So, I've been in the market to buy a place for a while and have checked out easily 100+ apartments on the UWS as well as other parts of the city. What has me flummoxed is the Livable (Net) Square Footage of Ariel West. which appears to be significantly less than the Reported Square Footage. And I gather that that's why the apartment price/sq ft in this building is much less than what one would... [more]
So, I've been in the market to buy a place for a while and have checked out easily 100+ apartments on the UWS as well as other parts of the city. What has me flummoxed is the Livable (Net) Square Footage of Ariel West. which appears to be significantly less than the Reported Square Footage. And I gather that that's why the apartment price/sq ft in this building is much less than what one would expect for such a building. My sense is that there's a lot of confusion among buyers regarding what they should pay. They may pay $1,600 per sq ft which appears on it's face to be a great deal but when one does a deep dive into the numbers, it no longer seems very attractive. For example, I looked at an apartment that had a Reported Square Footage of 2,350 sq ft. I then went thru the apartment layout and added up all the rooms as well as estimated sq ft of areas such as hallways, closets, etc. What I found was that the Actual Sq Ft was really AT MOST 1,700 sq ft or approximately 70% (or less) of the Reported Square Footage. For the city, I think this is definitely on the (very) low side. I should add that it's been reported in the past that the developer, Extell, for some reason added public space sq ft to each apartments sq ft. So, if one adjusts for the above numbers then you could argue that paying $1,600 per sq ft is really like paying $2,000+ sq ft if one adjusts for the exaggerated Reported Sq Ft. Thoughts? [less]
Dan, did you add interior walls and exterior walls. 50 percent of shared walls?
Condominiums are allowed to add each unit's pro rata portion of common spaces into their stated square footage.
So a 2,000 sq foot apartment at a new boutique building like Ariel West, which has 73 units sharing a pool, will have less square footage to place your couch than a 2,000 sq foot apartment in an older 1980s condo like the Columbia, which has 300 units sharing a pool, because the former is claiming a larger share of the shared pool amenity in its 2,000 sq foot number than the latter.
If you want stated square footage to be closer to actual liveable square footage, you should buy in a low-amenity condo (which usually involves other tradeoffs, because those tend to be older buildings) or a co-op.
I live right around the corner from Ariel West -- if you are interested I'm happy to chat about the area.
ali r.
{downtown broker}
My thought is that any comparable building is doing the exact same thing.
We recently sold a unit in the Ariel West and I can tell you that the building is in fact a bargain relative to other similar sized units in other new condo buildings. Yes, the common areas are factored into the square footage, but as others have pointed out, this is done with all condo buildings, and the Ariel buildings have many fantastic amenities. However, the units in this building have 10 foot ceilings, floor to ceiling windows and many have amazing views that are unique due to the location and the surrounding buildings that are landmarked. In my opinion, prices remain lower here because of the location - which some people consider less "prime" than other areas of the UWS and Manhattan. However, I believe this location is one of the few with upside - express train 3 blocks away and a rapidly gentrifying area. If the Ariel were 10 blocks to the south, these units would be priced 25% higher.