A 26-story rental tower rising at the southwest corner of East 88th Street and Second Avenue is on track to welcome its first tenants in October, capping a project that replaced three low-rise buildings on the block with 45 apartments, a pet spa, and asking rents that top out at $45,000 a month for its full-floor penthouses.
The building, known as The Langdon, is nearing completion at 288 East 88th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side, according to New York YIMBY. The 350-foot structure spans 96,543 square feet and includes 2,507 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, a cellar level, and a fully attended lobby, per the outlet's reporting. It was developed by Alchemy-ABR Investment Partners in partnership with The Carlyle Group, with Alchemy-ABR also collaborating with Azur Holdings Management LLC, and designed by Hill West Architects, with renderings credited to Streetsense.
Leasing officially launched in July, with asking rents ranging from $12,400 a month up to $45,000 a month for the building's full-floor penthouses, according to 6sqft. The site sits just steps from the Q train's 86th Street station along Second Avenue, putting the tower directly on the Second Avenue subway corridor that has reshaped development patterns in the neighborhood.
Big Apartments for a Tight Rental Market
Rather than carving the tower into studios and one-bedrooms, the developers built just 45 rental units across the entire structure, offered in two- to five-bedroom layouts that average an expansive 1,842 square feet apiece, the site's report notes. That strategy lines up with a broader shortage of spacious rental options in Manhattan, where the residential vacancy rate stood at a tight 1.49% in June, per 6sqft's account of the market conditions driving demand for new free-market buildings.
Inside, residences feature ceilings of roughly 11 feet, oversized windows, wraparound skyline views, walk-in closets, and in-unit laundry. Interior finishes include Fisher & Paykel appliances, custom wood veneer cabinetry, quartz countertops, radiant heated bathroom floors, and Porcelanosa tiling, with select upper-level units featuring Miele cooktops, per 6sqft's reporting on the finish package.
Amenities Built for Full-Time Residents
The building's amenity list leans heavily toward the kind of condo-grade extras meant to keep renters in place long-term. Beyond the full-floor penthouses and terraced units, The Langdon includes a fitness center and sports court, a club lounge, a terraced lounge, private offices, a private screening room, a children's playroom, an onsite pet spa, and bike storage.
The project's path to completion involved a substantial capital stack. In December 2024, lenders Affinius Capital LLC and Bank OZK provided a $79 million construction loan to Alchemy-ABR and The Carlyle Group, with Walker & Dunlop arranging the financing package, according to the Commercial Observer. Legal work on the joint venture was handled by Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, SSRGA, and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, as reported by Mann Publications, which also detailed the building's topping-out at its full height, with Leeding Builders Group serving as general contractor and RC Structures listed as an additional project partner.
From Low-Rise Block to High-Rise Rental
The site, sometimes referenced under the alternate address of 1695 Second Avenue, was formerly occupied by a single five-story mixed-use building. That change made way for the density now rising along a stretch of Second Avenue that has drawn increasing developer interest since subway service expanded to the corridor.
Alchemy-ABR Investment Partners was formed in 2015 through a partnership between Alchemy Properties and ABR Partners, according to The Real Deal. Alchemy Properties was founded by Ken Horn in 1990. The firm has continued building out its Upper East Side rental portfolio beyond East 88th Street: it is also behind a 30-story, 86-unit tower at 1482 First Avenue backed by a $127 million construction loan secured this year, a project Hoodline previously covered in foundations rising on First Avenue. Alchemy-ABR's broader footprint also includes a Midtown commercial tower at 125 West 57th Street.
