Sale at 59 West 12th Street

I would say $695,000 for this place. probably roach infested prewar anyways.

i know this is gonna sound ridiculous, but this apt isn't really overpriced-- it's a fabulous, well run building in a great area with a large terrace and fireplace, and the monthlies are low as well

A one-bedroom with a terrace and about 30% more sq/ft sold in this building last June for $999,999. How is a studio worth even more? Consider also that the location will be impacted at least to some extent by the traffic/construction issues resulting from the St. Vincent's Hospital reconstruction project that will likely go on for the better part of a decade once it starts. I just don't get it. I'll be very interested to see what the market does with this listing.

The St. Vincent's plan doesn't seem to have sunk in yet, psychologically. I wonder how many brokers are doing the right thing and warning their buy-side clients about it?

I'd guess this is another seller who refuses to believe they missed the peak, or thinks that they can price in appreciation like it's 2005.

Has anyone heard anything about the proposed hotel development for 13th Street that will back up to
59 W 12th? The buzz with some of the downtown brokers is that it could potentially block the views for a portion of the north facing rear side of the building. Regardless of what anyone thinks; prewar, Bing and Bing construction, fireplace, terrace, central village and a condo....there aren't many of those to chose from. So it will most likely go at that price.

FYI - 59 West 12th is one of the premier pre-war gold coast buildings. It's Emory Roth/Bing & Bing, so it has pretty famous lineage. Additionally, it is a condo building - very rare for pre-war gold coast - so it's in high demand and commands a pretty decent premium even for the area. Additionally valuation has been driven up by some activity - the owner of the penthouse bought out his neighbor (the only other apt on the floor) for ~$3,500 per square foot a year or so ago. It was only a 1-bedroom, but the wealthy penthouse owner had recently moved into the building and wanted the whole floor to himself, so he essentially made an offer his neighbor couldn't refuse. And that valuation sticks in people's minds when they sell, and demand is strong enough to support it. There was another apt available last year that was in horrible condition with a bizarre layout, and it sold for a tremendous valuation (all cash, too, oddly enough for a condo building).

Anyway, that might explain the high value. We'll see if it sucessfully sells...

I think thoughtless greed without relation to real market conditions better explains the high price. There is no way that this studio is worth this price. Last year's sales are hardly a good comparable in today's environment. And an overpriced purchased on the penthouse level also does not indicate true value. Good luck to this seller.

at this price, I'd rather be at UWS Trumps or Timewarner Licoln center with the yankees

kylewest--serious question: what would you feel the correct price for this would be?

Honestly, nyg? Using the streeteasy average price per square foot for the last 9 recorded sales which was $1627, this apartment comes out to $1.1M which is still less than the asking price here (which is an astounding $1652 sq/ft). BUT a studio's sq/ft price is typically substantially lower than say a 2-3 bedroom apartment's value per sq/ft and in this building the majority of recent sales have been larger, and thus more desireable apartments. The current average asking price per sq/ft of the other apartments most recently listed for sale here, which may be more reflective of the current market and fewer "trophies" in the mix, is $1425 which translates to $970K.

Without knowing more of the specifics of this listing, I'd say around $950-970K would be a fairly eye-popping starting point (which I'd try to keep a straight face and explain was based on the terrace, location and building quality) for the first 4 weeks on the market and based on traffic and comments at open houses I'd reassess the situation and adjust downward by $50K-$100K if the unit remained unsold and without bids.

FWIW: a search of ALL studios in Manhattan reveals that with the exception of some ridiculous new construction, this apartment in question is asking what at quick glance seems the most per sq/ft in the entire borough with maybe one or two exceptions.

This building remains a top building Bing and Bing even 18 months later, and the people who were talking about the St. Vincents renovation just don't understand the geography of Greenwich Village.

The Bing & Bing name certainly hasn't protected values at 2 Horatio Street:

Recorded Sales:

05/21/2009 #6E $350,000
12/21/2007 #8E $600,000

01/28/2009 #11B $500,000
02/20/2008 #5B $632,500
11/20/2007 #15B $790,000

Hey great listing Tenemantal. Is some of that possible because of the condition of the apartments or over time with more building maintenance charges?

Condition could be a partial factor, but these are small apartments. You could seriously renovate either of them for less than a third of the price difference.

In the E line the difference in maint was $37/mo.

So nope, it's the market.

I know this building as it had a lot of impractical apartments, a lot of studios which are not practical for today. Most quality buildings should have no more than 20% of the space allocated to 1 bedrooms and smaller and therefore no more than 40% of the total number of apartments as 1 bedrooms or studios.

@kylewest
about 17 months ago
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A one-bedroom with a terrace and about 30% more sq/ft sold in this building last June for $999,999. How is a studio worth even more?

Well it eventually sold for $999K

2 Horatio has some eccentricities - only part of the building is Bing & Bing - the other half is post-war... Still, these are interesting comps. Even factoring in condition and views, it's pretty clear even prime GV is affected. I'm still blown away by the asking price for this studio: http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/376314-condo-299-west-12th-street-west-village-new-york