quick sale at 20 East 17 St

woosh!
The 7th floor at 20 East 17 Street came to market on March 10, in pretty much the same market uncertainty as today. It took all of 17 days for terms to be agreed upon and a contract to be signed, and shows up on today’s Sold & Closed list (no closing price yet through city records).

It is said to be "2,200 sq ft" (though Property Shark cites city records of "2,125 sq ft"), for which they were asking $2.3mm and $1,509/mo (condo). As you see in the Corcoran listing, the finishes are consistent with a high-end condo conversion circa 2000, with Sub-Zero and Viking in the kitchen and an 18 foot limestone "spa" master bath. The footprint is classic Long-and-Narrow (the proportions suggest about 25×85, but the pix look narrower) but the layout uses the entire rear wall for the master suite, with a second "bedroom" that may or may not have a window (don’t see one on the floor plan or in a photo). The Empire State and Met Life views are described, not pictured.

All in all, assuming they got the asking price (more or less) in 17 days, this was a brand new condo in 2000 that has just sold for a below average price for a loft and for a condo, at just over $1,000/ft. (Miller Samuel’s most recent quarterly report put the average price per foot for a Manhattan loft at $1,246, the average price per foot for a condo at $1,416/ft, and the overall average price per foot for coops and condos in the first quarter at $1,289; see Miller Samuel Q108 report.)

got grit?
While the market for this unit may have been limited by the rather inflexible layout (essentially a One Bed Wonder), the block is probably the biggest drag on the price here. This is a very commercial street, with lots of west bound traffic across the top of Union Square, anchored by McDonald’s at the corner of Union Square. The block also features a parking lot, various restaurants and my favorite falafel place, but it is not for everyone — it is far less genteel than the Flatiron blocks east of Fifth Avenue but closer to Madison Square.

timing is … (almost) everything
The 7th floor came to market ten days after a deed was recorded for the sale of the 8th floor at $3.895mm. At that price, the top floor is rather a different animal than its immediate downstairs neighbor, but the prestige of that sale had to have helped sell the 7th floor. This animal is larger (the master suite is at the roof level) and more sleek ("renowned interior designer Vicente Wolf") than the 7th floor, and has a 750 sq ft private roof deck. They started this one in July and got a contract at full asking price by December, providing a nice boost to the marketing of the 7th floor — especially with the 7th floor at a manifestly not greedy price.

Props to that seller and Corcoran’s Steven Cohen (who sold both these units).


© Sandy Mattingly 2008