The Orion (350 West 42nd Street)
1. BUILDING OVERVIEW (ANALYST FRAMING)
The Orion (350 West 42nd Street) is a mature postwar resale condo completed in 2007 in Hells Kitchen. With 551 units across 60 floors, the building is a large-scale asset that functions as a high-velocity rental engine. Based on post-sponsor behavior, the building is classified as Yield-Oriented. While it maintains a high volume of transactions (1,198 recorded sales), it underperforms the Hells Kitchen sub-neighborhood by 6.3%. Resale data suggests the building is Flat/Cyclical; pricing in 2025 frequently clears at levels nearly identical to 2007–2012 sponsor baselines, failing to capture the structural compounding seen in the broader NYXRCSA index, which reached 331.14 by late 2025.
2. UNIT MIX & COMPOSITION
The building’s inventory is heavily concentrated in 1BR footprints, which dictates its liquidity and rental churn. Based on transaction-weighted data:
1BR: 702 sales (~58.6% of activity). Median PPSF: $1,130.
2BR: 317 sales (~26.5% of activity). Median PPSF: $1,240.
Studios: 118 sales (~9.8% of activity). Median PPSF: $1,052.
3BR+: 18 sales (~1.5% of activity). Median PPSF: $1,281–$1,767.
Analysis: The heavy 1BR concentration provides the building with high rental liquidity (674 rented units) but creates a unit mix imbalance that prevents price scarcity. The 1BR stack is the primary driver of building volatility, with a median resale DOM of 84 days compared to 53 days for studios.
3. LINE (STACK) PERFORMANCE — RESALE ONLY
Liquidity: The Line G and Line H stacks (1BR/2BR) show the most consistent transaction depth but suffer from wide DOM dispersion, with some units sitting for over 200 days (e.g., 26G at 208 days).
Price Strength: Line PH (Penthouse) units command a structural premium, clearing at $1,572–$1,897 PPSF. Conversely, Line D (1BR) typically trades at a discount to the building median, often dipping to $1,001–$1,104 PPSF.
Appreciation: Compounding is nearly non-existent across most mid-floor stacks. For example, Line D (Unit 10D) sold for $1,580 PPSF in 2016 and $1,104 PPSF in 2025, a negative CAGR over 9 years.
4. BUILDING-WIDE PPSF TREND (NORMALIZED)
2007–2012 (Sponsor/Early Resale): Pricing established a floor between $1,000 and $1,300 PPSF.
2014–2018 (Peak): Pricing peaked with many trades clearing between $1,400 and $1,800 PPSF.
2021–2025 (Mean-Reversion): Recent trades (e.g., Unit 18E at $1,161 PPSF and Unit 6K at $1,119 PPSF) indicate the building has reverted to its original 2007–2009 pricing regime.
Conclusion: Flat/Cyclical. The building has failed to compound value relative to the NYXRCSA index, which has grown from ~210 in 2007 to 331 in 2025.
5. RENT CAPTURE ANALYSIS
Mandatory Metric: Effective Annual Rent (EAR)
Unit 12L (2BR, 2025): Achieved $5,750. DOM: 129. EAR: $3,717.
Unit 37F (1BR, 2025): Achieved $4,800. DOM: 92. EAR: $3,590.
Unit 21B (1BR, 2025): Achieved $4,700. DOM: 5. **EAR: $4,635.
Unit 33D (3BR, 2023): Achieved $8,400. DOM: 171. **EAR: $4,464.
Analysis: The Orion suffers from significant income leakage in units with absorption friction. While nominal rents look strong ($70–$80 PPSF), units with high DOM (e.g., 12L and 33D) lose 35% to 47% of their annual economic value to vacancy.
6. B³ SCORING SYSTEM (0–100)
Liquidity Score: 68 (High transaction volume but moderate speed; median DOM of 86 days indicates exit friction).
Rent Capture Score: 65 (Strong nominal rental history is offset by significant leakage in larger or mid-tier units).
Appreciation Score: 40 (Resale pricing is mean-reverting to 15-year-old baselines, trailing the NYXRCSA benchmark significantly).
7. COMPOSITE SCORE & CLASSIFICATION
Composite Score: 57.3
Category: Yield-Oriented
Justification: The building functions as a high-churn rental factory (Pillar 2) but fails to protect or compound capital value (Pillar 3).
8. TRANSACTION EXAMPLES
Resale Appreciation (Nominal)
Unit 18E (1BR): $399,000 ($598 PPSF) in 2012 → $775,000 ($1,161 PPSF) in 2026. +94% (+5.3% CAGR). Drivers: Market regime timing, Sponsor price normalization.
Unit 26G (2BR): $1,275,000 ($1,261 PPSF) in 2012 → $1,320,000 ($1,305 PPSF) in 2025. +3.5% (+0.2% CAGR). Drivers: Market regime timing, Line-level premium persistence.
Resale Depreciation/Stagnation
Unit 10D (1BR): $1,152,000 ($1,580 PPSF) in 2016 → $805,000 ($1,104 PPSF) in 2025. -30.1%. Drivers: Market regime timing, Liquidity shift.
Unit 50E (1BR): $1,425,000 ($1,831 PPSF) in 2014 → $1,400,000 ($1,799 PPSF) in 2024. -1.7%. Drivers: Sponsor price normalization, Liquidity shift.
Unit 12G (2BR): $1,380,000 ($1,289 PPSF) in 2014 → $1,268,000 ($1,185 PPSF) in 2018. -8.1%. Drivers: Market regime timing, Unit size imbalance.
Unit 46C (2BR): $1,850,000 ($1,732 PPSF) in 2015 → $795,000 ($795 PPSF) in 2024. -54%. Drivers: Liquidity shift, Market regime timing.
9. RISKS & RED FLAGS
Negative Compounding: Stacks like the Line D and Line C have shown absolute price erosion since 2014–2016 peaks.
High Exit Friction: 3BR+ units face a median DOM of 139 days, nearly double the studio speed, creating significant illiquidity for larger owners.
Red Flag: Do not buy mid-floor 1BRs (Lines D, K, L) for appreciation; these units are commodities in a building with nearly 60% 1BR concentration and show the most aggressive mean-reversion.
10. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Orion is a Yield-Oriented asset that serves as a massive liquidity provider in Hells Kitchen but fails as a capital growth vehicle. Post-sponsor behavior is defined by a mean-reverting price trend, where 2025 resales often clear at or below 2008–2012 levels despite the market index (NYXRCSA) more than doubling in that era. Income is consistently generated via a high-velocity rental market, yet investors face significant income leakage (up to 47%) when units sit for the building's median 86-day absorption period. Opportunity is strictly limited to low-DOM rental lines, while the primary risk is capital stagnation across its dominant 1BR inventory.
B³ SCORECARD
Liquidity Score: 68
Rent Capture Score: 65
Appreciation Score: 40
Composite Score: 57.3
Category: Yield-Oriented
Unit Mix: 1BR Dominant (~59% activity)
Disclosures: Approximately 220 transactions from 2006–2011 were reclassified as Sponsor-Driven per the 30-day DOM rule [4, 110–135]. This normalization reveals that true resale DOM is 15% higher than aggregate building metrics suggest, and real capital growth has been flat for 85% of tracked lines.