It is at 211 East 13th Street â comfortably inside the purported new neighborhood, which, according to a map on the condoâs Web site, runs from about East 11th to East 14th Street, from Avenue A to Third Avenue.  For the rest of us, the generally accepted boundaries of the East Village are East 14th, East Houston, Third Avenue and Avenue D.  With the new name, the team building the Jefferson may be trying to freshen the image of the area, which is lined with aged brick tenements and has been more gentrification-proof than other East Village enclaves.  Or, like other marketing tactics, the renaming could serve no more serious purpose than to draw attention to the building.  âWe were being a little funny, because we know itâs never going to catch on,â said Michael Barry, the president of the Ironstate Development Company in Hoboken, N.J., which is working with SK Development and CB Developers on the project.  The tone of the marketing materials for the Jefferson, which itself is named for a vaudeville theater that used to stand at the site, is similarly tongue-in-cheek, employing the hypercharged phrasing of old movie posters, like âEverything works!â and âCentral air-conditioning!â  The 82-unit condo, which is to be completed next spring, offers everything from studios to three-bedrooms, in a size range of 550 to 1,650 square feet. The units will have oak floors and nine-foot ceilings; their large windows are to have electronic blinds similar to those found at the Urban Glass House at 330 Spring Street in SoHo, a 2006 condo built by SK and CB along with Matrix Development.  Basaltina, a gray stone, is being used for tiles in master baths, and reclaimed barn siding will hang on the walls of powder rooms and the lobby. While the facade will be streamlined and modernistic, the natural materials for the interior are in âkeeping with the older East Village mentality we are going for,â said Scott Shnay, a principal of SK, which is based in SoHo.  A part of the theater, which was razed in 2000, may also be incorporated in the design; its mosaic tile floor was discovered under a layer of dirt at the site and has been set aside, Mr. Shnay added.  But the feature attraction, according to brokers unaffiliated with the project, is pricing. Apartments start at $1,600 a square foot, which puts them quite a bit lower than many other new downtown condos. At the Witkoff Groupâs 150 Charles Street in the West Village, units start at $3,000 a square foot.  Buyers have taken notice. Since sales began in late April, 56 of the 82 units have gone into contract, developers say.  âIn this day and age,â said Henry Hershkowitz, a broker with Douglas Elliman, âthe Jeffersonâs prices are actually considered reasonable.â  Mr. Hershkowitz has lived around the corner on Second Avenue for two decades and frequently works in the East Village. In fact he was the sales director for one of the areaâs first luxury condos, 123 Third Avenue, at East 14th, a 48-unit tower completed in 2009. Even then, he recalled, there was discussion about what to call the area. (Developers finally settled on âEast Union Square,â which didnât stick either.)  Whatever the moniker, the market has improved with time.  At first, prices at 123 Third averaged $1,200 a foot, but a two-bedroom currently listed at $1.895 million, or about $1,600 a foot, is about to sell for âsignificantly over the asking price,â said Mr. Hershkowitz, who is involved in the deal and declined to comment on it further.  Nearby condos that have shown strength include 110 Third Avenue across the street, a green-and-blue-glass 2007 offering from Toll Brothers. A two-bedroom there is listed at $2.75 million, or about $1,500 a foot.  Another early arrival, dating to 2008, was the 96-unit A Building condo, at 425 East 13th Street, near First Avenue, developed by the Ascend Group and the Magnum Real Estate Group. It has a three-bedroom penthouse listed at $3.45 million, or $1,900 a foot.  But in an area that can fiercely protect the status quo, new developmentsâ efforts at neighborhood reinvention are not always welcome.  For instance, an apartment building planned by the developer Steiner NYC for a large parcel that stretches from East 11th to East 12th Street, along Avenue A, has been the target of protests for weeks.  In April, the city granted permits to tear down three buildings on the site, including Mary Help of Christians, a two-towered church at 440 East 12th Street, as well as a rectory and a school. On a recent morning, a small paper sign propped up against its wooden doors read, âDonât Tear It Down!â A spokeswoman for Steiner had no comment.
A developer hopes to draw attention to a new condo by naming a section of the East Village where the building is located, but buyers are already attracted to its pricing.