from $1,102/ft to $874/ft at 420 West 25 Street in 3 years

no surprise
Unit #7D at the 2007 Manhattan loft conversion Loft 25 at 420 West 25 Street closed on February 27, 2008 at $1,476,462, from a contract signed in May 2007. This clearing price of $1,102/ft for the "1,339 sq ft" was just a tad above the asking price of $1.45mm that had been offered for only 60 days Way Back When.

Not "news", I know, but it sets up nicely the news that a deed was filed yesterday for #8D, which cleared on March 17 at $1,170,987 (a difficult negotiation??), or $874/ft for that same "1,339 sq ft" footprint, one flight up. That’s "news" only in the sense of being current, of course. But still.

There’s not a lot of "news" in the decline of 21% from #7D’s May 2007 contract to #8D’s February 2010 contract.

oops
#8D was new to market in May 2007, asking $1.55mm in apparent reaction to #7D going over ask. Looks as though the developer got faked out here.

I can’t tell if the space was rented out at any time in its long listing history, but the asking price was pretty sticky: they did not drop at all until December 2008 (3 months post-Lehman), and then only to $1.425mm (essentially flat to #7D, at 1.72% under the March 2007 #7D asking price); they held there for 9 months before dropping to $1.24mm, and then to $1.175mm on November 1, 2009. Oops, indeed.

Gotta say I am intrigued by the tiny spread between the asking price ($1,175,000) and clearing price ($1,170,987). How much of a fight was there for the developer to defend the ask, and the buyer to attack, that they ended up at a "discount" of $3,013?? My bet is that the developer caved on closing costs (transfer taxes), but perhaps they fought over that, too….

And a Good Pesach to all, and to all a Good … Afternoon!

© Sandy Mattingly 2010