‘new’ at 116 West 14 Street is recycled, green, pumped

center of it all, indeed
The 2d floor at 116 West 14 Street is “new to market” this weekend in the sense that it is a new listing for Sean Turner and Michelle Della Peruta of Stribling. But it was formerly offered through Urban Underground Realty, which we’ll get to in a moment.

They are asking an even $5mm and $3,641/mo (condo) for “3,948 sq ft” (precision implies accuracy, right?). I will quote just a bit of the listing description, but I can’t paraphrase and do justice to the rest so you will need to click through for the details (“[c]ustom built and brand-new, this home is full of luxurious finishes and features great flexibility”).

sponsor unit after 10 years
This is a sponsor unit in a building that was converted to condos 10 years ago. (Had it been rented out? Was a family member living there? Did the sponsor take back commercial space?) (N.B., expect to negotiate over the transfer taxes in a sponsor transaction.) Urban Underground Realty listed this unit in June 2007 at $4mm, then raised the price twice in 6 weeks to $4.5mm and $4.75mm before it was taken off the market just before Christmas.

They won’t be showing until February and will undoubtedly have pix and a floor plan up long before then. Floors 3 through 12 in the building originally had front and rear apartments; this full floor unit is part of the trend to larger “family-sized” spaces, no doubt. Does that justify a premium?

building data is available
I hit on #8A in an open house duel on January 19 (duel at $1.995mm / open houses at 808 Broadway, 55 West 22 Street, 116 West 14 Street, where you should note especially the first hand report from Reader Colgin), where you will see the floor plan for the southern half of the building; you can see the floor plan for the northern half on this Corcoran sale of #8N from last month at $1.995mm.

The very recent sale of “triple mint” #8N at $1.995mm for “2,000 sq ft” is a good indicator of market value in this building of $1,000/ft for a half floor in excellent condition. The sponsor and Stribling agree that the full 2d floor should earn a premium for being twice as big and (probably) in even better condition than the (mere) triple mint in #8N.

premium pricing on low floor
Interesting gambit, no? Especially after having not sold for six months last year at $4mm, $4.5mm and $4.75mm.

One more thing from the listing, perhaps a sign of marketing trends: “Green building materials and finishes make this a beautiful and healthy home.”

© Sandy Mattingly 2008