5 terraces on 3 levels sell for $3.7 million at 29 West 19 Street (some interior loft space included)

outdoor living, no tent required
I am trying to look past the decor and focus on the interior space in the recently sold “2,042 sq ft” Manhattan loft Penthouse at 29 West 19 Street, but it’s hard: the decor is not especially loft-y and the exterior space is the “wow factor”, if not “the ultimate ‘wow’ factor that every loft lover is looking for”. So let’s start with the floor plan, which shows a lower duplex that is long-and-narrow, with 2 bedrooms in back (one of those bedroom is labeled “dining room”), an extravagantly large kitchen in the middle, and a not especially spacious living room up front; upstairs there is a master suite in back and a den up front; the fun stuff is outside, about 518 sq ft on the roof of the upper level, nearly 550 sq ft on two terraces on the upper level, and another nearly 440 sq ft in two terraces on the lower level. Every room has direct access to one of these 5 terraces, and the total of outside space (1,508 sq ft, if you have misplaced your calculator) is rather dramatic, a “wow” factor, even.

The camera loves that front terrace off the living room, as 3 of the 10 listing pictures are of that terrace, with its substantial furniture, retractable awning, grill, and bar. Pity that we don’t see how well the other terraces are used, particularly that rooftop terrace, which is the largest of the 5 exterior spaces and which sits on top of  the upper level, about 20 feet higher than the featured terrace. It is hard to say whether the view is dramatically better up there than in any of the lower terraces (if the broker babble is a guide, “no”).

an embarrassment of riches?
The entire space, inside and out, is about 3,500 sq ft. I am not going to do a full Miller riff about the relative value of interior and exterior on a dollar per foot basis, as I don’t have recent data about interior values in this small (4-unit) condo that was a new development in 2005. On the one hand, the exterior space is rather too big compared to the interior to be a plus factor above the typical range of outdoor space being worth 25% to 50% of the interior; on the other hand, it should have a high utility value, for having direct access from every room, and in each case being large enough to be very useful. But how much exterior space does a loft owner need? (More pertinent, perhaps, how many outdoor spaces does a loft owner need?)

How big would a party have to be to get many people climbing the two sets of stairs from the kitchen floor that also has the grill and the bar on the front terrace? With the lower level having a nearly 40 foot length of living room into kitchen into dining room, with terraces at each end, of course, the space is set up for entertaining … on a grand scale.

Maybe the highest and best value of that roof is as a garden / green roof idyll, but I have to wonder about the challenge of even a green-thumbed owner to fully exploit so many different exterior spaces.

The guess that there are relatively few buyers at any time for whom this array of terraces would be a significant plus factor is supported by the listing history. This Penthouse loft took a while to sell, though it did not need more than one asking price to do it, as it came out at $3.865mm on January 17, was in contract by July 24, and sold on September 14 at $3.7mm. The sellers waited, patiently, it seems, for another couple who would appreciate this floor plan.

up 24% over 2005
Sometimes sponsor sales are not a good base from which to compare a past market to the present market, as the sponsor selling multiple units at the same time was not working in the same market as that buyer would upon selling as a one-off. In the case of the Penthouse at 29 West 19 Street, it is clear that the sponsor had a lot of trouble figuring out the value of all this outdoor space back in 2005.

StreetEasy does not have the marketing data from the 2005 sponsor sales, but our listings data-base shows that the other units sold near their original asking prices, with the 3rd floor unit, for example, having had one small increase in asking price before selling at full price. The Penthouse marketing history was rather different: the ask started at $1.795mm, was quickly raised to $1.895mm around the time the others were going into contract, then was taken off the market for 6 months. When it came back in January 2005, the ask had zoomed to $2.95mm and a contract was signed in May that closed in September 2005 (at $2,973,290, reflecting a tiny discount from ask plus the customary transfer taxes paid by the buyer).

Of course I wonder where these sellers are going, after having lived with such extravagant terraces for 7 years. Perhaps they needed more (interior) space. As is, this Penthouse is a 2-bedroom with a den in the master suite, a modest living room, a dining room that is nearly as big as the living room, and a nearly 200 sq ft kitchen. Perhaps they got tired of entertaining.

© Sandy Mattingly 2012