Construction is closing in on completion on 500 East 81st Street, an 11-story residential building in the Yorkville section of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Designed by S20M and Zproekt Architecture and developed by Rybak Development, the 100-foot-tall structure will span 37,378 square feet and yield ten condominium units. The project will also include a parking garage and ground-floor retail space. The 3,104-square-foot property is located at the southeast corner of York Avenue and East 81st Street.
The assembly of scaffolding and black netting that fully shrouded the building at the time of our last update has begun to be removed, revealing the finished look of the slender western elevation facing York Avenue along with portions of the northern and southern faces. Now visible are the rounded corner windows, light gray stone façade, and stack of balconies clad in an alternating pattern of precast concrete and black metal paneling.
500 East 81st Street. Photo by Michael Young.
500 East 81st Street. Photo by Michael Young.
500 East 81st Street. Photo by Michael Young.
500 East 81st Street. Photo by Michael Young.
500 East 81st Street. Photo by Michael Young.
500 East 81st Street. Photo by Michael Young.
The result closely matches what was previewed in the renderings in the main photo and below. The most prominent difference is the omission of the fluted façade panels, which were only used on the final story. The broad northern face will feature an additional stack of balconies, and a landscaped roof deck will sit atop the 11th floor.
500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
The Eklund | Gomes Team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate is handling sales and marketing for the units, which will come in full-floor, four-bedroom layouts, as well as a penthouse. Homes will feature 10- to 12-foot high ceilings, private elevator access, outdoor terraces, honed marble, hand-finished hardwood, Miele and Sub-Zero appliances, and imported limestone. 500 East 81st Street has a projected sellout of $69.4 million.
A living room at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
A den at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
An open kitchen at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
A bedroom at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
A bathroom at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
A powder room at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
Private elevator access at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
The following renderings preview the penthouse and its private rooftop terrace.
The penthouse at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
The private penthouse terrace at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
Amenities will include a lobby, fitness center, and a steam room and sauna separated by a shower.
The lobby at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
The fitness center at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
The spa amenities at 500 East 81st Street. Rendering courtesy of S20M.
The site was formerly occupied by the Gracie Inn Hotel, a one-story laundromat, and a diner, as seen in the below Google Street View images from before the start of demolition. Rybak Development purchased the property for $10.4 million in June 2023, and subsequently secured a $26.5 million loan from Maxim Capital. Scott Miller & Rael Gervis of The Meridian Capital Group helped broker the deal.
Image via Google Maps
The nearest subway from the ground-up development is the Q train at the 86th Street station at the corner of Second Avenue and East 83rd Street.
YIMBY expects 500 East 81st Street to finish construction sometime in early 2027.
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Good use of space
Fantastic addition to the UES! A+
The numbers just don’t add up. The building is 100ft tall, has 11 story, and the units feature 10 to 12ft ceilings. What I’m I missing here?
Earlier reports referenced the building at 120ft tall. At 120ft tall the math works. You are correct, the present numbers do not work…I thought the same thing.
Very nice building though…
The square footage numbers don’t work either – the lot is 3,104 square feet and the 11-story building is said to total 37,378 square feet.
Perhaps there’s a basement that’s not being Included as a floor
Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good
Lovely exterior. But the interiors are an uninteresting sea of dreary earth tones. At least these can be changed…
Beautiful, well-detailed sliver tower that looks better than the renderings. The interiors are typically Modern Dull except for the 1901 era stratified marble, which I’ve never liked. But this project proves that good design can actually exist for the overly privileged.
Very nice! I wish my neighborhood would get some infill like this.
Very elegant!
It’s great, for sure—but I wish the podium were more substantial. All that glass gives the appearance that it’s on stilts, like a beach house.
This one is interesting because the garage entrance to the south saves all the lot line windows of the adjacent building. That’s a rental building that Glenwood offloaded a few years back. From discussions with a couple of refugees who used to rent there, the new owners are not so great. Offloading those air rights would have significant increases the value of the new condos, so I wonder why they didn’t sell.