perseverance pays in contract at 514 Broadway
15 months + 4 price drops + 3 contracts out = 1 contract signed (whew!)
#3H at 514 Broadway was a fresh listing at Labor Day 2006, asking $2.3mm for “2,100 sq ft” in a 1 + 1 set-up (one bedroom, one bathroom), with mezzanine. The seller was motivated enough to drop the price to $2.2mm within 6 weeks, then again to $1.995mm 2 months later, with no takers. I hit it after the price drop to $1.895mm in July 2007 (avoiding the anniversary sale at 514 Broadway / new price for 3H), which attracted enough serious interest that an offer was made and accepted; then a contract was sent out in August but that was not signed. Same thing in September into October. Yet another offer was accepted in late October, without a contract being signed.
Finally, a December offer was accepted and the parties signed a contract his week, still off that $1.895mm asking price. Clearly, there was enough market activity on this listing from August to December to provide very good data to the seller (and to Alan Pfeifer of Halstead) to support $1.895mm as an asking price that could generate offers.
As I noted in July, the layout works in a very specific way, for a relatively narrow set of buyers:
Though marketed as in “mint condition”, the condition is only truly mint exactly as is – for the one bedroom buyer who does not need a closed bedroom and does not mind taking the corkscrew to the bathroom. That is a pretty small slice of the Soho loft market, apparently.
For most people, this will look like an opportunity for a brilliant architect to figure out how to take advantage of the height and the one-sided light to get two sleeping and two bathing areas out of it. Factor that cost in, and it is quite a different proposition.
I’d love to know whether the now-in-contract-buyer is planning a major renovation.
© Sandy Mattingly 2007
Follow Us!