comparing lofts and lofts ain
rich data in one building but little comparability
I saw three lofts on the same building on Sunday, two of which are a little different from each other; the third was so different to the two as to be INcomparable in many ways. Which lead me to thinking about how much easier it is to compare units in an apartment building than units in a loft building.
718 Broadway (south of Astor Place) is either in Noho or the Village, depending on one’s geographic sensibilities. Regardless, it sits solidly in The Greater NYU Metro Area on one of the busiest streets in the city, with pedestrians, shoppers, buses and trucks, and a subway rumbling along Broadway.
a classic loft building
It was converted 25 years ago into legal loft residences (don’t know its prior history) as is in many ways a classic loft building. Footprint is small, with 4 units per floor (10 residential floors over a commercial space). Ceilings are high; hallways are narrow, hardwood, dark in places and (let’s just say) not overdone; double door-double buzzer security; lobby is nothing special; elevator is typical; and a finished roof deck. Front windows (at least) are both big and rather porous for sound.
#2A and #3B are — to my eye – both in “good original condition”, meaning that they both could use an upgrade (2A especially). They are said to be of similar size (about 1500 and 1400 sq ft), but they are rather different. Both are set up with only one “bedroom” area, but in #2A it is a raised platform with half-walls, while with 3B it is a mezzanine loft (with 6 ft+ head clearance), open to the rest of the unit below. 2A has a very odd “box” with a second sleeping platform on top of it where the former freight elevator had been (odd, as I say). Both have original flooring, which could be revitalized. Neither has a distinguished kitchen, both have some nooks and crannies, but 3B is very quiet while 2A is … not.
2A is not quiet because its three windows look at Broadway from the second floor (and they are not thermopane windows). 3B is quiet because it sits over a parking lot that fronts on Lafayette.
different lofts for different buyers at different prices
While they may appeal to some of the same buyers, 3B is much more likely to appeal to someone who does not want to do that much work, or someone who needs two bedrooms. 3B has quiet, but presents the risk down the road that the parking lot will be developed. 2A is clearly closely involved with life on Broadway. In both cases, the sleeping areas are removed from the windows, which is where the air conditioning is.
3B is asking ‘only’ $1.175mm for its (estimated) 1400 s ft, while 2A is asking $1.399m for what is said to be 1500 sq ft (though some of it is unusable as it is). Both have some history: 2A has been on the market for more than a year (it started at $1.595mm), while 3B has technically been on since September, but has been on and off the market pretty constantly for two years.
While they have some similarities, I don’t know that the sale of one would have much predictive value for the sale of the other. Certainly, all the Corcoran agents involved feel that they are different enough at $1.175mm and 1.395mm.
meanwhile, a million miles away in 2C…
2C, in contrast, is as unlike 2A and 3B as can be. Once you close the door in 2C you would never think you were in the same building with the other two lofts.
Please, please, please look at the pictures, and then understand that – if anything — the photos do not do justice to this space. This is a white-on-white museum quality minimalist renovation. While this unit looks over the same parking lot as 3B, I suspect that possible development has nothing to do with value or with the owner’s enjoyment of the space. Note the window shears – everything about this space relates inward, so what is outside the window will only detract from the space.
I am not saying I could live there (no way). I am not saying there are many people who can live there. I just hope that there are enough who can and that someone who can has the money and the opportunity to make a deal with these owners.
The care taken to eliminate detailing in closets, cabinets, and appliances is extreme. The walls ‘float’ off the floor the way museum walls do not touch the floor; the kitchen wall not only does that, but flares out at the bottom, while the upper surface of the cabinets also undulates.
I have no idea who could buy this amazing space
How unlivable is this space for conventional tastes? There are two sleeping areas in the upper mezzanine, separated (as I recall) by a few plastic containers (I am not doing them justice) but otherwise open to below. A low cough in one bed is heard distinctly in the other.
This has been on the market ‘only’ since June and has come down to $1.495mm for what they say is 1200 sq ft. Having criticized agents who were selling more than 100 “unique” lofts a while back [unique ain’t what it used to be] I can say that this one is ‘very’ unique (remember, in my business “unique” has many modifiers). Unique properties have fewer potential buyers, so this may be on the market for a while regardless of price. BTW, price is $1.475mm and mother-daughter team Eunice and Stephanie Turso of Custom Brokers do not use “unique” in marketing this loft, bless their hearts.
The sale of this one will have no effect on the sale of the other two, and vice versa.
oh-oh, agents with rulers…
2A is said to have “towering 14 foot ceilings”, while down the hall 2C claims the “highest ceiling height in the building – 12.7 ft”; the 3B agent measured there at a “soaring” 12’ 9”.
numerous number anomalies?
The quoted maintenance for these three lofts don’t fit their claimed footprints, either. Something is wrong with this data:
2A 1500’ $1187/mo
2C 1200’ $1275/mo
3B 1400’ $1292/mo
open houses again on Sunday Nov 12:
3B from 2 – 3:30
2A from 2:30 – 4
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© Sandy Mattingly 2006
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