535 WEA: all full floors are in contract

holy bejesus

yes, but will they close

16 and 17 aren't and they are full floors. plus, with the exception of the one that just entered contract, the rest all did so a half a year ago. one new contract signed doesn't seem so awe-inspiring (although the fact that maybe it should might say something, there i am deconstructing again).

aboutready, you're saying...??? what exactly?

one, you're wrong, all the full floor apartments are not in contract. and two, so what, all but one of those that are now were 6 months ago.

how about that? how about hardly earth-shattering that one overpriced apartment went into contract?

nyc10023, logically, whoever pays $23M for an apartment know what she/he is doing. It's a different animal. Especially in this area, in a building like this.

Logically, if you signed a year ago for >20m, you would wait until the very end to bail. The developer gets close to closing, sends you the date and you stall, stall, stall and bail. Even if you put 20% down, what are the chances that the developer can get someone else on board for 18m?

right, one buyer can tell for certain that a new development will have no problems. and you know that without any knowledge of who the buyer is, or whether this is a sale to an insider that has special language allowing an out in the event things don't turn out so rosy? or any number of other possibilities?

plus, 10023, if you sign now (which is what i think youcannot's point is), you have the mortgage contingency. and if you sign now i'm not certain they'd be enforcing the 20% down.

aboutready, I'm not picking a fight with you. Relax. It was just a piece of information.

From my (limited) personal experience, buyers in that category do not depend on a mortgage. It's a different math up there.
Disclosure: I live where I can watch that building from above. It is an amazing building.

I do have to say that over the past 15 years, I can't remember a new construction floorplan/layout I liked much better than those 10 thru 15 floors (and I can think of many, many, many that I've really, really, really hated).

86 is a main cross street, I dont understand why anyone would pay 20m+ for a floor in a building. 15 CPW is at least in a better area and has high profile buyers...

ok, no fight. youcannot, if i were a high-income purchaser of such a unit i'd sure as hell request a mortgage contingency, regardless of whether i intended to obtain one. just smart, why not protect yourself?

RE PRO, what do you mean? A cross street is bad regardless of details? 86 ends on RSDrive, doesn't lead to highway, is beautiful, and even the bus line turns on WEA. It's a gorgeous, stately and convenient street.

aboutready, those buyers want those apartment and most likely do not mean to flip them (I'm looking at you, 15 CPW). They want the home they can afford, and that's it. From what I see in the layouts, this thing defines "home".
My whole point was an anecdotal fact that regardless of the economy, ... etc. etc.

Also, Re Pro, most real money people do not want "high profile". Believe it or not.

Most real money wants power.. how else would you get it but to meet more power hungry people? Not everyone is as intelligent or kind as Buffet. Gosh if there are more people like him in this world, it would be a better place to live.

Re Pro, for example, nobody will know the names of the people who bought in top tier 535 WEA. They don't want you to know. They are not "high profile" in your definition.

of course, they dont want you to know... you are a little fish to them. They high power people will know.

In addition to the sixteenth and seventeenth floors, mentioned by aboutready above, the eighth and ninth floors appear to be shadow full-floor inventory. The 535WEA website currently has floorplans for "A" and "B" apartments on those floors, but as far as I can tell, they have never been listed that way. Nine appears to have been listed briefly as a full-floor unit, then pulled. I don't think eight has been listed at all.

In short, there are still plenty of choices for a buyer with $20MM.

BTW, I don't see a new contract. Am I missing something?

nope, my error, i could have sworn i saw one yesterday, but i can't seem to find it now. which makes my commentary a bit irrational.

AR: On the contrary, I think the absence of any new contracts underscores your point.

By my reckoning, 64% of the available full-floors are under contract. Even if you omit the eighth and ninth floors, the figure is 78%, a strange definition of "all". Youcannot has defended the original post as "a piece of information" and "an anecdotal fact". I'd say it's neither.

I have no axe to grind with 535 WEA. It looks like a very nice building, and attracting (or retaining) fabulously rich families who probably won't use the public schools is, on balance, good for the neighborhood. 86th and West End has been a fairly shabby intersection for a long time; 535 will improve it. But pointing to 535 as an example of strong sales in a tough environment strikes me as grasping at straws. If anything, 535 exmplifies the wall that high-end sales hit last fall.

seems like a poster child for those poor buildings that were completed in 1929 and 1930 and were promptly chopped into smaller units to try to get some income out of them.

I continue to be on the lookout for a new apartment. I won't buy until at least next summer, due to a personal belief prices will be lower/better opportunity. Either way, 535 is a building I really like. Currently not in my price range, but with a reasonable reduction it could be. Either way, I'm just not buying now.
However, can anyone speculate (with reason) as to why they did not make the ceilings taller? I have never built a building/apartment house, although I do know taller ceiling are more expensive. But at the time of the planning for 535 why didn't the developer think he could pass along the cost? What am I missing here?
As well, why so few fireplaces?

These two luxuries are a small, but visible part of what attracts us to pre-war buildings.

I love his statement:
nyc10023, logically, whoever pays $23M for an apartment know what she/he is doing. It's a different animal. Especially in this area, in a building like this.

