East Village condos topped off.

Real estate officials celebrated the topping off of a new East Village condominium complex, a project that was instrumental in saving the community theater at its base.

Builder Jerry Rosengarten, construction workers and officials from Douglas Elliman were present for the rooftop celebration. Louise Phillips, Douglas Elliman executive vice president, is the exclusive agent for the condominium project called the New Theatre Building.

At 15 stories, the condominium building at 240 East 10th St. is much higher than those that surround it. The site is 17,000 SF, but the building comprises only 5,000 SF of the site. The architect on the project is Shuman Lichtenstein Clamon Edron, Rosengarten said.

"We built up instead of wide, he said.

The project was built "as-of-right" using air rights bought from the city's Economic Development Corporation, in conjunction with a plan to save the Theater for the New City. The small, community theater had run into financial difficulties and was facing a $500,000 judgment against it when the city -- which used to own the theater building -- intervened. The city sold the property in 1987, but retained the air rights over it.

"Air rights are an unusable asset. You can't use it or sell it," said Steve Wright, EDC's vice president of real estate.

With the theater's future in jeopardy, the city issued a request for proposals and Rosengarten was selected to develop the site. Neighbors opposed the plans in part because of the size of the building, which contrasts starkly with the low-rise brownstones and other structures in the neighborhood.

Rosengarten expects that tenants will begin moving into the building in December. The theater, which has continued its operations virtually unabated while the project was being developed, will be handled in a similar fashion as the condominiums in the building.

Aside from two duplex penthouses not included in the original plans for the building, all 37 condominiums have been sold. The units that have been sold range in size from 1,110 to 1,677 SF and sold for prices ranging from $500,000 to $2.4 million for a full-floor unit. There are two to four residences per floor, with private terraces or balconies for all except three units.

Other features include open loft-style kitchens with Shaker-style cabinets, stone countertops, Kitchen Aid refrigerator, range and dishwasher and garbage disposal; and master baths with stone floors and walls, Kobler soaking tubs and pedestal sinks.

"I sold 35 of the 37 spaces just last May, prior to a piece of steel being put in place," Phillips said.

One of the newly-included penthouses will be a 2,654-SF duplex with 1,215 SF of outdoor space and the other will be a 2,563-SF duplex with 1,372 SF of outdoor space. They are priced at $2.45 million and $3.25 million respectively.