Mad for Madison Avenue: NYCs famed retail row is now booming with homes

The pandemic devastated Madison Avenue’s storefronts.But luxury retailers are now back in force, pumping new life into this world-famous shopping district. Earlier this year, IWC Schaffhausen brought a flagship store to 60th Street and Madison Avenue, and in September, French jewelry house Boucheron opened its first-ever NYC boutique at 65th Street. It’s boosting real estate, too.

The brand-new Giorgio Armani Residences at 760 Madison Ave.sold out its 10 condos in July, after hitting the market less than a year ago (the penthouse went into contract asking $32.5 million). Megadeveloper Related is now building a 1,200-foot condo-hotel-retail tower at 58th Street, while another 22-unit luxury condo tower from Legion Investment Group and Nahla Capital just scored $195 million in construction financing at 83rd Street. The list goes on, but certainly the most exciting new project to hit the avenue is the Surrey, which opens Friday. The new five-star Corinthia hotel is from British developers Reuben Brothers, who plan to give New York’s other grand dame hotels a run for their money.

Located at 76th Street, it sits just steps away from the Carlyle and only a block from the Mark.The Surrey plans to outdo its neighbors by coupling buzz-factor with the city’s first Casa Tua running its food-and-beverage program. Its other weapon? Ultra-exclusive real estate.

“The Surrey was built as a residential hotel back in 1926, and was always the home away from home for a lot of famous New Yorkers,” says Susan de França of Douglas Elliman, who is heading sales at the Surrey’s 14 residences.“Most of the purchasers thus far are people who live in New York, many in the neighborhood.

They are legacy transactions, where people say, ‘I would like to hand this down to generations to come, because it’s so rare.’ ”DeFrança has already sold half of the new two- to three-bedroom units, and is trickling out the rest (the 16th-floor penthouses have yet to be release...