176 Broadway has a closing 40% off the original price

long and hard slog ends
The Manhattan loft Penthouse E at 176 Broadway took ten months but it did close; it also took three price drops from $1.425mm down to $945k, to finally get it done at $850k. Happy New Year (early) for that patient, humbled seller.

Nothing came easily for this "1,650 sq ft" (plus patios) listing. They started on January 29 at that $1.425mm, waited just over two weeks to change significant digits by dropping to $1.295mm, then waited 4 months before taking a painful (no doubt) price chop to $1.075mm (if they only knew…), then 2 more months to $945k, which drop took 2 additional months to find the contract that caused a deed to be filed on November 24 for $850k. Patience and humility, no?

I can’t remember a loft that closed this far from the original asking price, but maybe we will see more of this….

(quietly) a fave of MLG (not of The Market)
I have considered the building to be a favorite of Manhattan Loft Guy, but was surprised to find only 1 post (other than an open house review) about the building. But that post (August 1, 2007: more BOM pain / 176 Broadway is back) has this nugget in the comments, in response to Reader Looking Now asking "what’s wrong with this place?" (the bold is new for this post):
 

In short, this building offers value — measured on a space-for-dollars basis, at least. This sale is — to me and (no doubt) to at least one other agent and the November sellers — at a shockingly low price for what was offered.

 

want views?

The Penthouse E has classic city-as-canyon views (sold here as "stunning downtown cityscape" views; see picture 6 of 8 on Corcoran), as well as sunsets (for now; see below).

 

want outdoor space?

This penthouse has not one, but two pretty big patios; one facing south into that cityscape (maybe 200 sq ft), the other facing west and the World Financial Center (hint, hint) (maybe 100+ sq ft). Not many downtown lofts have so much outdoor space.

 

want flexibility?

The 2 bedroom layout seems to support an interior den/office if the 2nd bedroom is chopped in half or so.

 

want to upgrade?

The listing description brags not at all about finishes, so I assume this is a dated loft (the only kitchen photo is hardly telling), but what (else) do you want at this price??

 

want windows?

There’s a wall of south-facing patio doors off the living room (picture 2 of 8), another wall of west-facing patio doors in the master suite, a (large?) window in the 2nd bedroom visible in picture 4 of 8, and a window in a bathroom. I fully credit that this space is "sun-filled throughout the day" (especially with a skylight), but there are not many windows for the length pf walls. Feh … that is probably quibbling.

 

want Freedom?

Remember that view west, over the World Financial Center? (Photo 1 of 8) Unless I have my site angles wrong, the "1,776 feet tall" Freedom Tower on the World Trade Center site will obscure the WorldFinancial Center (and probably any sky, as well), whenever that gets to 60 stories or so. Love it or hate it, this unit will have a bird’s eye view, during and long after construction.

 

location, location, location (for good or ill)

As I mentioned in my August 1, 2007 comment (above), one must conclude from the low prices ‘commanded’ by this building that this location (Broadway at the corner of Maiden Lane) is "off-putting for many". But there are high-priced new developments and longer-tenured condos near this corner that are not in more well-developed ‘residential’micro-neighborhoods (15, 25 and 40 Broad Street; 45, 55, 59, 80 and 99 John Street; and 101, 119, 127, 130 and 138 Fulton Street, to name a bunch) — Ihave not checked each of these buildings for this post, but my sense is that none has the historically low market valuation as the coop at 176 Broadway.

 

Yes, this block is very much ‘in the middle of the city’ (in terms of bustle and business focus), but we are talking about Manhattan — where many lofts (especially lofts) feel like they are right ‘in the middle’ (that [used to be?] part of their ‘charm’ as lofts…).

 

Frankly, I don’t get it. If you’d consider living near here, consider this building!!

 

gun shy, with reason, of course

Our database indicates that there were 6 other lofts in this building for sale during 2008 that did not sell and have been taken off the market — out of what were 72 units inthe building when it was converted in 1980. ( StreetEasy’s building page, here, can track any units that may be for sale.) In this building, even more so than for many, if you don’t have to sell, this is not the right market….

 

 

 

© Sandy Mattingly 2008