the opportunity in an artist’s loft / new at 152 Wooster

possibilities can be expensive
When the listing description says “full of character and possibility” and “currently configured as a largely open 2 BR artist’s loft”, you should plan to visit with your architect and your contractor.

So come on down to 152 Wooster Street #2A, which is new to market today – so new the pix and floor plan are not yet up on Halstead’s site.

Said to be “2,800 sq ft” with a 60 foot west exposure, asking $2.925mm and $1,889/mo, it has the loft bones: 11 foot ceilings, “huge” arched windows, cast-iron columns. But you must be brave – if this is really an “artist’s loft” it is likely to be so primitive that this is a buy-and-gut deal, where the floor plan will be much more important than the pictures. (With only 1 bathroom in such a large space, where are the plumbing stacks?)

the SoHo premium
The asking price in primitive condition is over $1,000/ft. Someone able to spend about $3mm will want to dress up an authentic loft considerably – another $200/ft for renovation, I would think at a minimum. SoHo is a very expensive neighborhood, no?

alias 2F?
City records show one recent sale in the building, which must not have been through a REBNY firm since we have no record in our inter-firm data base. Unit “2F” sold in June 2006 for $2.3mm. Since the building looks west, what the City calls “2F” is probably what Halstead calls “2A”.

Assuming it is the same unit, that buyer-now-seller probably did not do much to exploit the “possibilities”. I don’t see any building permits filed on this unit, so it is very likely to be in the same condition as when it sold in 16 months ago, which is very likely to be the same “artist’s loft” condition it has been in for quite some time.

I wonder what changed in the sellers’ life to cause a sale so soon, with possibilities left unopened….

Whatever happened, that owner thinks a new buyer will appreciate the possibilities 20% more than she did. Stay tuned for pix and floor plan, and resolution.

© Sandy Mattingly 2007