15 Mercer Street loft closes off a million

width + height = volume
I was disappointed that the buyer I told about the “2,916 sq ft” Manhattan loft on the 2nd floor at 15 Mercer Street did not like the 2nd floor, because I love this loft. But not as disappointed as the seller (who also loved the loft), because The Market did not love this loft until a million bucks had been shaved. I saw it back in 2010, when they were asking $4.75mm. It just sold on January 27 for $3.55mm after 5 price drops, 18 months after starting one-third higher than they got.

Put such tawdry concerns as price aside, and consider this beauty. Nearly 3,000 sq ft, with a footprint that is not quite twice as long as it is narrow, with 14 foot ceilings and thigh-to-ceiling windows nearly covering both narrow walls. With the only ‘rooms’ the two bedrooms at the rear, the 2.5 bathrooms and a pantry, the open public space can be described in 6 words: V. O. L. U. M. and E. For those who, like Manhattan Loft Guy, find ‘space’ so attractive, this loft is for you.

The space is complemented by 7 narrow cast-iron columns under the massive wooden beam that runs down the middle, and by a design sensibility that is, as the broker-babble aptly puts it, “a perfect blend of Classic and Modern”. Did I mention that I love this loft?

Really … enjoy the photos (remember to ‘click for large photos’). But the weird story about this classic loft in quiet Soho is not the interior, or even that it took so many prices, and so many months to sell. The guy who owned this beauty got paid $3,728,750, even though The Market thought it was worth only $3.55mm.

I want a friend like Cartus
The full listing history includes a relocation company taking the seller off the hook a year ago, with that relo company needing a year to get itself off the hook, at a loss. The Market, however, ignored this loft for another 9 months after the “seller” got cashed out by Cartus.

If this scenario sounds both familiar and bizarre, you probably remember my January 23, 2012, strange relo deal gets seller +14% over 2007 tho loft at 356 Broadway worth -8% less, which dealt with the same situation with a more dramatic set of numbers (the relo company took a $450,000 hit in that case):

The bizarre piece is that August 15 “sale”. The deed record for that “sale” reveals that the June 2006 buyer at $2.145mm conveyed title to a relocation company, which is a step usually followed in short order by a deed conveying the property from the relo firm to a real buyer. But that is not what happened here. After the 2006-buyer-turned-2011-seller walked away with $2.45mm (a healthy gain of 14% in 5 tumultuous years), the relo company held it another 4 months before for selling at $1.975mm.

I have never seen anything like this before, and in a prior life I had direct experience with a very large multi-state employer and its relations with such relo companies. That 2006-buyer-turned-2011-seller had an amazing deal with his relo company, one that I cannot even begin to fathom. The relo company paid the real owner out at that 14% gain, at a ‘value’ that was provably not being offered by the market.

That bag firmly in hand, the relo company continued the exact same marketing campaign (same agent, broker babble, pix and floor plan) until finally selling last month through that deed that was not filed until last week. (The inter-firm data-base has this history as a single listing, without the interruption of that August 15 “sale”.) From my perspective, and that of The Market, loft #5C was worth $1.975mm, a drop in value in 5 years of 8%.

Whatever deal the real seller had with the relo company, the relo company took a $475,000 hit in those 4 months. Again: I have never seen anything like that, which makes me wonder if the real seller was a very big figure in a client very important to the relo firm.

I wonder if anyone in The Market used that $2.45mm sale as a comp; I certainly would have. It is not that anyone lied to The Market, just that (we now know) the August 15 deed did not reflect an arm’s length transaction.

B. I. Z. A. R. R. E.

Again, I have no idea of the terms of the deal between the loft owner and the relo company. But the relo company paid the loft owner $3,728,750 in January 2011, while continuing to try to market the loft for much more than that. The relo company finally found a (real) buyer in September, making a deal at $178,250 less than it had already paid out. As with the (real) seller at 356 Broadway in my January 23 post, perhaps this is how relo companies treat the top people at their clients. They certainly can’t stay in business (unless they charge ridiculous fees) if they Buy High, Sell Low very often.

fun fact, 2000 edition
The guy who fixed up this lovely loft bought it from the developer as a white box as a new development in 2000, for $1,487,500. Of course I wonder how much he put into it.

© Sandy Mattingly 2012