quintessential artist loft sells for $1,525/ft at 38 Crosby Street

oh that light!
A day after hitting an architect designed Greenwich Village loft that sold under $1,000/ft (September 12, “noted architect” will be disappointed that “incredible” 200 Mercer Street loft went for $939/ft), here is a “2,000 sq ft” Soho “quintessential artist’s loft” that is so quintessential that it has a “bedroom/studio”, a single bathroom, and a glass brick wall. You know the punchline if you glanced at the headline: $1,525/ft. If you glanced at the sub-head, you can guess that that loft-y price for a primitive Manhattan loft may be due to the light from what is, in Soho, a high floor. In fact, I wonder if this loft, the Manhattan loft #9R at 38 Crosby Street (in the condop also known as 476 Broadway) might have the best view of any loft in Soho.

You can’t see the views on StreetEasy (why is that??), but here is the relevant broker babble from SE:

Quintessential artist’s loft facing N/S/E and 14 windows! Great space with extraordinary light from three exposures and just under 12 foot ceilings, keyed elevator and two entrances, one of which opens up directly into the apartment. Iconic views of the Empire State, Woolworth and Police buildings, new Freedom Tower and Manhattan & Brooklyn bridges! Approx 2000 SF, with flexible floor plan, lending itself to various configurations. It can easily convert to three bedrooms and two or more bathrooms.

The floor plan is available on StreetEasy, revealing a classic Long-and-Narrow footprint that is unusual for having windows only one narrow wall (east, in this case, bringing the old Police HQ and the bridges) and windows on both long walls, 7 to the north (bringing the Empire State Building) and 2 to the south (hello, Woolworth Building and [no longer named] Freedom Tower). Iconic icons to have out your windows!

Obviously, the sub-text to the babble is that you will upgrade after buying. That’s the beauty of the “flexible floor plan, lending itself to various configurations”, and the implication of “[q]uintessential artist’s loft”. And, of course, a “2,000 sq ft” loft with a single bathroom will have some plumbing added.

Now that I have teased you about the views, go to the Town site and watch the large format photo gallery scroll by. (Waiting ….)

Those views are distracting, even in the interior photos. By the way, those interior photos show walls, ceilings and floor in pretty good shape. But they show the kitchen only obliquely, and the bathroom not at all. Remember: this is a “[q]uintessential artist’s loft”; those plumbing rooms are going to be replaced, and another bathroom added. Without those windows, the open views, and the iconic icons, thsi loft would not sell anywhere near $1,525/ft.

Crosby Street is da bomb
Compare this loft at $1,525/ft to the WOW loft up the street that I hit in my August 30, WOW, indeed: “wow factor” loft at 66 Crosby Street has late bidding war to close up 60% over 2006, which cleared at $1,554/ft. That one had terrific bones and drool-worthy classic loft elements, though no view better than a (very nice, but still) Soho street view. This one has not much that is classic, but oh those views!

Or, compare this loft to the prewar faker that sold at $1,572/ft  in a full service condo that I hit just last week in my September 7, loft at 65 West 13 Street disguised as prewar apartment sells at $1,572/ft. That one was very well dressed (not to my liking, but still), in a building that commands that price range. This building does not generally command this range.

a 200 foot long building
As StreetEasy tells you, this loft building is also known as 476 Broadway. If you can access Property Shark, you will see the building dimensions given as 50 x 200 feet, but the accompanying building photos show that the Broadway facade is much wider than the Crosby Street facade, 5 double windows to 3.

Most of the past recent sales have been on the Broadway side, facing west, with these sales nowhere near #9R at $1,525/ft:

The last sale on the Crosby Street side was a Peak sale that should have nearly as good views as #9R, as it was just one floor down. Loft #8R was babbled as a total build-out (read between the lines, you’ll see) with beautiful views. With a December 2007 contract and a February 2008 closing, #8R was about as Peak as Peak can be. Yet it sold then at (only) $2.675mm, compared to #9R at 14% higher.

Oh. Those. Views.

© Sandy Mattingly 2012