720 Greenwich Street loft illustrates my ballpark Peak-to-Now

this is what “about 10%” looks like
You don’t have to be a regular reader of Manhattan Loft Guy to know that The Peak prices in the overall Manhattan residential real estate market were recorded in the First Quarter of 2008, but regular readers know that I have often offered the view that The Current Market is about 10% off from The Peak. I feel a little guilty that I have not offered a substantive rationale for that view, so I was pleased to see an example. (not that one sale makes a market, but ….) The “1,000 sq ft” Manhattan loft #6D at 720 Greenwich Street just sold for $1.225mm, after last selling at $1.35mm. That’s a discount of 9.26% for those of you without ready access to your smartphone calculator, or “about 10%”.

Note that the seller really wanted to test the proposition that the current market was off anything from The Peak, holding at (sue me: within $500) of his peak purchase price for 4 months before dropping that crucial second digit to “2” and getting a deal within 5 weeks “about 10%” off from The Peak.

2 windows, but there’s a river out there
I am not sure how to find “1,000 sq ft” in this (typically, for the building) odd footprint, full of acute angles. (And brick; lots of brick.) If it is anywhere near “1,000 sq ft” there is ample space for all the things babbled about, and that (sliding?) bedroom partition provides technical separation of the sleeping area from the living / dining / foyer-ing areas. Just one of the odd things about the floor plan is that there are only two windows, one north in the living room corner, one west in the bedroom, with that bedroom window available to the living room with the partition fully open.

What is not clear is the quality of the “beautiful Hudson River views”, or from which window the river is visible. I guess it is in the lower panel of the bedroom window, between the two towers; hardly a dominating view, though it may still get over the babble bar of “beautiful”.

Another odd thing about the layout: did you notice that there is no closet in the “bedroom”? It appears from the floor plan as though there is a closet (that dotted line thing-y on the south wall) photo #2 shows that that is where the bed is.

In that photo #2, notice the distressed brick matched by the distressed leather arm chair. If there is no award for best match of classic loft element and furniture, perhaps there should be.

props to the photographer
As long as I am in an appreciative mood … do you see what they did in that second kitchen photo (pic #4)? Not only did they turn the lollipops to face the camera (very thoughtful use of color, that) but they backed the camera up against the wall about as far as you could. I’d have been tempted to not use the other kitchen photo at all (pic #3).

The pix certainly support the claim of a “truly-mint, tastefully-designed” loft, even if you quibble about “truly” mint. Great space, if oddly configured. With only 2 windows you are not going to squeeze two sleeping areas (ahem, rooms) in there, so this “1,000 sq ft“ (ha!) triangle is maximized for what it is.

a Manhattan Loft Guy fave
720 Greenwich Street, with an ample supply of odd layouts, has earned it way into the Manhattan Loft Guy pantheon. If it feels like we have been here before, we have:

• July 13, 2012, renovation premium evident as 720 Greenwich Street lofts sells for 29% over 2010
• April 26, 2012, Los Angeles loft lover buys mini-loft at 720 Greenwich Street

• October 1, 2011, little loft, big price for 720 Greenwich Street loft
• November 22, 2010, is this a $625k renovation of a 1,200 sq ft loft at 720 Greenwich Street?
• November 7, 2007, another quick contract at 720 Greenwich
• October 24, 2007, quick contract, long history of appreciation at 720 Greenwich

Funky spaces will do that. And, as impressive as the #6D sale fitting my “The Current Market is about 10% off from The Peak” ballpark is, the $1,225/ft is hardly extraordinary for the lofts in the building. After all, loft #6A has sold twice in that set of bullets, at $1,416/ft and $1,833/ft. But funky spaces that fill the role of a needed data point (in this case, my “The Current Market is about 10% off from The Peak”  ballpark) are much appreciated.

moving uptown
At the risk of overstaying my welcome, or of trying your patience, here is another Manhattan loft data point relevant to this sale. The seller of this challenging set of “1,000 sq ft” in the West Village is flush enough to trade #6D for this “1,917 sq ft” loft all the way uptown to West 17 Street. From the two listing histories, it appears as though he put the West Village small loft on the market pretty soon after spying the opportunity to move into the Campiello Collection.

Of course, the sharp-eyed among you ahve already figured out that I hit this move, in reverse if you will, in noting that purchase in my January 4, 151 West 17 Street loft sells up 9% in 16 months, before this leg of the trade had been completed.

The recent #6A buyer is moving up the food chain of Manhattan lofts, as he is (patiently) coming to a “1,917 sq ft” loft with 2-bedrooms, 2.5 baths in prime Chelsea from this “1,000 sq ft” 1-bedroom 1-bath loft in the West Village. I wonder if he will miss the views.

I bet he doesn’t miss the views, after all.

© Sandy Mattingly 2012