105 Hudson Street loft sold at $1,241/ft with great light but needing TLC is news only to Old Grey Lady

the Real Estate Industrial Complex, Media Division, strikes (late)
The fact that the November 1 sale of the “2,800 sq ft” Manhattan loft #10S at 105 Hudson Street (the Powell Building) was featured in Residential Sales Around The Region in this weekend’s New York Times real estate section gives me the excuse to talk about this interesting sale long after it was proper news. It also gives me the excuse to succumb to the temptation to wonder aloud (again!) if the Old Grey Lady understands that the role that this weekly feature plays in the Manhattan residential real estate information stream is more as novelty item than as news. It may well have been different back in the day, but since the inter-tubes became popular (and since Curbed and StreetEasy began to scratch the real estate jones of fanboys and fangirls) people actually interested in residential sales around the region learn about these sales in close to real time, not 90 days later.

People who check in on my Master List of Manhattan Lofts Sold Since November 2008 would have seen this Tribeca sale the weekend after the deed was filed on November 21. Manhattan Loft Guy readers who do not track that list would have seen loft #10S mentioned in a list of 7 “other large-ish loft sales since August” around the dollar-per-foot range of the Manhattan loft I hit in my December 16, price increase for 222 Park Avenue South loft gets the job done.

With so many lofts and so little time, I often regret not having done a blog post about a specific loft sale. The New York Times earns my thanks for having prompted me to revisit this sale, which (as noted). This loft has many virtues (windows and light among them), but was marketed as needing work (“[r]eady to move in or make your own style with some Tender Loving Care”). Yet it closed at the top of this group of lofts listed in that December 16 post (with that subject loft added, and the list re-stated with corrected $/ft values):

• 149 Franklin St #5S $2.7mm $1,174/ft
• 38 Warren St #3B (Keystone Bldg) $2.565mm $1,186/ft
• 155 Franklin St #2S $2.995mm $1,228/ft
• 140 Thompson St #1B (West Broadway Arches) $2.95mm $1,229/ft
• 222 Park Avenue South #11E $1,229/ft
• 7 Wooster St #2B $2.05mm $1,233/ft
• 245 Seventh Av #3B $2.8mm $1,240/ft
• 105 Hudson St #10S (Powell Building) $3.475mm $1,241/ft

a strong price, nonetheless
In that December 16 post, I concluded that “[p]ending more information, I consider #11E [at 222 PAS] to have been a curiously strong sale.” Loft #10S at Hudson Street is also a strong sale, given its condition. Beyond the TLC hint, note that the broker babble is all about the skeleton instead of the finishes (excerpted; I apologize for shouting):

SPRAWLING INCREDIBLY BRIGHT loft has a magnificent Living Room that is 22 x 44, Dining room and an expansive open Kitchen. … 4 Exposures with full city views, magnificent light & sunsets of the Hudson through the 20 , yes 20 windows. …Prewar details throughout with wide plank hardwood floors, mahogany windows and a remnant interior fire stairwell of times gone by along with thick ceilings providing privacy. This loft has huge/spacious closets throughout and large washer dryer room.

When these sellers bought the loft in 1995 (for $1.025mm, per our data-base) the condition was described as “excellent” (not “mint”, curiously). My guess from the very modest babbling that it is in substantially the same condition now, as then (no pics or floor plan survive in our data-base) is confirmed by the babble when it was offered into a different market in 2009. That was a brief effort at the wrong prices, featuring this kind of (use your prize fight voice) Let’s Get Ready To Reno language… (again, I am not the one yelling):

CREATE YOUR DREAM …. an original condition, vintage loft …. never before available Loft

So somebody paid $1,241/ft for a loft with great bones that needs a facelift, or at least a dermabrasion.

The Times notes the loft was on the market 19 weeks, which is information probably provided by one of the firms involved in the sale. In reality, the sale was pretty quick, with a contract 7 weeks after coming to market (June 20 to August 3). Quick and (for the seller) painless, as the clearing price was a tiny fraction off the asking price ($20,000, or 0.058%; just enough so that the buyers felt there was a “negotiation”).

is a footprint among the great bones?
Indulge me in considering the shape of the space as among the skeletal items encompassed within the notion of “great bones”, as the not-square-but-squat floor plan provides volume and flexibility. The front space is 22’6” x 44’6” with 3 exposures and 9 windows (including the only east window, completing the [claimed] 4 exposures). Most of those windows are large, ending near the 10 foot ceilings, so there will be a palpable sense of ‘volume’ in this room.

One key element of flexibility in this footprint is that plumbing stacks are in the middle of the space. Users who do not 4 bedrooms can open up the main room even larger; others can find a spot for a 5the bedroom, if necessary. There are 3 full baths, 2 large walk-n closets and a large pantry. That is a lot of utility for only “2,800 sq ft”. The main exposure from the main room is west, hence the “magnificent light & sunsets of [over?] the Hudson”.

A terrific footprint!

is above-Nobu prime Tribeca, or near-prime?
I suggested on Friday that my single choice as the price Tribeca micro-nabe would front on Duane Park (January 27, butter and egg loft at 176 Duane Street sells at $1,889/ft) but that I would entertain an argument for near the Powell Building. Thoughts?

© Sandy Mattingly 2012