building at 210 East 21st Street

Why do say it is cheap? <275-300 sq ft studio (falsely listed as 400 sq ft) in contract for 295k.

It is not cheap, true, but compared to other studios in the areas, it is -- I'd say the whole area is overpriced, and in this building the apartments seem less outrageously overpriced; in any case it's extremely hard to find anything under $350k. Or for example this 1-br for 389k: http://streeteasy.com/sale/1212877 I have been looking for a year and there aren't 1-br downtown for this type of prices.

Footprint is below 400 sqft and condition barely ok. 1000 per sq ft.

Also this area is certainly cheaper than Chelsea or village.

Comparing to other studios and 1-br in Gramercy itself, with condition not really better, it does seem cheaper, and with lots of sales this year (4 sales for just 29 units in the building).

Please post some examples of higher prices sale. Perhaps I will learn something.

Of course. The cheapest studio currently in the market is this one, for $410k: http://streeteasy.com/building/the-sage-house/9m
I visited it, not sure how they did their measurements for "living space" because it's actually very small.

18x20 seems to be size of the whole apt including kitchen excluding the exterior wall. So call it 375+ sq ft. Building has a doorman and lobby pictures look nicer. Marginally better location. You are still in $1000 per sq ft range. I think you need to compare the prices in per sq ft terms rather than studio or 1b/r even though I understand where you are coming from: Many people will take the same sq ft REAL 1b/r rather than a large studio.

Ah forgot to mention that Sage house is a really beautiful building. There is at least 10% premium for that.

If you can afford it, I would get the Sage house. Coop is likely to be more difficult.

I prefer a real 1-br, by far, and if not that an alcove studio -- the studio I linked to doesnt offer many layout possibilities. I am not the only one having those preferences so the prices usually reflect that, which is why the 1-br looks cheap. The condition of the sage house studio is stated as excellent but it wasn't so good -- the floor was not looking good, nor the windows, etc. And if going for a studio, I'd rather have a smaller studio for cheaper, but that's my preference :)

Do you have an opinion about this one http://streeteasy.com/building/gramercy-house/14v ? I find the building beautiful, and it seems to be very well established like the sage house, and a full-service coop

I like Sage house but without seeing the apt it is a tough choice as the other building seems nice as well. It seems that 14v allows for a tiny interior bedroom. I would think one can get a nice murphy bed with tempur pedic mattress (or American Leather beautiful queen sized bed/couch $4.5k with custom upholstery and tempur-pedic mattress) and solve the desire to have a separate bedroom. However, that is just me.

I have one for our guest bedroom. It is very comfortable mattress. You can test at Jensen Lewis.
http://www.americanleather.com/Comfort-Sleeper/Comfort-Sleeper-Styles.aspx

Thanks -- haha we're on the same wavelength for that, I actually already have a custom murphy bed in my Bk studio, with mirrors in front to make the room look bigger. I do love it, and it is comfortable, and super easy to pull up and down, but what I really like with alcoves (what I currently have in my rental) is the ability to sleep comfortably while someone else goes about their business -- you dont' get that with murphy bed, so as much as I love them... I now prefer alcoves / br.

I love Gramercy House and we almost bought there once. Be aware that the board will want to see strong financials compared to some other similar buildings.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

I agree with Ali on both counts. At One point there was a problem with Gramercy House since the Sponsor basically went bankrupt and there were 3 large blocks of unsold shares held by 3 different entities, but I don't think that is still an issue.

Thanks for the input, that made me want to get it even more -- but someone else had made an offer by the time I saw the place, which I knew, but apparently the owner accepted it already today, so cute place is gone :-/ Too bad, I really liked it, and not as much the other studios.

Suggestion: if you really love that building, go by and talk to the superintendent. Let them know you really love the building, leave them your number and tell them if they hear about anyone thinking of selling you would love to have first crack at it. Let them know you will make it worth their while.

Oh thanks, that's a great suggestion! I liked this particular apartment though, many of the others have a lay out or renovation I don't like as much, and I would much prefer not to have to deal with renovation myself.