Four years ago, I walked into a developer meeting at 181 East 101st Street in East Harlem with Samir Vogan. We didn't walk in asking for a shot. We walked in as operators. We had already shot a video inside the building on Christmas Day — a building we didn't represent yet — and presented it as if it were already ours.
They saw the video. They saw the commitment before the contract. And they gave us the mandate.
What followed was four of the most demanding, educational, and ultimately defining years of our careers. Today, I'm proud to announce that The Huxley is officially 100% sold out. 71 units. $51 million. Done.
71 units — full sellout
$51M total sellout
1,400+ showings
100% sellout rate
1,000+ open houses
325 developer meetings
2022–2026 project run
THE BUILDING
The Huxley is a boutique condominium at 181 East 101st Street in East Harlem — developed by Wonder Works Construction Corp., a firm with over 30 years of institutional-quality delivery in New York City, and designed by Workshop DA. Travertine façade. Interiors finished entirely with imported Italian materials — wide plank white oak floors, Marmi Scala terrazzo countertops, custom Santalucia Mobili wardrobes, Bertazzoni appliances. A rooftop terrace with open city views. A garden with an outdoor fireplace.
This was not a commodity product. It was a brand. And it required a brand launch — not a listing.
WHAT WE WERE UP AGAINST
I want to be honest about what this project actually took, because the number doesn't tell the full story.
We did not sell this building in a favorable market. We launched in 2022 when rates were 3.5% and buyers were active. We finished in 2026 after rates had climbed past 7%, after the market had fundamentally changed, after every deal structure we built in Year 1 had to be rebuilt in Year 2. The rate environment alone killed deals that were already in contract. We adapted — new incentive structures, closing cost coverage, relentless broker re-education — and we kept the pipeline moving.
The heat failed. The AC failed. The elevator went down in July. Samir walked buyers up multiple flights of stairs in 90-degree heat to keep showings on track. None of that is in the brochure. All of it is in the result.
And then there was the last unit — a duplex. We received offers in the $800K–$900K range and held them on developer instruction. In early 2025, the data became undeniable. We made the call to reset pricing. Within two weeks, offers came in. We managed the competition, drove it back up, and closed at $779K. The final unit of a 71-unit building. Done.
A feng shui master had killed the deal on that unit at the last moment in a prior cycle, citing directional conflicts. I'm not making that up.
HOW WE SOLD IT
The strategy was not complicated. It was disciplined, and it was relentless.
We turned the sales gallery into a satellite content house — desks, monitors, whiteboards, set open house hours running every single day. We invited other agents and influencers to create content inside the building. We ran broker opens twice a week. We hosted launch events with live music, local restaurant partners, art installations, and community programming that made the building feel like a destination before it was a sale.
Samir tracked conversion ratios from the first showing: 15 showings per unit to generate an offer, 25–30 total showings to produce three offers and one contract out. That framework turned 1,400 showings into a predictable, engineerable outcome. The math worked. We executed it, week after week, for four years.
Two deals came directly from A-frame signs we placed outside on the sidewalk. Walk-in traffic, converted on the spot. In a 71-unit building, that is not a footnote — that is presence as a strategy.
Every broker in our network had a reason to return — consistent events, inventory alerts, updated incentives, creative co-marketing. We protected list prices throughout by offering concessions instead of discounts: $5,000 Amex cards, washer/dryer installation, closing cost coverage. The public record stayed clean. The building's pricing floor held. Every unit benefited from every deal that came before it.
Every closing got a 'Welcome to the Building' packet in the unit before the buyer arrived. The deal doesn't end at contract. It ends when the buyer feels taken care of.
"Over four years, we ran 325 developer meetings, hosted over 1,000 open houses, and conducted 1,400+ showings to sell 71 units. That's not marketing — that's a machine."
WHAT THIS PROJECT TAUGHT US
Vision before access. We shot that Christmas Day video for a building we didn't represent. It won us the pitch. You don't wait for opportunity in this business. You position yourself so opportunity can't ignore you.
Presence wins. The teams that drop in for showings don't build the same relationships as the teams that live in the building. We lived there. Buyers felt it. Developers felt it.
Endurance is a strategy. Most sales teams quit before a building is fully sold. The last 10% is a different test entirely. We didn't walk away. We finished.
Know when the line needs to move. The most important recommendation we made was the 2025 pricing reset. Not because we gave up — because four years of visit tracker data made the answer undeniable. Conviction and flexibility are not opposites.
THANK YOU
To Samir Vogan — you were the operational engine of this project for four years. You held the line when nobody was watching, walked buyers up stairs in July, and delivered every single week. This is as much yours as it is mine.
To the full Lundgren Team — every agent who showed a unit, every intern who set up an open house, everyone who created content inside that building. You are the reason the machine worked.
To Wonder Works Construction Corp. — thank you for trusting us before we had the listing. We hope we earned that trust back 71 times over.
And to every buyer who made the Huxley their home — East Harlem is going to keep proving you right.
The Lundgren Team is already on the next one.
📍 The Armstrong — 308 West 133rd Street, West Harlem. 45 units. Launching Spring 2026. If you're a developer building in New York City and you want a team that treats your building like a brand launch and finishes what it starts — let's have a conversation.
[email protected] · 917.453.4526 · nilelundgren.com
