139 Reade St closes up 400%

since 1994 😉
When the Manhattan loft #2A at 139 Reade Street closed on March 26 that was the first time this loft changed hands since 1994. I have done so many posts lately comparing recent resales to sales within the last year or two (or 3, or 4) that this one is kind of fun. In October 1994, these recent sellers bought this loft for $557,500; they just sold for $2.7mm.

‘course they had tried for a 700% increase
I would never describe any seller as ‘greedy’ (seriously) but I have been known to throw an ‘ambitious’ out there once in a while. These sellers were very … ambitious … when they decided to sell in early 2008 at … (wait) … $3.8mm, briefly with Core, then with Corcoran ($3.775mm), then with J.C. DeNiro (RIP) ($3.695mm), then with PruDE ($3.195mm). With that pattern, you can’t blame all of that on the agents, I don’t think.

same loft, but different; same building, but different
A couple of unusual things about this loft in this building: the loft has grown since 1994, and the building has changed dramatically. Not that you were trying to do a straight-line computation of 1994 vs. 2010, but still….

When these folks bought in 1994 from the original condo sponsor, it appears that the loft was on one floor, and was "2,182 sq ft". At some point it looks as though they bought some ground floor space (the "studio" in the floor plan) and created a duplex with a total of "2,702 sq ft". (And, they probably renovated between 1994 and 2010.) Thus, the 1994 price was at $255/ft on a smaller space in a no-frills building; the recent sale was at $999/ft for a larger (nicer?) space in a high-amenity building.

The last time Manhattan Loft Guy was "in the building" was a December 30, 2008 post (quick work at 139 Reade Street / 11 weeks from list to artistic close) in which I talked about the rather peculiar history of this building:

Like the #2A sellers, the December 2008 sellers of loft #3B had been in the smaller building since that part became a condo in 1994. They got $2.5mm for "2,175 sq ft" that, as I said in that post, was

Compared to #2A’s recent $999/ft, that #3B sale in December 2008 at $1,149/ft is pretty impressive — particularly as that contract was signed two months post-Lehman-apocalypse.

a premium for amenities?
Back in 2008 I could not find what you would expect to see about sales in this step-child to the 17-story newly converted condo loft tower at 143 Reade Street :

Given that #2A just sold 15% under #3A two years ago, I still can’t find an identifiable premium for the super amenities package that has been added to 139 Reade with the development of 143 Reade as "Artisan Lofts". Too many variables have varied in the interim….

© Sandy Mattingly 2010