Park Avenue Maisonettes?

First of all, I'm not sure where you're getting your information but maisonettes don't sell for premiums over higher floors, they sell for a discount. Two main reasons, not in any particular order: privacy and light. Not many people are interested in them, and thus frequently take longer to sell because the pool of buyers is smaller. Combine that with the fact that all need extensive rehab and you have an even smaller pool of buyers.

BFGross: I thought that maisonettes commanded a premium because most maisonettes in new developments have sold for higher prices than units on higher floors. (See 135 East 79th and 141 East 88th)

Actually, I thought that one of the reasons that buyers preferred maisonettes was because of the privacy; they don't have to deal with their neighbors or nosy doorman if they want to avoid them. As for light, I think that some people like being at the tree level, though obviously you're not going to get the insane views of a unit on the 35th floor.

So any thoughts about these particular units?

NO idea about 135 east 79th st. Hard to believe that any maisonette sells for MORE per sq ft than its equivalent space on a higher fllor. if someone can walk up to your window and look inside how is that private? Solution is bars or shades drawn 24/7. Not really appealing for most. I'll let others take it from here.

The maisonettes at 135 E 79th are bigger than most of the other units, but sold for less than smaller units there.

Each of the three for sale has its own drawbacks. E.g., 830 is half in the cellar, where you'd be looking up at the sidewalk through grates. They're sitting because priced too high. No telling what they'll eventually go for. The co-ops might give up and go back to renting them to doctors.

Look at the Buckley's old place at 778. The bargain of the building, but didn't sell until they'd chopped it by almost a third:

03/23/2010 Listed by Brown Harris Stevens $12,000,000
09/17/2010 Price decreased by 17% ↓ $10,000,000
12/14/2010 Sale recorded $8,750,000

NWT: Where would you price them? 1001 and 830 are sitting empty right now, so someone's losing a lot of maintenance. 941 is currently occupied by a doctor's office, but I don't know if they own or rent. Isn't it preferable for the building to have residential units over doctor's offices?

Buckley's place is amazing, but is another caliber of apartment and building. Maybe that's what 1001 Park is using as his comp? I haven't really been able to find a good comp for these either renovated or unrenovated.

No idea what that kind of thing goes for.

I was off on the 778 history. It was first offered in 2008 at $24.5 million.

As bfgross said, limited product and limited market, so if you're looking for one it's a guess.

Here's another one that's been sitting awhile: http://streeteasy.com/sale/1129471-coop-555-park-avenue-lenox-hill-new-york

Not really a maisonette, as it has no separate street entrance, but one of its back doors is just a few steps from the building's service entrance.

It's strange that these buildings or owners are just content to let the units sit on the market indefinitely rather than lowering the prices. (941 Park has actually RAISED the price.)

It does seem like a limited market and one that is difficult to price well. Perhaps the intersection of buyers willing to do work and buyers who want to live in a maisonette is close to zero, though that seems impossible in such a big city.

NWT: I really liked the apartment at 555 Park. I don't really see any problems with the service entrance being next to the service entrance for the building as long as the door is reinforced. As long as I'm not sleeping there, I don't think it would be a big problem. That said, it seems like this apartment is even more difficult to sell considering the price. I think it'll sit a while longer.

Here's another one: http://streeteasy.com/building/775-park-avenue-new_york/maisa