Atalanta loft at 25 N. Moore Street did not triple in value in 10 years

though cigars may still be in order
The “2,907 sq ft” Manhattan loft #5A at 25 N. Moore Street (Atalanta) was recently resold by the original owner, 11 years after the loft was bought from the developer. I assume the sellers were happy with the space (it is lovely, with an interesting live-work layout), and (though they wanted more) that they were happy to (almost) triple their original purchase price:

I am impressed with the price drop. Talk about a successful bullet bitten! Many people succumb to the temptation, even at this price point, to nibble a bit with price reductions. These folks gave it a real shot for 4 months, then took a $400,000 hit that did the trick in 4 weeks. Nicely played, sir, nicely played.

splitting bedrooms, working hard
For a building with as large a footprint as the Atalanta, it is unusual to see a loft described as “floor through”, but the wording is apt for #5A. The master suite and open office look south over N. Moore Street (with open angled views to the southeast) and the second bedroom and “suite” look north (probably at the Troop A and First Precinct at this height; note that no northern windows are pictured). While not a full floor, the floor plan extends through the building with a rather squat Long-and-Narrow footprint, with windows only on the north-south narrow ends.

What is unusual about this floor plan is that the bedrooms are not both across the back wall but are at opposite long ends of the loft, and that the public space in the loft has no direct access to windows. The south end of the loft has that open office with open shelving that permits the windows to be seen from the living room, while windows at the back of the loft are closed off by that “suite” (with smoked glass doors?) and the second bedroom. Apparently, these folks needed not one, but two, good-sized work spaces in the loft, and spend enough time there to devote scarce windows to those (widely separated) work spaces.

For a loft with nearly 3,000 sq ft, I suspect that there is much less of a sense of volume in this space than if it had a more typical Long-and-Narrow floor plan, with the south end being entirely open and the single best view (that southeast corner) being present to the public space rather than closed off in the master suite. Such is life at the Atalanta, however. That corner of the duplex below is also closed off to public space (on both floors), as is the same corner in the loft on the second floor. (That corner view is much less interesting from the lower floor, of course, but it is interesting that that’s where bedrooms go in this layout.)

then-to-now values
The experience of these sellers getting 2.8 times their initial purchase price on resale compares well to recent resales for which I can find original sponsor sale prices. The last resale here was loft #7C on September 15, 2011 for $3mm. That was not by an original owner, as it had re-sold in 2007, but that 2011 resale was (only) 2.3 times the sponsor sale of November 2002.

That duplex right below #5A may sell again at a higher price, but the last time it sold (August 2010) that distressing sale at $5.6mm was barely 1.8 times the May 2001 sponsor sale at $3.045mm; a full price deal would still be only 2.6 times the sponsor price.

Loft #5A did pretty well at nearly 3 times the sponsor sale, wouldn’t you say?

© Sandy Mattingly 2012