Why is that logical? And do you work for the 86th street board commission? It's like you're trying to sell someone a piece of the sidewalk.

Who posts like this? Normal people? Or people who have a vested interest in the building?
I say dirty broker, but hey, I always do

upperwestrenter, you see the enemy (brokers!!!) everywhere, don't you?
Sorry to break it to you but I'm as far from broker as you can imagine.
I live in the area.
Also, 535 wea does not appear to be in need to appeal to people like you.
So let's just agree that our respective definition of normalcy differ.
You know what, yours and some others' aggressiveness on any abstract topic speaks for itself.
Boring.

but why do you say that someone who is paying $23 million for an apartment necessarily knows what they're doing? i could agree that to that person money doesn't matter in any way, but i think a strong argument could be mustered that someone who is currently prepared to pay that price for those apartments is seriously overpaying and therefore doesn't know what they're doing when it comes to financial decisions about real estate.

as is some peoples need to assume that consumers that can spend millions on an apartment automatically know what they are doing.
What about the people who spent billions on credit swaps, they must have REALLY KNOWN what they were doing, right?

And what is, "people like me"?
I grew up 4 blocks from there, and people like you crapped up the neighborhood.
is that statement any more ridiculous than yours?

Youcannot: Why do you think all the full-floor apartments are in contract?

water123: re the ceilings not being higher, the developer could go up x feet before the setback required by the zoning. As-built, they fit 14 floors into that x feet. If they'd fit only 13 floors, each of the 13 would gain maybe 9 inches, but the developer would lose the $20M or whatever for the omitted floor. Probably didn't seem worthwhile, considering how much more money buyers would cough up for the nine inches, less the reduced construction cost, and so on.

I don't know the actual floor-to-floor height or the height of the street wall, but note how the true prewar buildings on either side have higher ceilings.

NWT - thanks that makes sense. The ceiling height varies from 9'3 to 10'8 - not terribly short, but no Apthrop.

speaking of which....what do you think $23 million would buy you at the apthorp?

cc: The mortgage, at five cents on the dollar.

that is pretty damn funny.

West81: met one of the buyers at a fundraising shindig. Unfortunately [;)], foreign-born.

upperwest's "people like you crapped up the neighborhood".
How? Who?

People who consider rich people above others (or more rational with their purchases.)
That's playing the class game which is bullshit.

You stated, "logically, whoever pays $23M for an apartment know what she/he is doing" which makes no sense, unless you're saying anyone with that kind of money must know what they are doing, because they have that kind of money. The next rational assumption is those without the money, may not necessarily know what they are doing.
I'd like to know why it's logical to assume that

You said that, not me. All of it. You want to read your stuff into everything %u2014 go ahead. It's your problem.

but...you never answered my original question. why do you think that someone who pays $23 million knows what they're doing? or were you just kidding?

Because it's their money, baby. If they decide to spend this kind of money this way, it was most likely a well-thought through matter. OK?

also, you obviously wouldn't have a problem with people spending $1M on an apartment. So just the number gets your fire up?

no....i still don't understand your theory. if someone decides to spend money .... it must have been well thought out? any restrictions on this theory as to amount or type of purchase? or, it generally holds?

A building where apartments cost into the $20 millions is an eyesore on the USW.

Wait, back up a second... a BUYER told you that all the full-floor units were in contract?

Even assuming this person is actually in contract - and not just yanking your chain - what makes him/her a more reliable source than Corcoran/Sunshine's own listings? And why would Corcoran/Sunshine/Extell conceal signed contracts on 16 and 17 (not to mention 8 and 9)?

The original premise of this thread is nonsense. The thread starter should really read:

"535 WEA: No full floors have gone to contract for six months... How about that?"

The news wouldn't be any more interesting, but at least it would be accurate.

West81, I think that 16 and 17 are reserved. I don't care one way or the other. Just watching the guys on the roof making noise.

hold on: you start a post saying that the full floors are in contract and now you say: "I don't care one way or the other. Just watching the guys on the roof making noise."

sounds like you're the one making a bunch of noise.

i can't help it. posting misleading info irritates me, and it seems to be a disease on here these days. if the truth doesn't suit your particular needs, try distortion, not including relevant information, or even outright lying.

Confession: I have a few angry characters on ignore. So don't bother venting, I won't see it.

so after all this...what was your purpose in beginning this discussion?

what a coward. happy to provide inaccurate information, and hide from any reprecussions. well, i don't have you on ignore because it gives me joy to reveal a fraud for what he or she is.

he/she isn't ignoring...can't help themselves out of this mess, so at least being quiet doesn't make it worse. callling.....west 67th street.

SO IT'S CONFIRMED, HE IS A DIRTY STINKING NO GOOD BROKER!!!!
I knew it!

go to the top, i called it...2 points for me!
hahahah

keep ignoring me shithead

West81, I read in a foreign gossip rag that a Russian (currently Israeli) has 17 reserved.

AgentRachel?????

PrincessEdna?????

