes spacious apartments, apparently. “Her biggest requirement was that she had to feel like she could roller skate in it,” said Mr. Lewis. “When I previewed apartments, she’d ask, ‘Can I skate in it?’ With this apartment, it was a big yes.”

MIDTOWN WEST
347 W. 57th St.

One-bedroom condo
Asking price: $799,000
Selling price: $750,000
Time on market: 9 weeks

A sprawling one-bedroom, 1.5-bath condo at 347 W. 57th St. sold recently for $750,000. The 825-square-foot apartment has a 10-foot-by-6-foot terrace with garden views and is situated within a luxury 24-hour doorman building.

The seller works between Miami and Mexico and spends very little time in New York, according to Pat Harbison of Halstead in Manhattan, who represented the seller. She moved out of the apartment a year and a half ago after taking the Miami position, and had been renting it out the ever since. She finally chose to sell after deciding the market wasn’t getting any better.

The buyer is a real estate investor with properties in Las Vegas and Florida. He purchased it as part of a tax-exchange arrangement in order to offset the capital gains tax associated with a recently sold investment. This is his first New York investment. Not a bad move, according to Ms. Harbison. “It’s right across the street from the AOL/Time Warner Center, and from Whole Foods,” she said. “In terms of value, it’ll go up a lot. It’s a very desirable location.”