bringing low balls and a hard nose / developer trying to close out at 415 Greenwich

take the money + run?
The Tribeca Summit at 415 Greenwich Street is a candidate for poster boy for bi-polar psychosis (an armchair diagnosis). The Manhattan loft deluxe condo conversion of a warehouse  has been marketing since Summer 2006, at a time when the arms race among high-end condos was approaching a Tribeca peak. (In addition to the lux finishes, there are Amenities: there’s no way to park your car on your residential floor here, but there is indoor parking, plus children’s play area, fitness center and 24 hour concierge.) They put two interior courtyards into this massive former warehouse to bring light to the interior and converted loading docks into "townhouses" (clever!). They started selling (errr … trying to sell) well before the lofts would be finished, then raised many prices (as you will see), presumably because they saw Tribeca lofts continue to increase in value through 2007, as they kept delaying projected closing dates.

 
With closings starting 12 months ago, they have had a rocky road, on which traffic has slowed.
 
According to Curbed, the building was said to be "70 – 75% sold" in May 2007, then "over 75%" sold in October 2007, but StreetEasy shows 11 units available (immediate occupancy!!! indeed), 6 in contract, and 32 sold. There were to have been 62 units originally, but some may have been combined (they started with 6 penthouses, then wanted one [one!], now there appear to be only 3). They closed 4 lofts in January, then none in February or March. The 2 April closings show dramatic price trajectories, and suggest the developer is more than a little bored with the "marketing" ( or under increasing pressure from lenders).
 
million dollar discount
Town House 23 closed on April 15 for $3.255mm — a cool million off the last asking price (they had been asking $4.35mm since July of 2007) — just over $1,100/ft for this "2,891 sq ft" former loading dock. Before they raised the price to $4.35mm in those heady summer days of 2007, they had been asking $3.755mm since December 2006. (The StreetEasy sales history for this unit notes that a contract was signed 6 days after it was first offered in December 2006 at $3.755mm but if that happened that deal obviously cratered by July 2007; StreetEasy has no information about when the final contract was signed.)

not a million dollar discount
Unit 8F ("2,466 sq ft") closed on April 7, after an even longer and bumpier history. Indeed, #8F closed more than three years after it was first offered, on March 23, 2006. Per StreetEasy, feel the bumps:

March 23, 2006 asking $3.95mm
October 22, 2006 price drop to $3.625mm
December 22, 2006 price jumps back to $3.95mm
February 8, 2007 price raised to $4.05mm and contract signed
April 13, 2007 back on market
February 24, 2008 price jumps to $4.62mm
April 24, 2008 contract signed (not sure this is credible information, because there is …)
… no further information until …
February 19, 2009 "no longer available" (is this when the real contract was signed?)
April 7, 2009 closed at $3.8mm

That closing price for #8F was $862k off the year-long asking price of $4.62mm.

Even considering that #8F cleared above $1,500/ft (well more than #TH23), do you get the feeling that these developers were happy to make the deals for #TH23 and #8F … any deals for these two units??

 
 © Sandy Mattingly 2009
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