333 Central Park West (Turin) #11 Coop, seven rooms into six; 2 BR + Library, 2.5 BA Asks $2,695,000; Maint. $3145 Traffic: Light Location: Although north of the target zone for some buyers, 93rd Street is still prime UWS. Central Park is the main attraction here. B and C trains are three blocks away. Whole Foods is at 97th and Columbus. Building: WWI-era coop with ample charm and average... [more]
333 Central Park West (Turin) #11
Coop, seven rooms into six; 2 BR + Library, 2.5 BA
Asks $2,695,000; Maint. $3145
Traffic: Light
Location:
Although north of the target zone for some buyers, 93rd Street is still prime UWS. Central Park is the main attraction here. B and C trains are three blocks away. Whole Foods is at 97th and Columbus.
Building:
WWI-era coop with ample charm and average amenities. The Turin is relatively casual for a full-service CPW coop. The common areas really do recall northern Italy. The original layouts are all spacious, but many buyers see the need to rework floor plans for modern living.
Space:
The “1” line is an elongated seven with a large, Park-facing public space and a cluster of rather small bedrooms at the rear of the apartment. The owners of #11 have reworked the footprint, converting the third bedroom to a huge master bath, upgrading the adjacent second BR to the master, and adapting the original master bath and dressing room for use as a powder room and laundry area. They have also divided the front of the apartment to create a library that could serve as a bedroom, albeit one with awkward bathroom access. As currently configured, #11 is a two-bedroom apartment with space for guests, not a true 3BR. On the positive side, with the kitchen and dining room opened to the living room, the entertaining space does not feel chopped-up at all.
Condition:
#11 is immaculately maintained, and lavishly equipped. For a buyer who likes the dark wood and the altered layout, there is really nothing to do.
Potential:
Apartments as “done” as this one tend to be a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. #11 is what it is. And obviously, there’s no way to lift it above the first floor.
Financial:
There has been enough activity in the “1” line during the past year for a potential buyer to get a pretty good idea of the trade-offs here. The wreck directly above #11 sold for $2.25MM. Six floors higher, superior views and condition fetched $3.275MM for #81. The biggest problem for #11 might be that a $2.5MM buyer often settles for the ground floor to get an extra bedroom. #11 doesn’t offer that, so the market for this apartment could be quite narrow - especially in a building where the views are a key draw. The foot traffic at the open house suggested as much.
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Response by Sonya_D
over 12 years ago
Posts: 547
Member since: Jan 2013
Thanks! :)
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Response by bramstar
over 12 years ago
Posts: 1909
Member since: May 2008
The low maintenance is appealing...
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Response by Uptown2012
over 12 years ago
Posts: 81
Member since: Jan 2012
$2,695,000--hmmm. Isn't this the building once profiled in the New Yorker as having formerly been the epicenter of NYC Stalinism? How times change.
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Response by Truth
over 12 years ago
Posts: 5641
Member since: Dec 2009
Uptown2012: I didn't read that New Yorker profile. Is this in fact the Building profiled in that article?
Devil-worshippers and Rosemary's Baby, the epicenter of NYC Stalinism:
Central Park West has it all!
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Response by West81st
over 12 years ago
Posts: 5564
Member since: Jan 2008
Speaking of the New Yorker, Pauline Kael sharpened her poison pen at the Turin in the early 70s - apartment #121, I think. Was she a Stalinist?
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Response by Truth
over 12 years ago
Posts: 5641
Member since: Dec 2009
West81st: Didn't know Kael lived there. Pauline Kael living among the Stalinists.
That must have been an interesting Building in the early 70's.
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Response by Uptown2012
over 12 years ago
Posts: 81
Member since: Jan 2012
Hi, folks--
I tried to find that article again, but couldn't. Sorry! I'm not making this up, though--there was a delightful long piece about CPW Stalinists and how they all lived in one building and had pot luck suppers (well, maybe I am making up the potluck part--this was a long time ago that I read the piece and I retain a general memory of it more than specific details ...)
Pauline Kael? really! Wow. No Stalinist, she--more of a free spirit, I would think. I love it that you even know her apt number. Did she have park views?
No matter how you slice it, that's a fun and pretty building. I am nostalgic for the idea of a time in our city when prime real estate was affordable to a much wider range of people. Things are so different now. Sigh.
Some Commie pinkos, sure, but not really Stalinism.
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Response by Uptown2012
over 12 years ago
Posts: 81
Member since: Jan 2012
Boss Tweed, you are the best researcher! Thanks so much for finding the Kramer piece. I am embarrassed to realize that that it was so long ago--I vaguely remembered it as being only a while ago. How time flies.
