Tribeca buy & build opportunity under $800/ft at 56 Warren
rare opportunity to start fresh
#2E at 56 Warren Street is a “true artist loft” in “raw and original condition”. Offered by Kim Shepard-Fabrizi of PruDE for $1.695mm, it is an unusual opportunity for the person who wants 2,200 sq ft without buying someone else’s (tasteless) renovation. It is so new, it is not yet up on PruDE’s website, but it should be at http://www.elliman.com/Listings.aspx?ListingID=846848 later today.
The pix will show 11 foot ceilings and “tons of prewar charm”. The Long-and-Narrow footprint of the 22.5 foot wide floor plan will be the same as #3E, which Dorothy Zeidman of Corcoran has in contract. Presumably, Shepard-Fabrizi and the #2E owner have a pretty good idea of that #3E contract price; if so, #3E must be selling way off that $2.145mm ask, since that one was marketed as “consider this raw”.
call in the lawyers
This coop has ground floor retail space that throws income back to the shareholders. As Shepard-Fabrizi says, #2E’s share of the income is equal to the maintenance. With any luck, the smart lawyers set this arrangement up correctly from the start, so there is no 80/20 problem. But if you go, be sure to ask.
Last sale I see in the building was #3W, just over a year ago for $1.265mm. The agent claimed that one was 1,500 sq ft, also in pretty primitive condition.
wanted: buyers with time, vision, liquidity
The opportunity to buy raw space and build it out exactly as you wish is pretty unusual these days. Five and ten years ago, I believe there were many more buyers willing to do that, but today few people want the hassles of anything other than in ‘move-in” condition.
There are many people who would prefer to buy-gut-and-build, but who can’t afford to do that because they need a place to live between closing on the raw space and moving in to the Brand New Dream Loft, and the money to pay for it. So they either own two places for a while (not everyone has the financial profile for that) or move into a short-term rental of indeterminate length. (How long did you say this renovation would take?)
For these reasons and others, the potential market may be limited, but somebody’s eyes will light up at the chance to create their own space.
is this really Tribeca?
By conventional Manhattan neighborhood definitions, this loft is in Tribeca pretty much by default, but I would put it at extreme southern Tribeca – being south of Chambers as it is. The family resemblance of buildings on this block to buildings further north on either side of Hudson Street is pretty close, but it is trek to Nobu from here. (PS 234 is just down the street, however.)
© Sandy Mattingly 2007
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