Los Angeles loft lover buys mini-loft at 720 Greenwich Street

lack of east coast windows is no biggie
Would you trade a “1,486 sq ft” downtown loft in a former toy factory with great open city views for a “700 sq ft” West Village loft in a former printing factory with but one window and no view worth discussing? How about if you would probably lose $135,000 on the trade?

Sometimes, you don’t have to choose. Based on the notice address on the deed record, the buyer of the “700 sq ft” Manhattan loft #4E at 720 Greenwich Street at $630,000 is apparently still the current owner of this “1,486 sq ft” loft in a former toy factory in downtown Los Angeles, which was purchased in July 2010 at $495,000. For those scoring at home, that is $900/ft for the gut renovated "clean and modern" loft with one window, no view, and an I-beam in the charming West Village compared to $333/ft for a “pristine” loft with 12 ft ceilings and open south views in downtown LA. Cue the bromide: location, location, location.

There is no floor plan on the LA Toy Factory Lofts loft (what’s up with that, California Realtors?), but it looks like a simple Long-and-Narrow (maybe 20 x 70 ft, approx) with maybe 12 feet of nearly-floor to nearly-ceiling windows at one end. Floors are polished concrete and the a/c and plumbing pipes are exposed (a/c ducts are very shiny), with two visible columns. (And it sold with a parking space.) All in all, there is a very spiffed-up industrial vibe, befitting a 2006 residential condo conversion on (wait for it) … Industrial Drive. Off hand, I can’t think of a Manhattan loft residential conversion with quite this feel (did I mention that the a/c ducts are very shiny?), though I have seen photos of similar lofts in places like downtown Denver.  

meanwhile, back in Greenwich Village
The one thing similar about the two lofts is the absence of walls. For loft #4E in the West Village, that is to be expected, as it is only “700 sq ft” and, as noted, is very window-challenged. There’s a stainless steel kitchen like in LA, but also like hundreds of other downtown Manhattan loft (and thousands of apartments). In this case, "clean and modern" means a dropped ceiling obscuring any sprinkler or other piping, though the window air conditioner detracts a bit from "clean".

The Market thinks this "clean and modern" renovation is not in the same class as other renovations in the building. The second-to-last “E” line mini-loft to sell at 720 Greenwich Street was #2E 8 months ago. That was (over-capitalized and) “Meticulously Renovated”, selling at $700,000 despite being on a lower floor. (The last “E” to sell was the not-quite irrelevant #3E, which sold 4 months ago in need of a total renovation at $499,500; suggesting that +$130,000 for #4E, while a "clean and modern" renovation, was little more than a ballpark decent renovation, under $200/ft.)

I have hit mini- and other lofts at 720 Greenwich Street before, often talking about the value of renovation. The line-up shows that my attention lands here very sporadically:

• 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

location x3; views x10
The New York windows are perhaps one-third the width of the LA windows. The NY ‘view’, if any, is certainly not highlighted in the marketing, with the edge of the same building all that is visible in the photos. LA, in contrast, seems to have one of those long view with dotted lights to the horizon that I associate with that town.

I don’t know LA in the same sense as I don’t know trigonometry: I am aware of its existence but not certain of its utility or geography. My California Realtor connection tells me that the Toy Factory is a very downtown loft, surrounded by three nearby interstates, and perhaps 800 yards from the Staples Center.
Obviously, I know nothing about the downtown LA loft market, but $333/ft seems absurdly low. (Yes, that is the market value as of July 2010; just sayin’.)

I would guess that these two lofts have a very different lived-in feel, with one being open (despite the single exposure) and the other being … not open. The experience of neighborhood (if you can use that term for downtown LA) must be even more dramatically different. Note the exterior Toy Factory photos, which suggest open spaces along Industrial Drive. (For more about the Toy Factory Lofts, see the development’s website.)

Bi-coastal living must have its attractions. The guy now has more space (and views!) in LA but is more (dollar) invested in Greenwich Village.

From one loft lover to another: I hope he enjoys the best of both worlds, no matter how cramped it may be on this coast.

© Sandy Mattingly 2012