fire the super-heroes / 35 W 23 is back without Aqua-Lad
change in marketing, no change in firms
I smiled when I came across the listing for the 4th floor at 35 West 23 Street back in August because the web description was so different from the usual broker-babble.
Check the listing for the unconventional description. I will just say that anybody who can pull off dropping Batman, Bruce Wayne, Lois, and even Aqua-Lad into a Manhattan loft listing with a straight face (and to humorous effect) must have a terrific relationship with the seller. And an accommodating manager.
Curbed picked up on the non-traditional approach about two weeks after I did, Broker Babble: Tranquil Lair, which included a comment about whether Lois Lane would have curled up with Batman, and other sundry Curbed juvenilia.
holy pink slip!
Sadly, you won’t be able to check that listing, as it was taken off the market a month ago and is back as of Friday- with a different Corcoran agent and a very different description. Batman, Bruce Wayne, Lois, and even Aqua-Lad have been fired!
The new listing description is, dare I say, prosaic.
three winged bedrooms (possible fourth) and two and a half bathrooms including the master suite with a dressing room and large master bathroom with dual sinks, jacuzzi tub and separate steam shower. The center-piece of the loft is the raised chef’s kitchen with granite countertops, Viking stove, Sub Zero refrigerator & freezer and dual dishwashers. The Living Room boasts wall to wall book cases that extend up to the 11″ original tin ceilings with state of the art lighting and sound
I am sure they did not do it on purpose, but they used the word “super” once, not as in super-hero, but as in “super sunny”. I don’t suppose anyone else would notice that, except perhaps me and Hubert Etchison. Sorry, man.
Interesting decision by the seller to switch agents but not firms. Obviously, the firm-based (and web) marketing oomph is exactly the same then, as now. My surmise two months ago was that the super-hero campaign was so quirky that it suggested the owner and agent had a very good rapport, but – if so – that got strained without a sale. I don’t remember the former pictures all that well, but the ones now up seem new to me (and fewer), so maybe they are simply simplifying the marketing.
was it the characters or the number?
Melissa Monteforte from Corcoran has been brought across the river from 718 to do the marketing, at the same price as the unsuccessful super-hero campaign of February into September.
I guess the seller decided that the unit did not sell in that period because of the fanciful marketing rather than because of the price. (As I noted on August 8: “third floor sold in 2004 for $2.15mm. Etchison marketed this unit (through Halstead ) when it was sold in 2003 for $1.95mm (it’s been a few good years, eh?). I don’t see any 4th floor building permits since 2003, but maybe it wasn’t super-hero ready then….”)
or something else?
I noted in August that “The “3,400 sq ft” floor plan will not be for every loft lover, as it has way more walls than many people like, but it packs a lot of utility.” Interesting that the current campaign does not include a floor plan on the web, to show all those walls, and rooms. It may impress buyers as too many walls (so, too much work at the price).
I suspect it was the price, but we’ll have to see. Seller may be getting antsy.
© Sandy Mattingly 2007
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