The Archive

I lived here. It was a great building, until they started to overcharge for rent. Look at how many places are avail. That is a very high vacancy rate for a Manhattan building. Almost 7 percent! What are you going to pay?

They want $4,664 for about 950 -1000 sq feet 1 bed plus loft, 2 baths. It is not cheap, but it doesn't seem any more expense than 2br I have seen with other no fee management companies. Am I getting completely hosed?

i lived here in the late 90's and rented a 1000sq ft apt on the 7th floor(eye window). one bath and loft bedroom. i was paying $3600 back then. when the apartment came off rent control they wanted over $5600! I moved. i think our rent is reasonable. it is a great building in an awesome hood.

Does 1992 count? Rented there for a year sharing one of those 1 bed lofts with my brother. What an impossible share and those spaces are pretty weird. Very bowling alley-ish with a couple windows up high at one end. I would call those places studios with a sleeping loft. All that space and no privacy whatsoever. Having 2 bathrooms was killer tho. The building was very much dorm-like back then -- I think half the analysts under 25 on Wall Street lived there at once! $1395/mo. Those were the days.

yes I think you are overpaying nyc. 4000 is what I would offer, look at how many empty places they have.

It's sort of odd how the entire Village, Soho, East Village, Lower East Side, Lower West Side has changed so much, yet Christopher Street West of Hudson? it's still got the same rough trade hanging out.

I am not sure what the current crowd is like now. It seems younger. I am 35 and want to be in a more lively neighborhood than midtown east (where I am now sucks). However, I am not sure if being in a dorm with 25 year olds is for me either. The other apartment I am considering is on the UWS 89th and amsterdam). Very different vibe. This process is a pain.

Thanks for the feedback. They are offering me 1 month free on a 13 month lease (net monthly of $4,306). I think I will ask for at least another month free which will net to $4,000.

"Christopher Street West of Hudson? it's still got the same rough trade hanging out."

... that's like saying that Yorkville is still a German neighborhood because it has a German restaurant that a few German-Americans occasionally go to. Same for Greek Astoria, etc.

It's changed radically.

"Christopher Street West of Hudson? it's still got the same rough trade hanging out."

PATH station.

If you look on the rockrose website, it shows a lot less availability. Are they holding it back or is streeteasy wrong?

Not sure what is meant by rough trade. I don't think its dangerous but its definitely a nuisance, especially in the wee hours on warm weekend nights. Think twice if you are considering a unit facing Christopher.

On the other hand, I would probably have traded a few sleepless nights not to live on 89th and Amsterdam, but that is a personal preference. Have you checked out the Printing House? Weird configurations but better (quieter) area.

there you go NYC! If they dont give it to you for 4000 you can find 20 other places that are as good for 4000.

They offered reduced rent to net to $4,200. Getting closer....At this point, my swtuff is in boxes and I am sick of looking. If I were't so unsure about buying I would just dive in again.

I think SE is wrong. I looked at everything available (unless they were lying) and there were only a few. There were also people waiting to view things at the rental office.

""Christopher Street West of Hudson? it's still got the same rough trade hanging out."

... that's like saying that Yorkville is still a German neighborhood because it has a German restaurant that a few German-Americans occasionally go to. Same for Greek Astoria, etc.

It's changed radically."

Well, I guess we disagree. I'm curious, how often do you drive by Christopher West of Hudson after the sun goes down on weekends? . My point wasn't about "that's like saying that Yorkville is still a German neighborhood because it has a German restaurant that a few German-Americans occasionally go to. Same for Greek Astoria, etc.". My point was that the entire neighborhood HAS changed, but remarkably this one block hasn't. So the comparison might be more (a few years back) that "It's amazing how East 86th Street hasn't changed considering how much Yorkville has changed (which was true a decade ago). Or how little sections of Atlantic Avenue have not changed given (whatever the nieghborhood is, not sure exactly where, but well shy of GAP) has changed.

My unit does not face christopher and is on a higher floor, so i think the noise should be ok. I heard that monica lewinsky used to live there. Excellent..

NYCBUYER1 Rockrose should give you 2 months free. They offered me 1 month free with a broker and 2 months without a broker. This was a first time visit three months ago.

I moved out of The Archive this summer. The location is great (even if the W Village is not what it used to be) and it offers conveniences (doorman, in-house Crunch etc) which make life easy but are not that common in that neighborhood. The make-up of the tenants has changed. The building even in the mid90s had a relatively high share of bankers (where else in the area could they have lived?). They are still there but now there is also a much higher share of tenants with small children. Still, the building feels somewhat like a dorm.

I liked living there but prices are too high considering the quality of the apartments (kitchen, bathrooms, closets, finishings, paint job). Also, the leasing office, like other landlords, quoted a "renewal rent" which was considerably higher than the rent offered to new tenants; the difference became unacceptable if one included the effect of "one month free" or other benefits to new tenants (net effect estimated at 12% to 14% discount to "renewal rent").

