One Manhattan Square at 252 South Street continues to attract attention from buyers, sellers and investors looking at Manhattan's Lower East Side and Two Bridges neighborhoods.
The 80-story luxury condominium combines waterfront and skyline views, extensive private amenities, a large landscaped garden and a 20-year tax abatement. But beyond the building itself, the surrounding market is also worth watching.
Recent transactions at One Manhattan Square, rental activity, Lower East Side pricing and major waterfront infrastructure projects are creating a useful snapshot of where the property and neighborhood stand in 2026.
Recent One Manhattan Square Sales Show Continued Transaction Activity
Several notable One Manhattan Square transactions closed during July and August 2026.
- • Residence 26N: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 695 square feet, sold for approximately $1.275 million on July 30, 2026, or about $1,835 per square foot.
- • Residence 59A: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1,667 square feet, sold for approximately $3.3 million on August 5, 2026, or about $1,980 per square foot.
- • Residence 40G: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,156 square feet, sold for approximately $2.35 million on August 19, 2026, or about $2,033 per square foot.
These transactions demonstrate that One Manhattan Square continues to see activity across different apartment sizes and price points. The individual sales should not be treated as a valuation for every residence, however, because views, floor level, exposure, condition, layout and incentives can materially affect pricing.
There Is Still Inventory for Buyers to Evaluate
As of early September 2026, One Manhattan Square had dozens of residences being marketed for sale, providing buyers with multiple opportunities to compare floor plans, exposures, views and pricing within the same building.
StreetEasy's September 2026 building information showed 33 active sales listings and 19 active rental listings at One Manhattan Square.
For buyers, this level of availability can be useful because it allows for direct comparison between similar residences. Instead of evaluating a single apartment in isolation, buyers can compare asking prices, square footage, floor height, views and recent comparable transactions within the building.
The Lower East Side Market Has Been Showing Price Growth
The broader Lower East Side market also provides an important backdrop.
Redfin reported that homes in the Lower East Side had a median sale price of approximately $849,710 in July 2026, representing a 6.2% year-over-year increase. Median price per square foot was approximately $1,330, up 6.3% year over year.
The market was not uniformly fast, however. Homes were taking longer to sell than the previous year, with median days on market reaching 105 days. That distinction is important for sellers: rising prices do not necessarily mean every property will sell quickly or at the asking price.
For buyers, a slower marketing period can create more opportunities to investigate individual properties, negotiate and compare alternatives.
Rental Demand Adds Another Layer for Investors
The rental market is another factor worth monitoring for buyers considering an investment or future rental strategy.
Realtor.com reported a median monthly rental price of approximately $5,772 in ZIP Code 10002 through July 2026, up 6.89% year over year.
At the neighborhood level, the Lower East Side's median rental price was approximately $5,900, while Two Bridges was approximately $6,000.
These figures are neighborhood-level indicators rather than projections for a particular One Manhattan Square apartment. Actual rental performance can vary considerably depending on unit size, floor, views, furnishings, condition and building-specific competition.
Still, the rental numbers provide useful context for buyers evaluating the potential income side of a condominium purchase.
Manhattan Entered the Second Half of 2026 With Limited Inventory
The broader Manhattan market also provides context for One Manhattan Square.
A July 2026 Manhattan market report cited contract activity of more than 1,100 signed deals and active inventory of approximately 6,500 listings. Another July market analysis using Corcoran data reported 953 signed contracts and 5,909 active listings, illustrating that different reports can produce different totals depending on methodology and market segment.
The consistent theme across these reports was relatively limited inventory compared with prior periods.
That matters for One Manhattan Square because buyers and sellers are not operating in a vacuum. Building-specific pricing is influenced by the availability of competing condominiums throughout Lower Manhattan.
One Manhattan Square's 20-Year Tax Abatement Remains a Key Feature
One of the building's most notable financial features is its 20-year tax abatement.
The building's marketing materials describe it as one of the last developments in New York City offering a 20-year tax abatement.
For buyers, this can be an important part of evaluating the total cost of ownership. A purchase price alone does not tell the entire story of owning a New York City condominium. Buyers should examine the apartment's monthly common charges, real estate taxes, remaining tax-abatement period and applicable tax structure before making an offer.
