Lion’s Head no bedroom mezzanine loft at 121 West 19 Street closes up $25,000 since 2008

always interesting to play Beat The Peak

The recent sale of the “1,069 sq ft” Manhattan loft #4C at 121 West 19 Street (in the Lion’s Head Condominium) is yet another reminder that I should do a summary post collecting how well or poorly high ceilinged lofts with mezzanines have done in The Market. (Note to Self …, of course.) This loft will fall into the Favored category based on value, which is likely based on a floor plan that, although narrow with a single exposure, puts the (relatively modest) mezzanine at the entry, away from the windows. But the more specific story about this loft is that it re-sold in an essentially Peak sale at $1.175mm and just closed a tiny bit higher, at $1.2mm.
 

The Lion’s Head was famously one of the most successful new development residential loft conversions in the Early Froth Period, with buyers lined up around the block to attend the first opportunity for sales before the sponsor sales closed in 2006. Let’s start the history with that sale:

(That 2007 listing, by the way, is extremely precise in describing the space and the two levels. With that data, my calculator tells me that the mezzanine extends over 44% of the footprint.)

If you were inclined to quibble that the 2008 sale was not really a Peak sale because it did not close in the First Quarter of 2008 (the quarter in which the then-highest sales on record were recorded in the overall Manhattan residential real estate market), note that the contract was signed November 14, 2007. I would guess that nearly all condominium sales with mid-November 2007 contracts closed before March 31, 2008, so the peer group for that #4C sale on May 13, 2008 is truly a Peak group.
 

I don’t see another Lion’s Head loft that resold close to Peak and then again recently, so it is hard to say if other lofts here are worth more than they were at The Peak. (The closest is #9D, which is not that close as far as dates, but might project as similar: sold pre-Peak on April 20, 2007 at $1.3mm and again a while ago on March 12, 2012 at $1.41mm.) I could make the argument that the hyper-local market in this building is at or above Peak.

the mezz works

Did I mention that The Market liked this mezzanine? To me, to a remarkable degree, essentially valuing the entire square footage at par, despite the fact that 44% of the footprint has ceilings up and down that split (only) 15 ½ feet, and despite the fact that the “bedroom” is open to the loft at the opposite end from the windows. Remarkable, indeed, at $1,122/ft. 
 

The most recent sale in the building was the “1,576 sq ft” #8E at $1,301/ft on January 15, but I can back that one out as being preferred due to the higher floor (“bring your sunglasses”) enough to get within a reasonable range for market noise, especially as the sale before that was the identical #6E on September 28, 2012 at only $1,180/ft. Look at #6E (floor plan, here), with the same finishes as the others (of course) and 12 foot ceilings throughout, instead of #4C having 15 foot ceilings in 56% of the space and 7+ foot ceilings for both levels in the remaining 44% of the footprint. $1,180/ft 6 months ago, $1,122/ft more recently.
 

Yes, The Market loved this mezzanine.

 My March 4, when beautiful things happen to high ceilings / 720 Greenwich Street loft sells big after mezzanine re-do, is my current recent go-to post about the value of mezzanines, in that case a dramatic increase in value from a re-do of bi-level space, in a loft with a wide window wall that is much more conducive to gracious mezzanine living than the long-narrow #4C. On the other hand, there is the very different market reaction captured in a post that I linked to and described in that march 4 post:
 

… my January 14, when bad things happen to high ceilings: 250 Mercer Street loft sells at $650/ft, in which the title tells the main story. That one involved ceilings that were not as high as loft #1J (even if only 14+ feet) and a very narrow loft with the only windows on one very narrow end. That unfortunate loft actually traded for less than another loft (with a smaller footprint) in that same building that did not have “extra” mezzanine space, as though the mezzanine in that case was a negative value factor.

I am filled with wonder about the contrasting market treatment of loft #4C, so I will say again: The Market loved this mezzanine.

down memory lane

I have not hit the Lion’s Head in a while, perhaps because there were only 3 public sales in 2012. I did do a major recap on sales in the building in my Dec. 23, 2011 – Lion’s Head loft resale up a tad since 2006 at 121 West 19 Street, however. Lions’ Head fans should check that out, with its recap of 6 2011 sales and a discussion of how 2011 pricing related to the sponsor sales in 2006.
 

© Sandy Mattingly 2013