49 East 21 Street unique buyer overpays for unique loft

but not by a ridiculous amount
Seems as though it was just yesterday that we were in the Manhattan loft building 49 East 21 Street; it was: 49 East 21 Street loft shows the benefits (and PAIN) of timing. in looking at comps for that premium sale of #11C  I was reminded of a nearby and recent non-market transaction: the penthouse owners in #12A at 49 East 21 Street bought the loft downstairs (#11A) for $1.95mm on April 26. You remember that the “1,461 sq ft” #11C went for $1.85mm, or $1,266/ft. The private sale of the “1,375 sq ft” #11A at $1.95mm comes to $1,418/ft.

If the “A” neighbors knew about that #11C value when they made their deal (the #11C contract was February 25), they baked in a premium of 12% for #11A (and more if you consider the sales commission saved in a private transaction). If, instead of using #11C’s contract as a benchmark, they used the last “A” sale, that was #8A on August 14 for $1.8mm ($1,309/ft), they baked in a premium of only 8.3% (again, before taking into account a non-commission sale).

My guess from today’s episode of Playing With Numbers is that these neighbors liked (or at least respected) each other. When the folks upstairs mentioned they would be interested in expanding the manse when/if the 11th floor folks were ready to go, the deal got done at market-rational numbers.

Kudos to them. It does not always have to be extortion.

Of course we have seen other instances of neighbors selling to the unique buyer next door or upstairs. In contrast to this instance, some of the negotiations in the deals I hit in these posts might have been more Shakespearean:

• December 2, a tale of 2 neighbors tale at 150 West 26 Street, with 1 hard bargain
• November 9, another neighbor extorted, as Queer Eye tires of “Soho”, leaves 505 Greenwich Street loft for Chelsea
• November 1, no listing, but VERY motivated buyer for O’Neill loft at 655 Sixth Avenue greases a move to Tribeca,
• January 31, buying (+ overpaying) next door at 121 West 19 Street loft (Lion’s Head, revisited)

Fun stuff!

© Sandy Mattingly 2011