oh dear! 292 Lafayette Street loft goes to war, slays famous neighbors

comps, but no comparison

The last time we visited 292 Lafayette Street together there was a somewhat primitive loft with somewhat famous sellers that sold at $1,033/ft. Today’s visit is occasioned by the "1,600 sq ft" Manhattan loft #2E at 292 Lafayette Street, which sold on July 17 at $2.7mm, or … (wait for it) … a rather staggering $1,687/ft. Obviously, the story involves the difference in condition, thought here may also be a timing issues, as loft #4W was a current deed when I hit in my April 8, not new news, but Sonic Youth sell close to raw loft at 292 Lafayette at $1,033/ft, but the deed was stale, as the sale was in October 2012. (Fun fact: loft #2E made a cameo in that April post, "which sold for an impressive $2.255mm in a near-Peak deal in early 2008".)

The broker babble starts well, and gets better. I am not going to quote all the goodies, just the start, but you must read the whole thing and drink in the large format photos. Loft #2E is, in fact, a "rare and authentic corner loft is renovated to perfection and captures the true spirit and essence of Downtown living!" The nearly square shape helps a great deal, as does the corner location with east and south exposures. The classic loft elements of exposed brick, tin ceilings, and (especially) the timber beams and columns make it all work in a way that, for me and other Loft Snobs, the exact same shape would not without them (especially the timber beams and columns).

I noted in that April 8 post that the eats lofts have done better than the west lofts here. For those whom the 2nd floor location is a problem, lets hope that the windows have already been upgraded, and I have two wonderful words: Puck Building! Just lookout the east windows in the first two listing photos. Yes, you are not high off the sidewalk and there’s a lot of traffic on Lafayette, but go back to those two words….

leaving 2008 in The dust

You know from the headline that there was competition to value loft #2E at $2.7mm. The details:

(Yes, Go To War Week continues.) The story was not so different in 2008, though at a different scale:

Forget the Sonic Youth folks … there’s the real story.  Loft #2E set a building record at $1,409/ft in 2008 that stood until it just sold again at $1,687/ft. (See the StreetEasy building page, here). Yes, that was a post-Peak sale in 2008, but not a very post-Peak sale. Same loft, in same condition (with a bit more Wear on its tread, in fact) just re-sold at a 20% premium to post-Peak.

Shark Week continues!

© Sandy Mattingly 2013