Thoughts on 222 Riverside Building / Area

Building looks fairly nice, and the listed amenities sound wonderful, however being juxtapose to the 95/96th street entrance and exit to t the West Side Highway can't be great.

Agree with Riversider--not a huge fan of that busy traffic area in one's view shed.

The positives: 1. it's a condo; 2. The oversized windows and bump-out position along the drive give many apartments lovely river views; 3. there's a garage on-site, and it's just off the WS highway, so car commuting is relatively quick; 4, it's two blocks to a modern train terminal, and Times Square (with transfers everywhere) is only two stops (or ten minutes away); 5. it's a great family- or dog-friendly area with Riverside Park and the Hudson River Path at your doorstep; and 6; the neighborhood is convenient enough, within walking distance to daily shopping needs, including Whole Foods.

I would add that the highway is a bigger problem one block north, at 230 RSD. 222 gets some protection from Joan of Arc Park and a narrow strip of RSP. 230 is almost completely exposed.

I think the location is reasonable. Not prime, but say no worse than Trump And I don't even mind post war buildings, but this one has really cheap construction, IMHO, doors, closets, like in a cheap postwar rental. The windows are great, of course to the detriment of wall space, but hey, you can't have both. I just can't figure out the asking prices here, vis a vis more prime, prewar locations. But hey, I defer to the gurus, Westie, and others. 10 million for a combo apt? postwar at 94th street? The axe of real estate, notwithstanding on the listing, I think it's mindboggling.

'but this one has really cheap construction'
Not true. Just some of the original 80's surface finishes are not up to todays standards. These are readilly improved without spending a lot because the building is not very old. Actually, the windows are not the only positve; the layouts are also generous with ample closet space and washer/dryers in all apartments. Many have been fully-upgraded. The bones are good, the wallboard is 3/4 inch thick, and the walls are well insulated.

The building had major water-infiltration problems after construction. Fixed at immense cost later (early 1990s, I think.) Details are in the docs at www.offeringplanet.com.

NWT, an alleged construction problem fixed 20 years ago. that's funny. Most neighboring buildings are over 100 years old. How far back shall we go on competitive offerings?

Struck a nerve, eh?

The problems were real, not alleged. The remediation options were presented in the offering plan's 25th amendment, from July 1995. The amendments at www.offeringplanet.com stop there, but a potential buyer would want to find out, e.g., whether the then-board opted for the $400K fix or the $1M fix, what happened later, and so on.

If you think initial construction quality and what corners were cut don't matter, that's your call.

NWT, no, it's my 13 years experience living in the building, and first hand knowledge of all communications of maintenance issues, and regular conversations with the superintendent and managing agent that tells me your an alarmist that is not well informed on the building.

PMG, you're right around the corner from us.

Hey, that's right, Ali. Have you heard anything about new retail going into the Metro Theater?

No, but one of my upstairs neighbors always has all the commercial gossip, so I'll chat with her and get back to you here in the next couple of days.

PMG, glad to hear the problems were limited to water infiltration, and that they were fixed before you bought.

PMG, sometime in the last couple of years there was, I believe, an assessment in the building. That wasn't for the ancient water problems, was it? And if not, what for? Super expensive apartments, combo apartment, etc being marketed in the building. Are there significant ongoing problems? NWT, you seems to be very informed. Can you tell us more about this building? Postwar condo RSD, not too many of those. Is this one of those toxic buildings, just stay away? OTOH, doesn't seem to be much turnover.