140 7th Ave in Chelsea; Chadwin House Condo

The building doesn't shake when the trains pass below, and the folks I know who live in the Chadwin House don't hear their neighbors on either side, but they hear the people up above. I guess the folks up above don't have carpeting or rugs down. My friends are great, and I have interacted with many nice, friendly people in the elevators and common areas. The doormen have always been very friendly to me. If the apt. faces 7th Avenue, know it is extremely noisy because the fire dept. is around the corner on 19th St. just east of 7th.

A quick look at the comparables in this building sets off a couple of alarms. Apartments have been lingering for extraordinarily long times on the market and virtually all have undergone an unusually high number of price reductions (see the $1.3MM 3-bedroom with more than 1/2 dozen price reductions from initial offer of about $1.8MM). The last several apts that closed were sold well below their initial offering prices and that was in 2007 when there was less hesitancy in the market. Something is going on here. It may be that in a stalling market, this type of property is hit harder and earlier. While overall Chelsea is a popular neighborhood, this exact location and the building itself give pause: it's a low-rise on a very busy section of 7th Avenue and the aesthetics, well, "barracks" and "bunker" come to mind). Due diligence by an extremely qualified and thorough attorney would be very important to me if I were interested in purchasing here.

If you learn what is going on that is causing all the substantial price reductions, come back and let us know...

I thought the same about the price reductions also, but wonder if they were overpriced to begin with. The aesthetics of the bldg does leave something to be desired.

The pricing is more than optimistic initial pricing. Plenty of people do that but not by the amounts involved here. The amount and frequency of these reductions, and the fact that every single unit is doing this, suggests an issue beyond mere ambitious initial price points.

It is an ugly building! Personally I think the apartments you see on the market today were overpriced to begin with especially the 3 BR for 1.9 million. What a riot! I've been following listings in this building for a few years. We were very interested in buying in the building because the location is great and our friends live there, transportation options in that neighbor are awesome, they have a list to buy a spot in the garage. Not that I have a car, but wow, what a luxury to have one and have a place to park it.

I think a big factor in the pricing of these apartments is the building's location. Nothing inside the interior hallways, elevators or in the apartments are really extraordinary, everyone has the same windows and access to the same amenities. They did recently upgrade the interior of the elevator and lobby, so I think there is a special assessment in effect, but the common charges are really low due to the number of long-time renters whose rent is put into the common charge "pool" which reduces the common charges for all the owners in the building.

The building is unique in that the doorman actually opens the door for you, always, every single time. Lots of buildings have doormen, a much much smaller percentage have doormen who opens the door for you.

What do you mean? Do the owners of the apartment rented not get the rent income directly?

I think Valldejuli means these are sponsor units that somehow pad the coffers of the building and not the sponsor's pockets. Some clarification would be nice...

Yes, that's what I understand, kylewest. That the rent money goes into the general building coffers. This is second hand knowledge as I do not know any one on the board.

I looked at an apartment here once - overpriced and generally smaller than average! I do agree it is ugly on the outside.

Valldejuli - At my condo, the doorman always opens the door; i thought perhaps this was common. For rentals, it is not common - but I assumed condos/coops, perhaps this was normal.