Sale at 161 Duane Street #4B

Not a bad bldg but if I were going to drop 3.2M on a Tribeca pad, it wouldn't be in this bldg. Allegedly had a mold issue but don't know the details.

I know people that live in this building and about a year and a half ago theynhad to move out for 9 months into a rental while the developer remediated a mold issue. Needless to say that was not a good situation.

Uh, ouch. Mold is awesome and very difficult to get rid of. Apt next door sold for $2.4mm roughly a year ago - in light of that and what they paid in 07 at peak of mkt it seems like their ask is way out of line with reality.

Wow. Very interesting. Thank you.

I would assume they cleaned it up but since it existed once is it more or less likely to reoccur? How do you test if the mold still exists? If it existed in one apt is it safe to say it may spread to entire building and therefore entire building would have to be cleaned? If you had children would you not consider an apt or building that has experienced mold?

Definitely more likely. Mold can be very difficult to get rid of - even after remediation it can flare back up if they didn't kill every spore. Usually it exists because of a leaky roof or building shell which can obviously be fixed. But once the mold is in the walls it's very tough kill 100% of it.

Does the restaurant (Bouley) in ground floor have anything to do with it you think?

What a great apartment!

The only change I'd make, and yes I realize it would make the layout a bit more irregular (but what's regular about it anyway), is to wall off the 2nd bedroom and the other full bath, turning it into a true "guest suite" with en suite bath.

Just makes things nice from a privacy standpoint for guests.

But then which bath does the 3rd bedroom use then? Need to share. The one change I'd like to make but impossible would be to have a half bath upstairs on mail living level. You and guests have to go downstairs every time? Annoying.

The third bedroom is the library, silly.

No one is actually using that little room as a bedroom.

"The one change I'd like to make but impossible would be to have a half bath upstairs on mail living level. You and guests have to go downstairs every time? Annoying."

Hmm.

That's a good point.

For three million dollars I shouldn't have to run down a flight of stairs every time I need to pee.

No, wall off entrance via master and open up with a door to family/common area then beds 2 and 3 share the bath. CouLd make bed 2 en suite bath as you proposed and turn half bath into full by putting shower where w/d is but then where do you put wd? Still no toilet upstairs is annoying especially for that kind of money. Otherwise perfect minus the mold too.

I do like how there's apparently an egress directly into the master bedroom, so that the Lady of the House can easily and discreetly entertain male callers behind closed doors without the nanny or the children being any the wiser.

But NYCMatt, this apartment is more than $400k. And that's already a LOT of money, right?

And it hasn't sold four months later...

I'm actually quite surprised. Think it is somewhat reasonably priced especially given location and size (albeit awkward layout)....but i've seen a lot worse down there close. Something must be really wrong (mold?) and/or seller not willing to break price. I'd love to hear any comments from those who may have seen it during one of the many O/H's.

the sponsor finally unloaded the penthouse. don't know if the transaction was arms-length, wasn't listed at time of sale. but that was some chop.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/8989-condo-161-duane-street-tribeca-new-york

holy sh-t!

i dont know if i would get that excited, the third bedroom is going to be a walking closet/maybe crib room etc, the master is kind of small for $3.2m and the guest room is small.

it's ok but not like it's drop dead move in etc.

Also, hard to get excited about the $5k in maintenance and taxes. However, it is a very nice building. I am guessing will move at $2.9mm - $1250 per sq foot.

I would say even less - $1,100/sq ft - given all the things you mentioned : small bedrooms, high maintenance, awkward layout etc. Oh and don't forget about the mold issue. I would be curious to hear what Manhattan Loft Guy has to say about this building, the PH sale, this listing, if he happens to be trolling SE.