682 Broadway loft sells up 33% since 2007 after moving some walls

[updated Oct 2]
or something
When the “3,000 sq ft” Manhattan loft on the 3rd floor at 682 Broadway sold on August 25 at $4mm, it added another data point to a line with a steep slope. The loft last sold on July 10, 2007 at $2.995mm, and before that sold on January 27, 2005 at $1.795mm. That is 3 sales in 6 years, with each of the latter two showing 7-figure gains. I guess these sales show how much fun there can be in the appreciate of appreciation.

We can all see that the loft changed between 2007 and 2011, with the old “guest apartment” being integrated into the loft, but StreetEasy lacks the former floor plan (I hate when that happens) so it is hard to see the scale of the change. But the link to the old listing on StreetEasy works, and that floor plan is here. Comparing that plan to the current floor plan, you see that the former guess apartment has been converted to a master suite, with the old bathroom now being an office, and the old bedroom being expanded into a dressing room and bath, each with a window. Structurally, the rest of the space was left pretty much as-was, with some closet reconfiguration in the bedrooms.

The loft was said to be “triple mint” in 2007 and it is difficult to ‘read’ the photos for details of how the 2011 condition (“[r]emarkably extensive renovation completed, no detail has been overlooked”) is otherwise different from 2007. Certainly, the 2011 “gorgeous custom kitchen” looks just like the pix of the 2007 kitchen.

Net-net, it is hard to say how much of the 33% gain in this 682 Broadway loft from 2007 to 2011 was due to the renovation that integrated the entire space and how much was due to other factors. That is why, when I did the data review for yesterday’s post based on 2007 – 2011 paired resales (September 27, is the Manhattan loft market back to (up to) 2007? 61 repeat sales say “probably”, “a bit”) I did not note this loft as renovated. Clearly, it has been renovated, but I just can’t tell if the renovation was limited to the 800 sq ft former guest apartment. It is reasonable to guess that this may have been (only) a $150,000 renovation if that was the case, which would hardly be the driver of a $1,000,000 gain

[Oct 2: thx to Reader Anon, in comments below, for finding that WSJ link about the renovation. Bottom line is that it had to cost a lot more than the $150,000 I first guessed: "The construction took about a year". Among the changes evident in the WSJ pix, note the re-do of the heating system in the master bedroom (compare to the 2007 listing pix here), and the friggin’ oh-so-manly-man library (WSJ pic #5). I find it really weird that they left the kitchen largely as-was; though they put a new counter on the island and a steel backsplash on the wall, it seems to be the same ‘furniture’ and appliances.]

[My new net-net is that they changed a great deal of the ‘skin’ of the loft, without having to move much of anything other than the master bath. My new guess of a $500,000 renovation has a huge margin for error, which would leave the market gain from 2007 to 2011 as something less than 15%, again with a huge margin for error. ]

[why people hate banksters
So those folks bought not-yet combined adjoining lofts for $2.995mm in 2007, spent a year (and many $$$) renovating it into a 3,000 sq ft 3-bedroom + manly library, and now find it too small. “After having two kids in 2½ years, we are now thinking about having a third and are needing more space.” It is hard to squeeze 4 bedrooms into that space, having made a bedroom-sized dressing room, a master-bedroom-sized library, a a perfectly child-sized home office. Could have been done easily, of course, if they had but considered the possibility that the family might grow. Sigh.]

[Best of luck in ‘burbville folks. I bet the new house looks marvelous. And cost a ton.]

Comparing the condition from January 2005 ($1.795mm) to July 2010 ($2.995mm) is even more difficult. StreetEasy has no listing for the 2005 sale, and our data-base has a limited description but no reliable photos or floor plan. The description suggests that the condition might not have changed in those 30 months, at least not enough to account for a 67% increase in value:

Custom kitchen with honed granite countertops,Professional Appliances,Kohler and Rohl Fixtures,Jacuzzi Tub,Custom Lighting

Granted, the market value trajectory in those 30 months was a steeply sloped line going up, but that gain is frustratingly difficult to account for. More frustrating than the 2007-to-2011 gain, if only because there is more uncertainty about the 2005 condition. And because the 2005-to-2007 gain was larger than the 2007-to-2011 gain in both percentage (much larger) and absolute terms.

I know I have said this a lot, but regular readers anticipate that I am about to say that, yes, comping is hard.

not in the middle of the street (really)
I know what they mane meant to say, but the recent listing has one of the more delightful broker babble malapropisms (if that is not a contradiction in terms):

The landmark boutique cooperative building is firmly planted in the middle of tree-lined historic Great Jones Street.

love the Manhattan Loft Guy archives
I hit this loft when it was for sale in 2007, in my March 1, 2007, across the Great Jones divide / 682 & 684 Broadway throw 3s at each other. (Remember those thrilling days of yesteryear, circa early 2007: “Rumors of a more active Manhattan loft market are being borne out across Great Jones Street.”?) The “3,100 sq ft” loft across Jones Street from 682 Broadway, 684 Broadway #3E, ended up selling for the full ask back in 2007, at $3.1mm, a surprisingly low (IMO) premium over the 3rd floor at 682 Broadway, given the vast difference in monthly maintenance in these two no-frills-no-amenities coops (#3E was then $1,758/mo).

The maintenance at 682 Broadway is up to $4,270/mo from $3,640/mo, an increase of 17.3% in four years.

© Sandy Mattingly 2011