When jazz musician Massimo Biolcati and his wife, architectural designer Miranda Danusugondo, went apartment hunting last year on the Lower East Side, they found a fresh inventory of luxury units that wouldn’t have existed a decade ago, when they first moved to the area.⁠ ⁠ They settled on Essex Crossing, a multibillion-dollar development with residential housing, retail and offices. Their penthouse at One Essex Crossing on Broome Street is 1,851 square feet with three bedrooms, two private terraces, wide-plank European Oak flooring, 10-foot ceilings and marble bathrooms. Building perks include two glass-walled “amenity peninsulas” with space for lounging and grilling, as well as a fitness studio and playroom.⁠ ⁠ The price—$4.95 million, or about $2,700 a square foot—was more than the couple wanted to spend, they said, but they were eager to remain in the neighborhood. “It was sort of like, ‘Can we scrape together a little more money,’ ” Mr. Biolcati said.⁠ ⁠ A decade ago, $5 million deals were rare on the Lower East Side, said Pamela D’Arc, a luxury agent with Compass.⁠ ⁠ In 2012, she represented the buyer of a $4.95 million apartment on the Bowery. That price bought him about double the space. The 3,700-square-foot duplex was “like a house in a condominium building” and had 660 square feet of outdoor space on two levels. It was an outlier in terms of its style, size and price.⁠ ⁠ “Ten years ago, the Lower East Side was not what it is now,” Ms. D’Arc said. “It’s a different world.”⁠ ⁠ More on the ever-changing luxury market in New York and beyond via the link in @wsjrealestate's bio.⁠ ⁠ 📸: @dorothypunk for @wsj