huge 40 West 22 Street loft sells at $916/ft as canvas, actors' theater

not a mix of metaphors

In babbling that the “4,150 sq ft” Manhattan loft on the 5th floor at 40 West 22 Street as “your canvas awaits” the agent committed metaphor; in saying that the loft “is currently designed as a residence & actors’ theatre, rendering the space intimate & grand at the same time”, the agent is making factual assertions, possibly hyperbole. The visual metaphor of canvas suggests what the space can become; the literal description of usage as a theatre suggests the demolition that precedes the becoming. Someone (probably, some two, or more) had no difficulty envisioning the future here: this gut job came to market on September 4 at $3.65mm and found a contested contract by November 18 at $3.8mm. (The sale closed February 7 but was not filed until March 19.)

This is a gut job, with the lines on the floor plan to be erased (losing the kitchen and kitchenette, the 2.5 baths, and the not very many interior walls), as the space is an “authentic Flatiron full floor loft with approximately 4,000 +/- square ft & beautiful bone structure” (“bones” being, of course, a frequent Manhattan loft metaphor). The skeleton is a classic Long-and-Narrow, roughly 40-something by 90-something, with 11 foot beamed ceilings, 4 squared off structural columns with lovely caps running down the center, with plumbing at various points along the long east wall, with 5 of the 9 side windows noted as “covered” on the floor plan (and pictured as barricaded in at least the 4th listing photo).

comping is fun (difficult, but fun)

I am pretty impressed that this loft sold at $916/ft needing a complete re-do. I would guess that someone buying close to $4mm will budget near $300/ft (at least) for a renovation, which will (soon) take the value into the $1,200/ft range, or better. A couple of data points ….

This gut sale compares very favorably to the slightly smaller loft in a more prime Manhattan loft neighborhood, the “3,000 sq ft” 3rd floor at 150 Franklin Street, which sold for $2.9mm on March 8. The StreetEasy listing for this loft has no information, and leads to a dead-end on the broker website, but a former rental listing implies that this loft needs updating (“so much charm and personality …. the classic cast iron 3000 square foot full floor space”, with no mention of finishes) though not necessarily that it is a gut job.

Nearer to 40 West 22 Street but farther in time than the 5th floor sale, the “3,272 sq ft” Manhattan loft on the 3rd floor at 136 West 22 Street sold for $3.21mm last August (that was a March 2012 contract, compared to November 2012 for the 5th floor). I hit that one in my September 17, 2012, market corrects (slightly) too deep price cut for spectacular columns at 136 West 22 Street, in which I noted that values in (a small sample in) that building were consistent in 2011 and 2012:

So The Market was consistent in valuing the 5th floor in 2011 and the 3rd floor in 2012. Both below $1,000/ft for well designed and very efficient lofts that (yes) blend classic loft elements with modern design and technology.

Note that my description of “well designed and very efficient lofts that (yes) blend classic loft elements with modern design and technology” does not match the 5th floor at 40 West 22 Street and is a poor summary of the relevant differences between the two lofts. The 3rd floor at 136 West 22 Street was babbled with loft-y superlatives:

Luxurious …. mint …. [with the classic] warmth of wood beams and columns and exposed brick walls …. chef kitchen …. Amazing (and so many!) custom designed closets (including walk-in) ….

This condo beauty sold for $976/ft last August; the canvas/theatre coop at 40 West 22 Street went for $916/ft just 6 months later. Again, I am pretty impressed with the 5th floor to-gut value, and now wondering if West 22nd Street in western Flatiron should really be that much more valuable than West 22nd Street in eastern Chelsea.

a real actor’s studio

The Google tells me that the 5th floor studio was probably very active, and probably hosted some real up-and-coming actors in the New York theater world, some of whom probably up-and-up’ed pretty high, a the seller had an active career as director and actor from the 1940s into the 1980s (his acting biography is here) and The Wiki notes that he studied under Lee Strasburg and “directed plays with Jane Alexander, Dominic Chianese, Jerry Stiller and Ernest Borgnine, among many others”. His studio still has a website, though we know it has since been closed (he was born in 1924, so it probably did not relocate).

© Sandy Mattingly 2013