Beach Street loft neighbor expands, takes out neighbor at fair price

once more into the breach … er … beach

The recent private sale of the “1,722 sq ft” Manhattan loft #6C at 62 Beach Street in the Fischer Mills Building for $3.05mm ($1,771/ft) fascinates me. I always wonder how private deals set the prices at which they are done, and this one lines up well with the prior public sale in the building (#6B at $2.875mm a year ago, at $1,750/ft). I also always wonder how deals between neighbors who share a wall or ceiling/floor get done, and I have sometimes used the ugly word “extortion” to describe what can happen when an owner realizes a neighbor really really really wants to expand (I canvassed my neighbor-on-neighbor action as recently as in my August 7, 1 Worth Street loft neighbor bails out neighbor, at a (likely) discount; see that one for many examples). In the case of #6C selling near #6B a year ago, another fascinating detail is that the guy who bought the #6B on August 30 at $2.875mm in a public sale (that benchmark $1,750/ft) is the same guy who just paid $1,771/ft in a private sale. My last fascinating detail? It looks like the #6C seller was more willing than eager, yet made a deal at a fair price.

Given that the #6C seller did not look for anyone else to sell to, I would imagine that the #6B owner started the conversation, probably saying he’d like to buy her place at a fair price, probably adding that when he paid $1,750/ft a year ago that seller paid a sales fee. Assuming 5%, that seller would have gotten no more than $1,648/ft. What’s a fair premium over accounting for the 10 months between the #6B buy and the #6C sale? These folks think it is 7.5% on a price per foot basis.

Fascinating. The guy set a non-penthouse dollar-per-foot building record when he bought #6B in 2012; he just re-set the record in his deal to expand his castle into #6C.

do you like your brick white or natural?
As a private sale with no marketing, there’s no way to know the condition of #6C, but we are talking about a 2001 new condo conversion that the recent seller bought in 2003 (for $1.56mm, if you’re curious). Chance are, it is in the same condition as originally, with a bit of wear and tear, including a Poggenpohl kitchen and 5 fixture master bath with Lagos Azul stone, radiant-heated floors and custom wood vanity (as in the #5D listing from 2010). Our listing system has an interior photo from 2003 that shows the open room with the exposed brick and wood beams that are part of the charm of Fischer Mills, which will make for an interesting aesthetic choice for the new owner of the two lofts. He bought #6B last year with the brick walls painted white and (possibly) the “rough-hewn timber columns and beams” somewhat muted (compare the #6B listing photos to the really rough-hewn timber columns and beams in the pix from this recent #2C rental listing).

Ten years ago, #6C looked a lot more like #2C than like #6B. When he does the coming combination, will he keep it old-school (like #2C) or white and more muted (#like #6B, in 2012 at least)?

© Sandy Mattingly 2013