resale at 15 East 26 Street is up 16% since The Peak, but there’s a catch

some dates are more important than others
The ‘simple facts’ are that the Manhattan loft #12C at 15 East 26 Street (the 15 Madison Square North new development from 2008) just sold for $1,501,000 on April 6, which is a significant premium over the $1,298,268 sponsor sale on August 18, 2008. With that first sale date so close to The Peak, this sequence would make #12C one of the (undoubtedly) very few residential real estate properties in Manhattan to show a gain from Peak to now.

But simple facts can be deceiving, as hinted by the “8/24/06 Corcoran listing sold” entry in the StreetEasy listing history. That language is a frequent Streeteasy error indicating a contract date instead of a sale. In fact, our listing data-base shows the sponsor sale as coming to market on June 23, 2006, a contract on August 23, 2006, and that closing on August 18, 2008 — two years after the contract.

Instead of showing a gain of 16% from Peak to now, this resale of #12C shows a gain of 16% from 2006 to now, a very different animal, no?

1 bed + study, “powder room”
The loft is said to be “1,180 sq ft” and is arrayed as a straight 1-bedroom with an interior “study”. Of course, it is not illegal to sleep in a study (or anywhere else for that matter), so that sort of configuration can be a 2-bedroom if you don’t mind a dark (no window) second bedroom. This layout can work that way, but it is weird that the second (full) bath is labeled “powder room”, as a powder room generally means a half bath (no tub or shower); this one’s got a shower.

the (awkward?) view
The babble boasts a view of the New York Life building, which is directly across Madison Avenue, but I am curious how much of NY Life can be seen if you are not standing right at the windows in #12C. The jewel view of NY Life is, of course, the golden pyramid on top (literally golden, by the way; see the Wiki page), but that pyramid is 41 stories up, above two set-backs. I have to wonder if you can see the top even standing at the windows of #12C. (The sponsor sale claimed only “sweeping city views”.)

Department of Odd Locutions, repeated
There’s a fair amount of … errr … flattery going on in the broker babble compared to the sponsor marketing:

12C is one of downtown’s most gracious and elegant one-bedroom apartments. The large chef’s kitchen features Italian designed cabinetry, a marble island of Calacatta Gold, Viking Professional Series Range, Miele Microwave Oven and Dishwasher, Subzero Refrigerator and dual-zone Wine Storage. There are two full, custom-designed baths with Waterworks fixtures. The apartment is also equipped with a Bosch Washer and vented Dryer. The rest of the apartment has solid wood flooring throughout. Located at the head of Madison Square Park, Fifteen Madison Square North is a full service luxury doorman building ….

Then:

apartment 12C is an exceptionally gracious 1br + home office loft with a large chefs kitchen. The top 12 stories of a magnificent neoclassical loft building are being transformed into one, two, three and four bedroom residences situated directly at the head of Madison Square Park, in a neighborhood modern and full of energy, classic sophistication and charm. High ceilings. Exquisite interiors. A full spectrum of sweeping city views. Kitchens by Arcilinea, Sub-Zero, Miele, Viking. Custom Waterworks bathrooms with walls of marble or hand-made tile. Solid walnut flooring throughout. Wood-burning fireplaces in select residences. Full service building features ….

“At the head of Madison Square Park”??

The change from “[s]olid walnut flooring throughout” to “[t]he rest of the apartment has solid wood flooring throughout” is odd, but I guess anally precise (the kitchen has wood floors, but the bathrooms don’t; d’oh!).

No honor among thieves and all, and it is no crime to call a large kitchen “large”. But if you are going to go to the trouble to adapt “exceptionally gracious” to “gracious and elegant” you could keep up the adaptation effort a bit longer. Just sayin’.

© Sandy Mattingly 2011