Open House Report: 118 West 79th Street #7A

118 West 79th Street #7A Coop, six-into-five rooms: 2BR/2BA + Den Asks $2,395,000 Maint.:$3,001 There's little mystery to valuation of the twin, classic-six A and B lines at 118 West 79th Street. Six sales in the past two years show a clear range between $2MM and $2.4MM, depending on elevation and condition. These apartments boast two main strengths: A museum-block location and a layout that is... [more]

118 West 79th Street #7A Coop, six-into-five rooms: 2BR/2BA + Den Asks $2,395,000 Maint.:$3,001 There's little mystery to valuation of the twin, classic-six A and B lines at 118 West 79th Street. Six sales in the past two years show a clear range between $2MM and $2.4MM, depending on elevation and condition. These apartments boast two main strengths: A museum-block location and a layout that is ideal for conversion to three bedrooms. Typically, the dining room is closed off and a door is added to the adjacent bedroom hallway. The large gallery then becomes a dining area, with sufficient light from the living room windows. If the maid's room is not needed, it merges nicely into a big eat-in kitchen. #7A has been reconfigured with different goals. Here, the dining room and living room have been opened to the gallery. The maid's quarters have been converted to a den with laundry and bar, featuring perhaps the best views in the apartment, to the east toward the Beresford and the Planetarium. (The apartment's main exposure is northern, but the seventh floor does not clear 117 West 79th.) The design here aspires to an open plan. Partially dropped ceilings and fussy details like ceiling medallions detract somewhat from that effect. The quality of the work appears rather spotty. There are holes in the living room ceiling, and cracks have appeared in walls and moldings. Rough edges are most visible in the bedroom wing, where wires are exposed, floor damage is evident, cracks are ubiquitous and the renovation looks incomplete. The bathrooms have been thoroughly redone. The master bath may be a bit elaborate for some tastes, but it is certainly spacious and well-appointed, and probably needs only minor touch-ups. The hall bath is rather small. The narrow kitchen has been updated, with basic cabinetry and appliances. The workspace is awkward, and the kitchen is cut off from the rest of the apartment. 118 W79 is a mid-range coop that is long on location and short on amenities. The presence of an elevator operator rather than a doorman suggests that necessary investments may have been deferred here. (On my latest visit, a missing doorknob in the lobby enhanced the impression of deferred maintenance.) For a building that seems to operate on the cheap, the maintenance is rather high, although 2012 seems to be the year when $3K/month for a classic six ceases to shock anyone. There's a clear price range for these apartments, and #7A is shooting for the high end, where units on higher floors or nicely converted to 3BR tend to sell. Since the consensus on the best use of this space seems to differ from the current layout of #7A, and since the description of the apartment as "mint" appears overly generous, I would expect this listing to gravitate toward the middle of the range, or even a bit lower. #7A might suit a particular buyer in its current configuration, but that buyer isn't the usual customer for this line. That means a thinner pool of customers in a market that already shows signs of weakening. [less]