55 White Street loft beats ask by 8%, peak by 15%

a lot of light from second floor
There are some fancy numbers assocaited with the “2,006 sq ft” Manhattan loft #2B at 55 White Street: it sold on September 3 for an even $4mm, 8% higher than the asking price; the recent seller paid $3.49mm on July 8, 2008 in a near-Peak deal (it had then been offered from October 2007  so it truly tested The Peak then), so the recent sale beat that by 15%; it took all of 15 days to get into contract this time around; and, perhaps most impressive for a pretty no-doorman condo on a lovely but hardly prime Tribeca block, the recent sale clocks in at $1,994/ft.

This is one of those second floor lofts with very high ceilings; at 14 feet, the knee-to-ceiling windows are, indeed, “over-sized”. The wonder is that a second floor loft can have “no shortage of sunlight”, but I guess in the broker babble dictionary that is something less than “sun-drenched”. (Note to self: when considering babbling a listing with sun words, don’t turn on the living room lights for the listing photos.) The floor plan (easier to see and expand on Corcoran site than on StreetEasy, alas) takes advantage of two long exposures to split the bedrooms as far as they can be apart, and the multiple plumbing stacks permit 2.5 baths and a washer dryer (all spread out) and a kitchen in the middle of the loft, leaving room for an office behind it and a den off to one side.

Of course, I wonder that’s concealed by the drop ceilings (something to match the cast-iron columns, I’d hope) but even dropped they are 14 feet so there is tremendous volume in that main space. I’d need to see that … what … ceiling grid (?) around the kitchen before passing judgment. It looks like an arty love-it-or-hate it element, but also that it can be (relatively) easily removed. The finishes are otherwise standard, with bonus points for the Bulthaup kitchen, possibly for the renovated second bath. In any event, the same finishes are evident in the 2007 marketing, which I commend to you for much more detailed babbling and for an interesting locution for that ceiling element; it’s “an aerodynamically designed suspended grid atop excessive cabinets & panrty storage”, didn’tyouknow. (Would not have guessed this if we played at it forever.)

That July 2008 sale did miss The Peak by nearly a full quarter, but that oh so busy market had an opportunity to buy the loft into and through The Peak, only to pass until the price dropped for the fourth time. Note htat each of the five asking prices from October 2007 to June 2008 were below the recent sale at $4mm. For this loft, at least, we are at New Peak Value.

a crazy quilt of values
I hit the last sale in the building in my September 6, funky loft at 55 White Street with funky history sells quickly in misleading fashion (another back link that directs to the new platform!), about a very quirky multi-level ground floor loft that doesn’t compare to the simple layout and quality finishes of loft #2B. Really doesn’t compare to loft #2B, as indicated by the $1,272/ft closing value for loft #1C (remember, #2B was just $1,994/ft).

Before #1C in July, the last loft-sized sale in the building was another second floor 2-bedroom with two exposures way back in July 2010. Loft #2C sits in the opposite corner from #2B, facing (dark) alleys east and south. The light there won’t compare to #2B, nor will the finishes. The finishes, at least, can be fixed with money, and the 2010 market value for #2C of  $1,029/ft leaves a lot of money for finishes, allowing for a generous premium in favor of #2B for the current market conditions. (Very generous.)

But for the 2008 sale of #2B in 2008 and that of an upstairs neighbor in 2007, this last sale of #2B at $1,994/ft would look even more extreme. Loft #5B was sold for $3.6mm just days after #2B came to market at $3.875mm. The reasons the market preferred #5B to #2B are obvious, especially in retrospect: the lower ceilings in #5B are still loft-hieght and from this floor there are “sky views” and not just light; further, the quality of finishes is even higher in #5B (I will see your Bulthaup and raise you Boffi), with a #5B renovation that preserved classic loft elements in a modern minimalist aesthetic. (There are more photos in the old listing on Douglas Elliman than on the old listing on StreetEasy; is StreetEasy stripping its old listings down to 1 photo each?? I certainly hope not.)

I guess The Market really values the northeast corner in this oh so lovely building.