I guess Stalinist vs Commie pinko is a subtle judgement call overall. But Wikipedia helpfully identifies for us some subjects of the Kramer article and notes that Alexander Coburn lived in the Turin while a London Daily Worker correspondent. It's hard to be more hard core about the party line than that--the paper was the official organ of the CP in England, after all. The article speaks about Alger Hiss(!) dropping in for brunch, and Ros Roose (the woman at the center of the profile) 's time in the Young Communist League, and later, as--yes, definitely--a proud Stalin supporter. So I did remember that part right. This article is so much fun, it's really worth braving the New Yorker's excruciating back issue repository, now that Boss Tweed got us the correct issue info. Have a look, and marvel at the change over time in this building!
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Response by Boss_Tweed
over 12 years ago
Posts: 287
Member since: Jul 2009
Yeah, shades of pink can depend on rose-colored glasses, but don't forget Alexander Cockburn also had a column in the Wall Street Journal. Do you think that makes him an arch-capitalist?!
And really, I just typed a few words in the search box on the NYer website. No research necessary.
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Response by Uptown2012
over 12 years ago
Posts: 81
Member since: Jan 2012
Ah--the miracles of modern search technology! You still get credit for doing it, however.
Cockburn--he's a problematic case, since he did an abrupt ideological about-face at some point in life and when from far left to far right. A lot of disillusioned serious lefties did. It's a pity we don't get more traffic going in the other direction. Maybe living in prime real estate has a subliminal effect on people's ideology?
Back to the real theme of this thread, the apt now for sale: this isn't my area of expertise but that sounds pretty pricey to me. If I were shopping in that price range, I think I'd be looking elsewhere. It'll be interesting to see how long it stays on the market before something happens.
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Response by Truth
over 12 years ago
Posts: 5641
Member since: Dec 2009
Uptown2012: "The future is unwritten". (Joe Strummer, The Clash).
Thanks! :)
The low maintenance is appealing...
$2,695,000--hmmm. Isn't this the building once profiled in the New Yorker as having formerly been the epicenter of NYC Stalinism? How times change.
Uptown2012: I didn't read that New Yorker profile. Is this in fact the Building profiled in that article?
Devil-worshippers and Rosemary's Baby, the epicenter of NYC Stalinism:
Central Park West has it all!
Speaking of the New Yorker, Pauline Kael sharpened her poison pen at the Turin in the early 70s - apartment #121, I think. Was she a Stalinist?
West81st: Didn't know Kael lived there. Pauline Kael living among the Stalinists.
That must have been an interesting Building in the early 70's.
Hi, folks--
I tried to find that article again, but couldn't. Sorry! I'm not making this up, though--there was a delightful long piece about CPW Stalinists and how they all lived in one building and had pot luck suppers (well, maybe I am making up the potluck part--this was a long time ago that I read the piece and I retain a general memory of it more than specific details ...)
Pauline Kael? really! Wow. No Stalinist, she--more of a free spirit, I would think. I love it that you even know her apt number. Did she have park views?
No matter how you slice it, that's a fun and pretty building. I am nostalgic for the idea of a time in our city when prime real estate was affordable to a much wider range of people. Things are so different now. Sigh.
Some of the "notable residents" are listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turin
That great New Yorker article is Jane Kramer's "The Life of the Party" from Feb 6, 1995:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1995/02/06/1995_02_06_061_TNY_CARDS_000371881
Some Commie pinkos, sure, but not really Stalinism.
Boss Tweed, you are the best researcher! Thanks so much for finding the Kramer piece. I am embarrassed to realize that that it was so long ago--I vaguely remembered it as being only a while ago. How time flies.
I guess Stalinist vs Commie pinko is a subtle judgement call overall. But Wikipedia helpfully identifies for us some subjects of the Kramer article and notes that Alexander Coburn lived in the Turin while a London Daily Worker correspondent. It's hard to be more hard core about the party line than that--the paper was the official organ of the CP in England, after all. The article speaks about Alger Hiss(!) dropping in for brunch, and Ros Roose (the woman at the center of the profile) 's time in the Young Communist League, and later, as--yes, definitely--a proud Stalin supporter. So I did remember that part right. This article is so much fun, it's really worth braving the New Yorker's excruciating back issue repository, now that Boss Tweed got us the correct issue info. Have a look, and marvel at the change over time in this building!
Yeah, shades of pink can depend on rose-colored glasses, but don't forget Alexander Cockburn also had a column in the Wall Street Journal. Do you think that makes him an arch-capitalist?!
And really, I just typed a few words in the search box on the NYer website. No research necessary.
Ah--the miracles of modern search technology! You still get credit for doing it, however.
Cockburn--he's a problematic case, since he did an abrupt ideological about-face at some point in life and when from far left to far right. A lot of disillusioned serious lefties did. It's a pity we don't get more traffic going in the other direction. Maybe living in prime real estate has a subliminal effect on people's ideology?
Back to the real theme of this thread, the apt now for sale: this isn't my area of expertise but that sounds pretty pricey to me. If I were shopping in that price range, I think I'd be looking elsewhere. It'll be interesting to see how long it stays on the market before something happens.
Uptown2012: "The future is unwritten". (Joe Strummer, The Clash).