21 Astor Place loft sells up 21% in 2 years

smarter than he looks?
When the Manhattan loft #7F at 21 Astor Place sold on May 17 for $3,915,000 it made big news not because it found a contract within 6 weeks or had been bought 25 months earlier at $3,225,000, but because of who the seller is (and who his bombastic father-in-law is). It is a rainy (not quite, technically) summer weekend; I will let you figure that part out and will hit this sale briefly, as a wet weekend’s diversion.

was it the brand (without the name) or the exclusive upgrades?
Let’s just say that the price is a little difficult to rationalize within other building sales. The “2,042 sq ft” duplex loft “raises the bar for luxurious style and design”, has “an elaborate designer staircase and a one-of-a-kind arched window”, but it did sell in April 2009 at only $3,225,000 (and in March 2004 at $1,756,451).

In contrast to #7F at $1,917/ft (and at $1,579/ft two years ago), the “3,000 sq ft” #9C sold on August 21, 2009 at $3.55mm ($1,183/ft). Granted, that babble is not quite as enthusiastic as that of #7F and the sale suffered from being over-priced in a nuclear winter, but but but …. But #7F also last sold in a bit of a chill. But when #7F was selling at $860/ft in the initial offering in 2004, #9C was selling at $1,018/ft ($3,054,750).

The genius here is not making the “exclusive upgrades” to #7F, as the original buyer did those. The genius here would make old Fred proud: buy low, sell high. (Don’t ask me what The Donald might think.)

Those must be some exclusive upgrades in #7F! At least I hope so, because the celebrity factor caused them to over-pay, that money is gone, and it is not coming back.

© Sandy Mattingly 2011