loving a loft not wisely but too well / 144 West 27 St closes at 51% of first ask

overwrought? just watch me!
When Othello spoke of himself as one who loved "not wisely but too well", he was about to kill himself and bring that great tragedy to a conclusion. The owners of the Manhattan loft #5R at 144 West 27 Street did nothing so dramatic, but how else to explain that they sold for half their original asking price, than that they loved their loft not wisely but too well?

This is not a new story, and I don’t mean to say only that Shakespeare wrote it hundreds of years ago (without having Manhattan lofts in mind!), but that this sale occurred on October 7, 2009. I came upon it when cleaning up the Master List of loft closings early this year, and noted it as something I had to comment on, no matter how long after the sale.

20 month ending to a 25 year story
The sale 5 months ago at $1.65mm was the end of the story. But that story began 25 years ago, when this block was The Flower District and these owners bought their loft, undoubtedly in very primitive condition.

The beginning of the end of the story came 20 months ago, and here are the asking prices, per StreetEasy:

That last asking price is quite a long way from the contract (and clearing) price, isn’t it? Take a second, and consider how hard it would be for you to swallow that The Beautiful [to you!] Loft That You Created was unable to attract a deal above 50% off of your original asking price, or that you’d have to accept yet another big haircut (almost 30%) to get a deal done. That negotiation must have been welcome but painful … OUCH

how much work in that big loft?
The loft is said to be "3,600 sq ft" on a corner, with 11 windows. They claim a chef’s grade kitchen, gallery-quality lighting, and beautifully restored maple floors … but I can’t help but infer that the asking price suffered such large haircuts because some work needed to be done. For one thing, it has a great many walls for a loft, in places that suggest to me serial adaptive re-use of the space as the needs of these long-time owners changed since the early 1980s. (That awfully large "dining room" is awfully far from the kitchen, no? And an "office" of 15×15 is either extravagant or vestigial.)

My second reason for suspecting this loft is more of a ‘project’ than advertised is that their 11th floor neighbors were dramatically more successful in selling much less space in direct competition with #5R. "#11S" is said to be "2,503 sq ft" and went into contract by June 25; it was definitely a ‘project’: "Outstanding opportunity to combine two adjoining and connected loft apartments — so bring your architect and your imagination." Indeed, it sold in 2 parcels, as "#11SE" for $1.2mm and "#11SW" for $600k on September 21 (per StreetEasy, of course).

(If you’ve seen #5R, please comment.)

That’s $719/ft for a space with planned demolition baked in, from way too many walls and an extra kitchen (though it does have 3 exposures and [probably] a much better view), compared to $458/ft for #5R.

sinking in … sinking in …
Four Hundred and Fifty-Eight Dollars per square foot.

It is impossible to measure someone else’s pain, but the $458/ft may have hurt more than getting 50.7% of the June 2007 asking price.

With this $458/ft October sale and yesterday’s $616/ft September sale (buying at $616/ft at 38 West 26 St / one of NY Mag’s happy stories from recession) it feels like too long spent in a Manhattan loft M*A*S*H unit, with blood all over the floor. Talk about March coming in like a lion!

Four Hundred and Fifty-Eight Dollars per square foot.

Now read it dramaticaly, out loud: FOUR Hundred and Fifty-Eight Dollars per square foot

© Sandy Mattingly 2010