The benefit is particularly relevant when comparing One Manhattan Square with other Manhattan condominiums that may have different tax structures.
Waterfront Resilience Projects Could Shape the Neighborhood
One of the most significant longer-term developments around Two Bridges is not another residential tower. It is the continued investment in Lower Manhattan's waterfront infrastructure.
The City's Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency program includes the Brooklyn Bridge-Montgomery Coastal Resilience project, which directly affects the Two Bridges waterfront.
The City says the project will use flood walls and deployable barriers to reduce flood risk while maintaining waterfront access and visibility.
The broader Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency program is backed by more than $900 million in City investment and includes active capital projects in the Two Bridges area.
For property owners, this is relevant because resilient infrastructure can affect how waterfront neighborhoods function over the long term. The objective is not simply flood protection. The City's stated approach also incorporates public-space and waterfront-access improvements.
East River Park Improvements Are Also Moving Forward
Further north, the East Side Coastal Resiliency project is another major Lower East Side infrastructure investment.
According to the City, the second section of the project includes reconstruction of East River Park and is projected for completion in late 2026.
The project is designed to provide flood protection for approximately 110,000 Lower East Side residents while improving waterfront open space and access.
For buyers considering the Lower East Side as a long-term location, these infrastructure projects are worth understanding alongside traditional real estate metrics such as price per square foot, inventory and rents.
What This Means for Buyers
For prospective buyers, the current environment creates several factors worth evaluating carefully.
- • Compare recent sales: Recent transactions inside the building provide a more relevant reference point than relying solely on neighborhood-wide averages.
- • Compare units within the building: Floor height, exposure and views can produce meaningful price differences.
- • Review the tax structure: The 20-year tax abatement can materially affect the ownership-cost calculation.
- • Evaluate rental potential separately: Strong neighborhood rents do not guarantee a specific unit's rental return.
- • Look beyond the apartment: Waterfront access, resiliency projects, transportation and neighborhood investment can all matter for long-term ownership.
What This Means for Sellers
Sellers should also look beyond a simple price-per-square-foot comparison.
With multiple residences available in the building, buyers can compare similar apartments before making a decision. That makes accurate positioning particularly important.
- • Use recent building sales as part of the pricing analysis.
- • Highlight views, floor height and exposure when they differentiate the residence.
- • Clearly communicate the tax-abatement structure and estimated ownership costs.
- • Showcase the building's extensive amenities and outdoor spaces.
- • Compare competing active listings rather than relying only on historical sales.
The Investment Story Is About More Than Price Appreciation
For investors, One Manhattan Square offers several variables to analyze together: purchase price, rental income, taxes, common charges, financing costs, vacancy assumptions and resale liquidity.
The recent rental market data in 10002 and Two Bridges provides a positive demand backdrop, but investors should calculate the economics of the specific apartment rather than assuming neighborhood rental growth will automatically translate into investment returns.
The building's location also places it near the South Street Seaport, East River waterfront, Manhattan Bridge and Lower East Side amenities, while the ongoing investment in Lower Manhattan's waterfront infrastructure adds another long-term consideration.
Bottom Line: One Manhattan Square Remains a Building Worth Watching
The summer 2026 data gives prospective buyers and investors several reasons to take a closer look at One Manhattan Square.
Recent transactions show continued sales activity inside the building. The Lower East Side has recorded year-over-year price growth, while rental prices in ZIP Code 10002 have also increased. At the same time, Manhattan entered the second half of the year with relatively limited inventory.
One Manhattan Square also has building-specific advantages that are difficult to evaluate using neighborhood statistics alone, including its extensive amenity package, private garden, waterfront setting and 20-year tax abatement.
For buyers, the opportunity is to compare the numbers carefully and identify residences where price, views, tax structure, rental potential and long-term location fundamentals align with their objectives.
For sellers, the key is understanding how the residence compares with the other apartments currently available in the building and how recent transactions support the asking price.
Thinking about buying, selling or investing in One Manhattan Square or the Lower East Side? Team Dom50 Brokered by eXp Realty can help you evaluate current listings, comparable sales and the broader Manhattan market.
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