Downtown Open Houses - 05/10/09

we went to 39 east 29th and sky house. i am not sure if i would call either good or even all that downtown but the prices sure are coming down on both.

I saw 55 Liberty PH. It's quirky, but beautiful in it's own eccentric way. The big problem I see viz this apartment isn't that the maintenance is that high now (it's only a little above $2 a square foot), it's the spread btwn the maintenance for this apartment and other, much larger units in this building. As has been discussed elsewhere and freely admitted by the listing agent for 21A, the share apportionment and maintenance apportionment in this building is arbitrary--in a way that wouldn't be allowed now. So here's the the thing, I think (and I could be wrong I'm not MIT grad) that the spread between your maintenance on the PH and the other larger, more luxurious units will only widen with every maintenance increase. This means this when you go to sell this apartment in 5 or 10 years, you're apartment will be even more top-heavy with maintenance compared with the building comps.

Why is it arbitrary? Have you done math via the Schedule A to see what kind of differences exist? Normally it would just be based on sqft with some weight on floor/view/outdoor space

No, it's not. If you look at the other listings in the building, you will see this. The building was sold off by floors to investors who split the floors and the shares as they saw fit. As a result, maintenance does not correspond to either square foot, view, etc. It is the sort of distribution that would not be legal now, but is grandfathered in. As I said, the listing agent is quite upfront about this, but one doesn't have to do much math when one sees that 3 bed, 2 bath that is 2,365 square feet on the 27th floor has maintenance that is about $1000 lower than a 1500 square foot apartment that is a two-flight walk up from the end of the elevator line.

What makes me nervous about all of this is that you, as the buyer of the PH are clearly not going to be one of the richest guys in the building (there are triplexes, etc.) but you are going to have one of the highest maintenance rates per square foot. Other people with much more money and more space will have quite reasonable maintenance and will likely have no problem raising maintenance, so that your maintenance moves even farther from market expectations for the building and the square footage (not to mention the walk up aspect)...It stinks because it is really an amazing space.

familyguy - that's an interesting point re: the maintenance spread. We could definitely see the situation getting worse here as well. I would also disagree with you that $2+ per sq ft for an old co-op with zero amenities is a reasonable maintenance. I think even if the maintenance were not increased, such an amount is very, very high for this type of building in FiDi. Maybe if this PH were located in Battery Park, you could sort of see a $3k+ maintenance, but not in FiDi, not in a co-op.

The unit is quite charming but there are all sorts of considerations to take into account - the 2 floor walk-up, the slanted windows obscuring the views, the tiny bedrooms etc. It's certainly a "niche" apartment.

http://downtowny.blogspot.com

-DT

We also saw 15 Broad St (Snarkitecture is more appropriate than Starckitecture we think). Not sure why prices are so high there:

http://downtowny.blogspot.com/2009/05/why-is-15-broad-so-darn-expensive.html

-DT

Wow, a doorman isn't even an amenity anymore? ;).

I've said my piece about this building elsewhere.

But I still think Local Law 10 will always loom large in this building.

Technically Local Law 10 has been replaced by Local Law 11/98, which is more restrictive and requires upclose physical inspections, vs. the superseded LL 10 which required only cursory review from street level via telescopic equipment. But either way, an unavoidable, ongoing cost for any NYC building in excess of 6 stories.

Sorry 30yrs - you're right, the doorman is an amenity. Although it would be even better if he came with some fitness equipment and a rooftop deck ;)

http://downtowny.blogspot.com

Downtownster, I meant to get out to the open houses but had other obligations this weekend. I'd love to do a writeup for you, though. I'll be emailing you with a proposal in a bit.

For some reason I still like that PH at 55 Liberty. Probably crazy, but I'm keeping an eye on it.

ev - great! I like the PH too - those gargoyles are just so cool and I definitely batted my eyelashes at the adorable kitchen/dining area. I saw kind of a nostalgic post (I think on streeteasy) about how the idea behind co-ops originally was to keep the share price pretty low but then everyone pays a relatively high price for maintenance. I'd love to see the PH (don't think it will happen but would still love it) sell for $400k or so, which would make that maintenance reasonable. I'm even over having to climb the stairs and all of those smokers outside of the building if the apartment would just come down on price.

http://downtowny.blogspot.com

I'm trying to remember, because when I saw it and noted this was a long time ago, but I seem to remember thinking to myself at the time "I wonder if this is the only apartment in NY with a water view in three directions?".

What this place to sell?
Chop, Chop, Chop or wait patiently for the next great RE bubble.
We all love the quirkly little gem but, in this market with that psycho maintence...Chop, Chop, Chop.
Sorry Batman, That's just the way the cookie crumbles here at Gracie Mansion.

Gracie Mansion? what the heck was I thinking...Wayne Manor!
Sorry Batman, That's just the way the cookie crumbles here at Wayne Manor.
Easy to see that big illuminated bat in the sky when they need you to fight crime. That's a plus!