Open House Report: 255 West 84th Street #8E

255 West 84th Street #8E Coop; six rooms (sort of) Asks $1,500,000. Maint. $2,832 + assmts. As I mentioned on another thread - apologies for some repetition here - this new listing at the Alameda looks reasonable at first glance. #11E, which was in estate condition, closed for $1.5MM in February; so the same price would be a sensible starting point for a sponsor wreck three floors down. As with... [more]

255 West 84th Street #8E Coop; six rooms (sort of) Asks $1,500,000. Maint. $2,832 + assmts. As I mentioned on another thread - apologies for some repetition here - this new listing at the Alameda looks reasonable at first glance. #11E, which was in estate condition, closed for $1.5MM in February; so the same price would be a sensible starting point for a sponsor wreck three floors down. As with #11E, the unit's condition and the building's infrastructure issues - which have manifested themselves in high maintenance, additional assessments and ongoing disruption of services - appeared to be priced into the sale. The problem is that #8E is not the same apartment - not even close. The bright, spacious, east-facing master bedroom and bath of #8E were long ago annexed by #8A. What remains is a puzzling remnant with no flow and no obvious remedy. The listing describes the rump of #8E as six rooms, with two bedrooms and two baths. That's a stretch. One bedroom is legitimate: it's the original second bedroom, with en-suite bath. The other bedroom is really a formal dining room - a heritage revealed by its herringbone floors (marred by the addition of a makeshift closet) and lack of bathroom access. The second "bathroom" is the servants' facilities. There is no name that describes this layout. What it amounts to is an Edwardian Five with room for an extra servant or an eat-in kitchen. Everything above could be easily deduced from a quick survey of Streeteasy. Still, it seemed only fair to visit Sunday's open house and give the Corcoran agent a chance to defend her listing. Unfortunately, she wasn't there. In her place was a Brooklyn broker who evinced little knowledge of the building, the line or the apartment. I asked her what had happened to the master bedroom. Sensing that I was familiar with the building, she replied, "Maybe you can tell me." And when I asked about the pricing, and the intact comp three floors up, an unidentified gentleman cut her off and declared #11E "the deal of the century", insisting that it would be impossible to find an apartment of that size for anywhere near the same price today. I was tempted to go toe-to-toe with them in the living room, in front of the other apartment-hunters, but decided to let it go and check out the rest of the apartment. At this point, the contrast with #11E became even more stark. #11E needed renovation, and the new owners are in fact gutting it. But my impression of #11E, in two visits, was that it was habitable. Although nobody would have bought it to live in as-is, doing so was within the realm of possibility, and much of the original detail was salvageable. Not so with #8E. Everything - floors, walls, ceilings, plumbing, electrics, fixtures, everything - is in deplorable condition. I don't know why the sponsor (or the sponsor-successor) allowed the property to deteriorate so badly. Presumably, the tenant didn't pay much rent and didn't know s/he was entitled to a complete kitchen floor. In any case, selling the master suite was just one aspect of the owner's despoliation of #8A. And now, with the building devalued by six years of spiraling costs, I don't think there's much of a market for the mess that remains. Far from being the "deal of the century", #11E simply reflected the value of space, light and potential in an elegant building, offset by estate condition, high monthlies and continuing inconveniences. The market hasn't moved enough in six months to change the basic realities facing #8E. To even reach #11E's level, #8E would need to reacquire its lost bedroom and bath. Is that possible? #8A was on the market a couple of years ago. Although the owners decided to resell the mammoth condo they had bought at the Avonova and remain at 255W84, it might be worth a phone call to find out. Otherwise, #8E will remain a deformed misfit, and will sell at a commensurate price. http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/616496-coop-255-west-84th-street-upper-west-side-new-york [less]