64 Grand Street closes UP 12% since 2006

The Market has many faces
One of these days I will do a long post about how The (overall) Market is made up of individual transactions that vary widely from The (overall) Market trend. But not today. Today the news is about a Manhattan loft that is anomalous only if your theory is that all transactions move in the same direction. 64 Grand Street #7 closed last week at $1.64mm after having traded previously at $1.475mm in October 2006.

This is a Long-and-Narrow "2,200 sq ft" (possibly; in 2006 it was "1,900 sq ft") loft that was gently marketed as a project: "an unquestionable value for a buyer with vision looking for a clean canvas and good bones". That description is very similar to the 2006 marketing pitch ("Needs TLC – great bones!"), so it appears that the recent sellers made few improvements or upgrades after buying in 2006. It still has only 1 bathroom, bit it also still has great light, Empire State building views, and a location at the bottom of prime Soho (between West Broadway and Wooster). The 4 windows on one long wall provide a lot of flexibility for a future renovation.

nice job
The loft came to market on March 3 at $1.75mm and made only one price adjustment, dropping to $1.64mm on April 22 and finding a contract at that price one month later. The closing was August 12. Props to the sellers and to Corcoran’s Maura and Robert Gells for quickly finding the right price — a price that runs counter to general market trends.

a lot of upside
This building is part of a single coop with 66 Grand Street. The October 2006 sale of #7 was the last sale in that building (64 Grand) and the most recent sale at 66 Grand Street was #5, in the frothy days of July 2007. That Long-and-Narrow "1,900 sq ft" loft (with windows only on both narrow ends) was billed as "stunning" and sun-drenched. It was offered in February 2007 at $2.35mm and closed at $2.23mm.

I assume the buyers of #7 at 64 Grand are going to develop those good bones. There should be more than enough room between the 2007 mint-y sale of #5 at 66 Grand and a renovation on top of the $1.675mm purchase price for #7 at 64 Grand for a first class renovation to make economic sense. At least, I hope the next time #7 at 64 Grand is marketed it is not offered as a one bathroom "project".

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© Sandy Mattingly 2009