did American Thread loft at 260 West Broadway sell on a formula in private sale?

or, do you believe in coincidence?
I am always intrigued by private sales of Manhattan lofts, wondering whether they represent true arm’s-length transactions at The Market, or whether they should be ignored (and left off the Master List of Manhattan Lofts Sold Since November 2008), or whether they should carry a warning against being used as a comp. I am not going to go back and find examples, but long time readers of Manhattan Loft Guy with good memories will remember some of each of these kinds of posts. Today’s contribution to the genre is a private sale at 260 West Broadway (the iconic American Thread Building) that is so close in time and value to a market sale in the same building as to be … interesting. Probably probative of a market value, in fact.

If you noted the deed record reflecting the July 11 sale of the “1,421 sq ft” Manhattan loft #5A at 260 West Broadway for the funny number of $1,974,800 you saw the mysterious StreetEasy notation “No listing associated with this closing” associated with it. That always means StreetEasy can’t find a listing (d’oh!) but in this case there is none in our listing system, either. There is no way for me to know if this was an entirely private sale or if the seller did a public For Sale By Owner campaign, though I am betting a private sale.

More confidently, I would bet that the sale price is some kind of formula, pegged to a public sale at the market: the loft immediately below (#4A) sold on July 2 for the round number $1.9mm.The two sales prices are just too close together, in dollars and on the calendar, for me to be inclined otherwise. Granted, that $74,800 difference does not easily fit as a percentage of the #4A sale, but that’s my story and I am sticking with it.

a prewar apartment hidden in a Tribeca loft
Lofts #4A and #5A obviously share the same footprint, but there is no way to know if #5A is configured exactly as the #4A floor plan (the fun of lofts!). That footprint is very efficient, and square, but with that dining room in the middle it looks like an Edwardian Five on the Upper West Side than a (typically open plan) downtown loft. Even more, the arches and moulding (chair rails!) are more typical of an uptown prewar than a ‘clean’ loft. (Yes, and the heavy wood-lined dining room.)

I remember this loft from way back in the day, as I hit it as an active listing in my August 27, 2007, American Thread new to market / why so soon?.

The net effect of all the interior walls is a flow and feel that would not be foreign on upper Park Avenue, an effect further enhanced by the closed kitchen, complete with swinging door into the dining room. (I can’t remember the last real loft I saw that had a closed kitchen….)

The American Thread Building is a loft building – an industrial and mercantile past, exposed utilities (at least when originally marketed in 1981), high ceilings. But this unit is not only laid out like an “apartment” rather than a “loft”, the word “loft” no where appears on the web listing. Hope they are not offended to be mentioned on Manhattan Loft Guy.

Perhaps this is the loft for uptown people who just want a downtown address.

Seems as though there is still a market for uptown people living downtown.

meanwhile, back on point (but still guessing) …
The #5A (private) loft seller would likely have been well familiar with the neighbor’s apartment downstairs.It was offered way back in 2007 (as noted in that ancient post) and offered all through the froth of 2008 (oops; they missed The Peak). Assuming the #5A owner was interested in selling in Spring 2012, the owner’s ears must have pricked up when #4A came to market on March 16 and quickly went into contract (April 6). Given that #4A had not sold the last time in 17 months that included the busiest and highest price quarter ever in the overall Manhattan residential real estate market, I bet everyone in the building noted the quick turnaround for #4A this time.

The quick and favorable to the (now, well-priced) #4A just might have provided the basis on which to value the loft upstairs.

as long as we are guessing…
I wonder if the buyer is this photographer of the same name.

© Sandy Mattingly 2012