I was set on leaving the building but tried to negotiate the rent down for the fun of it. Surprisingly they only offered a token reduction. I speculate that they did not take my "threat" to leave seriously.

nycbuyer1- did you sign the lease, what did you get?

One month free and reduced rent to net to $4,200. I will most likely be there for only a year and I got tired of looking.

What was the actual rent, 4550? I dont understand why you were not able to get 2 months free if they were willing to pay a broker 1 month.

Yes, that was the rent. They said that they were no longer offering the two months free even without the broker. Units that came up were all renting. Streeteasy lists a number of units that are not available. Therefore, it looks like there is more availability. I may just be a bad negotiator..

you still got a pretty fair price, how big is the apartment?

about 1,000 sq feet. 1 bedroom plus loft and 1 baths.

Congrats on getting the place. That is a good building. I've heard from someone that lived in The Archive that facing Christopher St can be very noisy, as 30yrs implies. I was surprised you said you also considered the Sagamore (I presume) on W 89th Street and Amsterdam Ave. While also a nice building, that neighborhood is not the same as the West Village by a long shot. Don't get me wrong, I love the far UWS, but that's because I've called it home since the 80s.

I hit my head on the ceilings in all the lofts. Does anyone have that issue here? No one mentioned it. Do only short people post here?

Any new comments or insights about this building? The last one was ~2 years ago.

The building is marketed as 'luxury', it is far from it. Nice roof deck - but for its premium price it is overrated.

There is no gym included, no laundry in-unit and no parking included...

You figured that out before or after you signed the lease?

Walls are thin. I could never think of that place as "luxury" now considering that when I was there the entire building was filled with 26 year old IB analysts crammed two or three to a unit.

My clients like it: good location, a lot of bathrooms/closets in some of the lofts (the height of which varies) and they take a lot of dogs.

There is a gym next door, though as twirons points out, you have to join it separately.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Don't a doorman and elevator qualify a building as "luxury" by today's marketing methodology? Always bothers me when just about every highrise building is marketed as "luxury" nowadays.

Does anyone know if the building is well maintained? Any ongoing pest issues?

The elevators are a problem, but they are being replaced right now. We also had some hot water issues in our first apartment here, but no problems in our current apartment. We sometimes complain, but in general the building is very well maintained. If something in your apartment needs to be fixed it is done within an hour or two, often within 30 minutes or so.

Also, just to clarify, the posts above are completely off-base for the building currently (sorry, but I would not rely on someone's experience that was even 5 years out-of-date, let alone 22 years out-of-date). My husband and I have lived here since October 2010 and nothing about the building is dorm-like. You are not allowed to put up divider walls, so I'm not sure how or why anyone would live in one of these units with a roommate. For as long as we've lived here it's been mostly young families and couples in their 30's, with the tail ends of the curve including some younger singles and maybe some couples edging closer to 40. Lots of strollers and dogs. If analysts live here then they sure do a good job hiding it.

As for the rents, they are what they are. For the West Village I think they are fair, especially considering the friendly doormen and handymen and the fact that there is a grocery store, dry cleaner, and gym in the building. And yes, for a West Village rental, this is "luxury." The person wanting a gym, in-unit laundry, and parking to be included must be thinking of the financial district or the west 40's. I think there they throw in children's playrooms and party spaces, too. For those kinds of amenities in the WV you have to buy a condo, or rent someone else's. And you will be paying a lot more than the $6k/month that is typical here. Please give yourself a reality check.

Oops, I got so caught up responding to the posts above, I forgot the real reason I came to this discussion board. Does anyone know if any of the floors besides the 10th have full-height ceilings in the lofts? We started out on the tenth floor and the ceilings in our loft were 10 feet, no beams, which was really nice. Our current apartment on the 9th floor has a great view, but we really can't stand that the clearance in the loft is so low -- it bothers us more than we thought it would. I am 5' 8" and I can pass through without ducking, but my husband who is 6' 2" is constantly bumping his head. We want to stay in the building but move to a bigger apartment with regular-height ceilings in the loft, and I am wondering if the 10th floor is our only option, or if it just varies from apartment to apartment. Between our two times looking in the building, the only full-height loft I saw was in our 10th floor apartment, but I'm wondering if anyone else has a different experience.

kate: Have friends (a married mid-age couple), they lived there for over ten years.
They didn't see any apartment full-height other than what you describe. They recently moved out but had a fairly good experience living there for so many years.

NWT may have Building plan info.

Only the 10th has no beams in the loft. The 2nd floor has barrel ceilings (no beams) but still an issue for taller folks.

Keith Burkhardt
TBG

Thanks, Keith!

Should have said thanks everyone, I didn't see at first that there were two responses. :-)

That's o.k. with me, kate, You're welcome.

The Archive has a lot of mice from the supermarket down below.

I have never seen a mouse in my 3.5 years living here. Actually, I've never seen a pest of any kind (roach, whatever). Maybe in the apartments right above the store?

Can anyone speak to the shared walls and noise? It feels really sturdy between floors, but the unit I am looking at shares a bedroom with a partial kitchen/living space and not sure if that is a big mistake! Any insight is appreciated!