1) Looks like all the full floors are not in contract, based on what's showing in SE and listings.
2) Even if all floors are in contract, I bet that some will not close based on what's happened since.
Buyers will wait until the end not to close. Each contract can be tailored, but I bet that the few signed at the
beginning in a hotter market don't have many escape clauses.

nyc10023, a question: why did everyone get so worked up about 535 WEA? Really.

They're not worked up about 535 - they're worked up about you posting what appears to be factual inaccuracies.

careful...he may start ignoring you too.

This blog is not scientific! Did my post incourage all of them to make a run at $20M apartments? These truth-seekers... forget it.

I'm worked up because I hate stinking brokers who dress in innocent bystanders clothing.
And read foreign gossip rags

DIRTY STINKING BROKER

so...you're admitting you're an out and out liar? but what difference does it make?

nyc10023, ask West81st to get more on this building. I believe my information, for what it's worth, is legit.

what information? the stuff from the guys on the roof?

one difference historically about people who paid $23 million for an apartment (or whatever the market equivalent was at the time): while they may not have necessarily "known what they were doing", it mattered to them an awful lot less than those buying in the middle or lower end of the market. What I mean by that is that historically, people at the upper end of the market spent a fraction of their net worth on such apartments, whereas people at the lower end of the market typically spend a MULTIPLE of their net worth on an apartment. What I'm getting at is that, at least in "the old fays" if a "rich person" bought an apartment and overpaid, bought at the height of a market, etc. it didn't mean all that much to them because they were making a decision which had significantly less impact on the rest of their lives than those at the lower end. most of the transactions were all cash, and no one walked away from deposits because the market went down.

While I think there are still people like that buying (but probably much more on Park, Fifth and perhaps CPW), I think the percentage of buyers who are buying the "ultra high end" who are NOT in that category has increased a staggering amount (percentage wise; i don't know if it's gone from 0.1% to 5%; . 1% to 10% or whatever, but I'll bet it's at least an order of magnitude whatever the actual numbers are).

Also, just to play Devil's advocate re: 86th Street can't claim top buildings because it's a major cross town street - what street it The Dakota on?

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/11120-opinions-on-members

i guess you took me off ignore for awhile.

30yrs, Dakota is on 72nd.

what street is the apthorp on?

The two priciest coops on the UWS (Dakota and Beresford) are both on busy intersections, though 72nd is a bit of special case because it doesn't have a true transverse. The Apthorp, White House and Belnord are all on major cross-streets too, and the Ansonia sits on a heavily-trafficked stretch of Broadway.

Fancy old buildings tend to be on major streets. I think it has something to do with access for carriages and - post WW1 - big cars.

And light and air.

These are incredible properties, sans the cost associated with them. The full floor layouts are, for the most part, well thought out and flowing. Living 'full floor' has many advantages. When you really search out all the full floor brand new choices that sport this kind of square footage the choices diminish. You might find yourself searching for your own 20MM apartment or you may find youself living in a shotgun shack or in another part of the world or behind the wheel of a large automobile with a beautiful and you may ask yourself...Is this my beautiful house?, Is this my beautiful wife? How did I get here?

sorry, just channeling the talking heads.

david byrne bot a full floor at 535 WEA . . . .

ok, no he didn't.

very negative comment....

keep it going.

west81 - Dakota & Beresford as two priciest co-ops . . . I have to puzzle on that for a while. Avg apartment price, perhaps so b/c no small apts in Dakota . . but avg square foot . . . I wonder . . . who knows, they certainly both in top 5 if they not #1 & #2 . . .

negative?

Just letting the days go by...

OK, I'll stop

i prefer to channel the B-52s, love shack, baby, love shack.

I think the better question is the relative value trade. Look at some of the combo opportunities at 101CPW. Think real sqft, not advertized. I just don't don't understand the rationalization. Live on the park, bigger apt, views, customize to your taste. Or be on 86th for 30% more dough, for smaller space with no view. I could do these comparisons all night. But won't youcannot can do it yourself.

... and Christopher Walken... no. No, he was just walking by. Looking awful, by the way.

you lying turd ferguson

talkin lies bout C Walken...you and your gossip rags

bottom line: youcannot cannot do anything and proud of it.

the comp threads are much more civilized.

turd ferguson?... sure you didn't mean ferg turdison?

ah, no doubt you are speaking of his second cousin, once removed

cc, i have to ask the question on everyone's mind: how gainful is your employment?

everyone's mind?

are you channeling or do they all speak directly to you?

Columbia,
I was drifting to the lyrics of a 'Talking Heads' song (lead singer: david byrne, who is an upper westsider) 'Once in a Life Time'.
OK, I'll give...it's a dated refrence.

But...It's a hell of a song.

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful
wife
And you may ask yourself-Well...How did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?...Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground

This is very beautiful building.

Very big.

I knew it!

falcogold, now you can quote something from Falco (German techno pop, for those too young to know) like Der Kommissar or Rock me, Amadeus, and we'll all know we belong in the 80s.

I like something 8,000 sq ft in Manhattan

please don't mention falco and leave out the genius that is "vienna calling". i have the 12 inch for rock me amadeus and the extended "baby baby do it to me rock me" bridge is real sweet on that as well.