59 John Street 8F

59 John is a solid building - it's not quite as nice as some buildings in FiDi, but it is a good, solid building with very nice finishes. If you think you are going to get an apartment at 59 John for $400-500/sq foot, please let me know what you are smoking because it must be good. To answer your question about RE taxes - 59 John has a 421(g) tax abatement so the taxes are $0 for the first 8 (or 10, I can't remember) years and then gradually increase to the unabated amount over the next few years. I don't remember when 59 John went on sale, but if $780/sq ft was the price in late 2005 - early 2006, that is probably about the price you should expect to pay. $780 sq foot for 59 John strikes me as a fairly fair price.

This was 2007 prices. It is not that solid. The finishes are okay

I am not really sure if re_pro is being serious, but a few things:

A. The bldg. is very nice, and the location is VERY central. The finishes are definitely nicer than most.

B. I don't find the per-foot CC to be notably high (always look at the pf figure). The units are HUGE in that bldg.

Not really directing this to anyone in particular, but why do some people here find it fun/funny/worth their time to throw ridiculous, random prices or counterfactual observations without any sort of explanations? Saying "I'd pay $400 pf" is neither humorous nor informative if that's what they are going for. Similarly, saying "59 John isn't a solid bldg. and the finishes are only okay" is neither cure nor accurate. It only tells me the person has not seen the bldg.--or s/he has motives to defame the bldg.

Again, it is your opinion that the bulding is nice. I have no reason to defame the building. What motive can I have? I thought it was okay. It is very central to what? FiDi doesn't have as much as UES or UWS... or as much as other areas in Manhattan for that matter. I saw one of the apt and the unit is huge because it is cheaply made. It is my opinion.. since things are all relative. You may have poor taste. I said that I will pay somewhere between 400-500. Why did you select the lowest figure of 400 pf? Is it because you have reason to support the building? The shear number of shadow inventory in FiDi will crush all the buidlings. Like I said, if you want to sell at 400-500 range.. send me a note, but you may have to be on you knees and beg.

I own at 59 John (3BR C-line), not selling (yet). It is a solid building, intially built about 1910. Another Starchitect building by Andres Escobar(for what that's worth). If you're interested. The finishes are nicer than most of the the buildings in the area. Lighting is iTre & Zaneen (Italian blown glass)in kitchen and bathrooms, cabintry is custom from Isreal, plumbing is all Grohe, wiring is everywhere & top notch Genesis5051(fiber/cat5x2/cablex2), flooring is pre-finished German produced(Werner)french white oak thick enough for resurfacing(once), dishwasher and washer/dryer are Bosch high efficiency, GE Profile fridge/microwave/convection oven (or Sub Zero/Viking 10th floor and above), black granite in kitchen, marble/slate/Italian porcelain in bathrooms, Kohler seamless or stainless steel vessel sinks, deep soaking tubs, separate glass enclosed showers with multiple heads. Most of the above was ever mentioned in any advertisements or selling points by the Prudential sales people.
There is a nice gym and media room, a full access rooftop which is currently being designed. The units are large and there are storage units in the basement up to 5ftx8ft. The location puts you in the largest transportation hub in NYC (2,3,4,5,6,A,C,E,J,M,Z,R,W, PATH, SI Ferry, Water Taxis.) Development of the WTC, Fulton Street Station, Fulton street renovation, etc will only improve value in the coming years.
The maintenance does seem high - it is a medium size (72 unit)building with live in super, multiple employees. Tax abatement is for about 13 years and only started about a year ago.

DTS, many of us know about the great location, finishes, and general shape. I told you RE_PRO has never seen the bldg. or s/he has reasons to talk trash about the bldg.

Now I think of it, maybe RE_PRO is confusing 59 John w/ 99 John? Then, I agree w/ RE_PRO--that 99 John should receive the "Cheapest Finishes Award." I'd also think $800 pf to $850 pf would be a good range to offer there.

True, 99 john, horrible, odd, poorly planned layout, purplish hallways, cheap finishes, I think it was an 8 inch deep tub or so ... a rental quickly rehabbed to condo ... with no amenities. 45 John is newer, better than 99 John, but still they went a little cheap on the finishes, the odd upper kitchen cabinets that lift up to the ceiling (kind of like a garage door) ...
I can assure you that 8F has good neighbors, I know 2 of them, professional, very considerate, quiet ...

DTS, while I basically agree w/ you on most accounts, we don't really need to trash 99 John. I feel bad for them the way you paint them...

It's good for what it is: glorified dorms for young professionals. The structure is magnificent, the common areas are stylish, and the amenities are decent--for which prices in the $800 pf range would be appropriate in the current market in my opinion. The units I saw unfortunately had sanded-but-old paquet floors, the 1980s Hollywood lights around the cheap medicine cabinet, and lower-end fixtures and other details.

Anyhow, let's hope that RE_PRO is confusing 59 John w/ 99 John, so as to make sense of his "critique" of 59 John... Both are fine bldgs., but 59 is significantly better in quality than 99. But 99 is a decent place to buy at the right price, given the 110% buy-back guarantee!

