45 Crosby Street loft seller wins staring contest, sells at overall 9% discount before birthday

being stubborn can pay
The sellers of the “2,000 sq ft” Manhattan loft #6N at 45 Crosby Street wanted to get their price: holding at $2.85mm for 6 months, then holding at $2.75mm for the next 4 months that it took to get a contract. They did not get their price, finally closing on November 22 at 2.6mm, but they sure as heck tried.

I am going to add the listing history of the neighbors in #4N (also “2,000 sq ft”, also sold this year) for reasons that I hope will be obvious:

Buehler? Anyone??

head to head in the same buyer pool
Neighbor on neighbor competition is always interesting, especially in such a small (12-unit) loft building.

Before getting to the details of these lofts, there are several fascinating elements to this extended joint history. Clearly, anyone interested in one of these lofts would peak peek at the other, as they were within 2% to 8% in price for the 15 weeks it took for #4N to find a contract. Second, the #4N sellers were both more nimble and more quickly successful. Third, they both needed only one price drop to attract a successful bidder, though in one case it took only 7 weeks, and 18 weeks in the other. Fourth, pricing below #6N helped the #4N sellers get a deal quickly, but being more firm about pricing helped the #6N sellers get more money.

One other thing is not evident from the spare history above but is obvious from the two listings: when the #4N sellers decided to compete with #6N, they hired the #6N listing agent. I will chew on some of the wrinkles that may have caused in a bit.

same footprint with different plans (and skins?)
The “2,000 sq ft” Long-and-Narrow footprint is, of course, a classic Manhattan loft array, in this case with windows only front and back and plumbing only on one long wall. Both lofts have a “den” without a window, but on the long east wall in #6N because the master suite takes up the entire back wall but on the long west wall in #4N because the back wall is split into a master and second bedroom. But The Market did not reward the greater utility for the 2-bedroom+den plan for #4N with a higher price, presumably the buyer pool was deep enough to reward the 1-bedroom+den plan for #6N, especially as it seems to have been finished at a higher level.

There is no reason to sneeze at the condition of #4N, based on these excerpts from the broker babble:

Relaxed luxury … architect-designed loft … dramatic Living/Dining room with wide-plank bamboo flooring, original tin-pressed ceilings + light from a wall of oversized windows. The open stainless-steel chef’s kitchen … top-of-the-line appliances including a Gagganau cooktop vented to the outside, and a 50-bottle temperature controlled wine refrigerator. Striking steel-framed glass walls … allow[] light to flow front-to-back while creating an overall sense of peace and tranquility. …Master Bedroom Suite with abundant closets and a beautiful Bisazza-tiled bathroom replete with double sinks and large glass-enclosed walk-in shower. The guest bathroom is equally tasteful with its glass-tiled wall, custom steel sink and original rough-hewn column – a subtle reminder of the loft’s industrial past. … custom Lutron lighting on dimmers throughout.

But I detect a little more pride, a little more enthusiasm, in the (much more voluminous) #6N broker babble that had already been published when #4N joined the party, excerpted:

As seen in the New York Times Style Section, this architecturally captivating loft features clean modern lines, multi-textured finishes and carefully considered touches throughout! … expansive Living/Dining room with high ceilings, wide-plank ebonized flooring and open views of the surrounding historic district from oversized windows. … walls of white painted brick and Venetian plaster are illuminated by unexpected cove and niche lighting … a 50-foot linear wall of custom-milled storage allows you to hide everything, creating a clutter-free environment where calm and order prevail. The enormous open Boffi kitchen is guaranteed to please the most discerning chef with its poured concrete countertops, sleek white lacquer cabinetry, and state-of-the-art Miele, Subzero, and Gaggenau appliances. … movable walls contract or expand, either enlarging the living space or creating a private Guest Room/Den. … dramatic floor-to-ceiling glass doors slide open to reveal the sumptuous Master Bedroom suite … endless cedar-lined closets, and a spa-quality bathroom replete with deep Duravit soaking tub, glass-enclosed rain shower, and custom Lefroy Brooks fittings. The guest bathroom is equally striking with its polished concrete walls, Boffi fixtures and sculptural marble sink which is in itself, a work of art. Every inch of this stunning residence reflects the owner’s impeccable taste and exudes an overall sense of peace and tranquility

If this babbling had been done by two different agents it would be harder to read a difference in condition into the descriptions, but the #4N description was prepared by the same agent who wrote so enthusiastically about #6N, after the #4N had seen that babble (and, probably, the condition of #6N). I read all this as establishing an expectation in the buyer pool that #4N is a very nice loft with quality appointments, but that #6N is a more sophisticated space.

You would expect the 6th floor in Soho to have better light than the 4th floor, and The Market to value the difference, so that can explain some of the $125,000 premium paid for #6N. And the balance may be small enough to be market noise, or to reflect a different sense of urgency by the #4N sellers to strike a deal faster, compared to the relative patience of the #6N sellers.

But until I hear from someone who has seen both (again: Buehler?), I assume that #6N was appropriately babbled as a higher quality interior, and that The Market paid around $100,000 for that difference.

Manhattan Loft Guy is a stalker (a mild one, I hope)
The notice address for the #6N sellers show that they have decamped from prime Soho to not-prime-Tribeca, for a lot more space, an equal level of finishes, and multiple terraces … for a lot more money. They paid $3.5mm (per our data-base) on April 22 for this penthouse loft at 55 Walker Street. That timing is interesting, and underscores how patient they were in selling #6N on Crosby Street. Per StreetEasy they were in contract on Walker Street by December 30 last year, but they were confident enough in their accepted offer on the new place to put the old place on the market (as above) a week before having an effective contract to purchase.

And they were sufficiently financially secure to close on 55 Walker Street at $3.5mm on April 22, while still holding at $2.85mm on 45 Crosby Street. And stubborn enough to hold out at 45 Crosby Street before eventually negotiating the $2.6mm sale in October, 6 months after closing on the new place.

about that agency dance …
One day I may do a more extended post about the agency implications of this sequence. I assume that all of this was done according to Hoyle by their very professional and ethical agent. And I assume that there were extended discussions with both the #6N sellers and the #4N sellers before the agent who owed a fiduciary duty to the #6N sellers beginning a year ago also took on fiduciary obligations to the #4N sellers in February, with those neighbors being in direct competition with each other.

Now consider this wrinkle, which I again assume was done with utmost integrity, though requiring some fancy footwork. That same agent who undertook to sell #6N as of December 23 last year also represented the sellers of the 55 Walker Street penthouse loft, who did not have a signed contract until a week after the #6N listing agreement was effective. Either the 55 Walker Street deal was done with the agent as dual agent (fully disclosed and documented), no longer owing the 55 Walker Street sellers full fiduciary care, or the  #6N sellers were represented by a different agent in buying 55 Walker (a third possibility: they were knowingly unrepresented by an agent).

Fancy dancing, indeed!

something of a Manhattan Loft Guy fave
45 Crosby Street is a small coop, with but 12 units. Regular readers will remember that we have been here before, with three posts in a only a couple of weeks in early 2010 about two “S” line loft sales. 45 Crosby Street is home to some beautiful lofts:

• Feb 29, 2010 was it feng shui that got 45 Crosby Street sold?
• Mar 9, 2010 45 Crosby races to contract above ask / could it be a million dollar renovation?
• Mar 11, 2010 serial renovaters / selling 45 Crosby Street to buy 18 Desbrosses Street

© Sandy Mattingly 2011