new at 20 East 17 Street / views not (many) dollars

The building was converted to condos — and fully built out — in 1999. Finishes were probably up to standard at that time, but that is 2 or 3 turns of the developer ‘arm’s race’ ago by now.

laying out issues
The Long-and-Narrow presents the standard challenges for a loft with windows only front and back. Mainly, there is only 1 real bedroom, if I am reading the floor plan correctly as having no window in the other ‘bedroom’ (office).

There are no dimensions on the floor plan, but the lot is 25 x 92 feet in city records. It may simply be that the pix don’t do justice, but to me the living room looks narrow, as the public stair, the elevator and that corner area with shelves cut the width significantly. So maybe there isn’t a feeling of ‘space’.

Being essentially a 1 Bed Wonder may also be a factor here. (Again, if I am reading the floor plan right that there is no window in that 2d ‘bedroom’.)

does an avenue make a difference
Is it the grit? This block is still a busy commercial street, with west-bound traffic cutting across the top of Union Square. There are just a few coops and condos on this block; none with terribly recent sales. A huge loft at the corner of Fifth Avenue (5 East 17 Street, 5th floor) finally closed in August 2006 after a year on the market. That one is "6,000 sq ft", was offered at $4.625mm and  $4,136/mo (condo), with a commercial grade chef’s kitchen, 12 foot ceilings, and traded at $4.366mm. The 5th floor at 7 East 17 Street was taken of the market in January after only 3 weeks; they had been asking $3.775mm for "2,774 sq ft" that was said to be newly renovated.

Across Fifth Avenue, I have posted about several buildings in that first "west" block, starting at least in December 2006 about 3: selling West 17th St / 3 very different lofts almost on top of each other. None of those was offered at much of a premium, either (one was raw, one was new conversion, one was a mature loft).

I hit #6E at 12 West 18 Street  on February 5 (Flatiron condo at $1,000/ft / 12 West 18 Street is new) and offered opinions on why that not-so-light loft was priced around $1,000/ft.

So, maybe part of the price issue for the 7^th floor at 20 East 17 Street is that grit, which extends across Fifth Avenue….

one recent sale in building
The 8th floor is a penthouse duplex of "2,700 sq ft" plus a private "750 sq ft" terrace. Cohen represented that one in a sale that just closed 2 weeks ago. They’d been asking $3.895mm since July but I don’t see a closed price in city records yet.

© Sandy Mattingly 2008