artist loft clears at $742/ft in south Soho, 307 West Broadway

how much more to create that masterpiece?
There is a great span of values for primitive lofts, isn’t there? Today’s specimen is the “3,300 sq ft” Manhattan loft on the 6th floor at 307 West Broadway, a roughly 36 x 90 foot canvas on which to “create a masterpiece”, as the broker babble has it, which sold for $2.45mm on April 2. The outstanding features of the canvas are the 6 wood columns supporting 90 feet of wood beam down the middle of the Long-and-Narrow footprint, with 4 windows on both of the long sides, north and south, and 6 windows at each narrow end. And some unspecified “original loft details”.

The babble is written as though one could keep the kitchen and (single) bath, while building more baths and bedrooms. But there is no bragging about any of the current as-built environment, and no photos of the kitchen or bath. Figure a total gut, then “3,300 sq ft” of premium build-out. At $300/ft, the total investment would still be only $1,042/ft. (Of course, you could spend anything on a high-end build-out; I am just talking ballparks here.)

bottom of Soho lacks (ahem) charm
There are more photos of the nearby environs than there are of the interior, which makes sense to a point. That point ends with the pic #6, looking southwest at the intersection of West Broadway and Canal Street, with its aggressive painting to prevent box-blocking suggesting the reality that the intersection tends to get backed up, with attendant horns. I applaud the presentation of reality; I wonder about the image as a sales item.

You also get pictures with the views across the street and a bit up the block, at the Soho Grand Hotel, and the north view into the courtyard between the West Broadway and Wooster sides of the Soho Mews new development next door.

upside is considerable
The loft upstairs is in move-in condition, with chef’s kitchen, spa-like master bath, “ a unique floor plan that will intrigue”, and (let’s face it) a floor plan with an artist’s loft that will be improved with some non-trivial budget; that it is in contract suggests that there is a great deal of upside to buying and building that 6th floor dream. As it happens, I hit that loft (without identifying the building) when it was featured in the New York Times on August 7, 2011, in my August 7, 2011, Soho in 1983: $211,000 for 3,300 sq ft; still an artist’s loft. (I just noticed the mis-spelling of the Soho Mews condo as Soho Muse, which apparently was the ‘inspiration’ for the NY Times headline; ewwww.)

Clearly, the building has a history of long-time residents in the arts, who created living spaces that doubled as creative spaces, and that have not been much improved over the years. Note the skill set developed by the artists upstairs in The New Soho, which included negotiating with the Soho Mews developers

things like no pile driving, construction above the water table, engineer’s reports and assurances, easements, insurance and indemnification, etc, etc, etc. Not the sort of thing the artist bought her loft to get involved in, but an example of the necessities of modern Soho coop living and management

I love that evolution.

© Sandy Mattingly 2012