Sorry, I didn't mean to come off so negative, and holy cow ... I too was mistaken, I was speaking of across the street 80 John "South Star" while helping a friend buy a condo I toured many units (99 John was still in the conversion process). Similarly the building (80) is very nice but the conversion of rental to condo was as described ... they were asking up to $1400/sq ft at that time (and to clarify horrible was a bit strong and was only meant to describe the layouts)

Ohhhhhhhhh, 80 John... I feel really bad for people who bought there, as most of them paid SUPER PREMIUM during the peak of the market between 2006 and 2007...and it's only slightly nicer than 99 John in quality and the general "feel" (e.g., stone bathroom floors vs. one-inch ceramic tile floors). When I saw it, most of the units were priced at $1k pf.

In retrospect, I am glad I didn't even entertain the idea of buying there--as I saw the quick and dirty reno job...oh, plus seeing a dead Micky (or Minnie) on the premises... That didn't help at all.

so why did 59 john go for 780 sqft and 80 john go for 1k sqft?

What I don't understand is that 8F is asking more for the price he/she paid for in 07? The equity market has dropped 40% from the high and it is back to 98 level. I really think it is worth about 500 sqft or less, consider all the issues that we are all facing... read my comments on urbandig.

I believe most of 59 John (a 4 year long ground up conversion with 4 new floors added) had gone into contract before 80 John(a quick apartment to condo renovation) came on the market. I went into contract in 2/06 and well over 1/2 the units were sold. First move in was 12/06, I was in by 2/07. Only a minority of units were left to sell & the building was not close to finished. 80 and 59 are not even a close comparison. By all means I was excited to see them going higher & higher in price (wish I would have sold then - as everyone does)Street easy shows the prices and the closing date, not the contract date & many in contract before me moved in after me simply due to the endless building delays for those floors or lines. So the prices listed on closing dates of 07 often had been in contract in 05 & early 06. The closing on 7/07 price of $1.405m is $800/sq.ft. preconstruction prices of likely early 06. They had a slightly (about $40/ft or so) lower price than other units, likely due to as you have mentioned the fewer windows at the ends of the long large floorplan (but the ceilings are like over 11ft (on floors 2,8,9)and windows are large. (As compared to the C-line which has 13 windows - I think about 26 feet of windows in the living room. They are currently asking $910/sq ft, after a drop from $953/ sq ft ... I am not sure where a reasonable figure would be, but I do not believe it really near the $500 mark. I'd buy it at that if I was in the market. It's a good sign to see construction plans in the area move forward this past week ... The Ratner/Gerhy Beekman tower is back on for the full 76 stories, the Fulton Street Station is back to the original plan of the above ground glass ... multilevel structure

DTS, So are you saying that the 1.405 m price was contracted in late 05 to early 06 and the 07 date is basically the closing date? The ceiling height is over 11ft for 2,8 and 9, so are the ceiling lower for other floors like 3,4,5, 7 etc?

DTS, I think you are revealing too much here. RE_PRO is crazy enough to go through ACRIS and other documents to identify who you are, based on the info he keeps on asking you for.

My follow-up question was the ceiling height. Unlike the paranoid person like you nyc212, I have better things to do than to figure out who DTS is. Why are you framing me crazy? I wish the best for DTS and his professional mannerism, hope the best for his investment. Did you invest in 59 John street? Are you the 8F owner?

It appears that the dates listed in the sales column corresponds to the closing date, and of course preconstruction contracts may have been made many months to a couple of years earlier depending on the offering - which was in 2005 for 59 John.
The floors 2,8,9 have about 1 ft taller ceilings than 3-7 (just under 12ft and just under 11 ft), 1909 planning - who knows why.
Thanks for the concern nyc212 but my identity is insignificant & I'm not 8F.

I was down in FiDi yesterday again and there is nothing down there. I don't care what other opinions are but there are nothing down there but tourist, century21 shoppers and the FiDi tenants. How boring is that?

RE_PRO, you must be a party animal.

Party On but not at FiDi...

I live at 80 John and it is actually quite a nice building with nice finishes. It is well kept and the staff is terrific. As with these other buildings, it is centrally located and a great place for both families and singles. AC/Heating could be better but I have no idea if it is any worse than other buildings. Yes, and it was substantially sold out in 2007. Not a bad thing.

I am so glad this is not party central. But if the party is near any subway line, you can be there in a single ride. Then you can actually leave the party and have some peace. During the past 5 years I have seen a good number of changes down here. More restaurants opening and more restaurants already in the area open later and on weekends.

The Seaport attracts all types - tourists (I can't see why) and other New Yorkers for the frequent activities or events they offer. Stone Street is a nice area. Tribeca is a very short walk.

Jason2009:
Yes, I think all the best floorplans were taken by the time I saw what was left (since so many are unique layouts). I was quite happy to see the prices going up like mad & selling out ... I just wish they were still there.