Sale at 645 West End Avenue

From the first open house on 9/7:

645 West End Avenue #3D
$1,500,000 mt. $1603
Co-op, 2 beds 3 baths
Traffic: Moderate-heavy (mostly neighbors, I think)
http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/345806-coop-645-west-end-avenue-upper-west-side-new-york

There’s a lot of wood in this classic six. Some is good; some not so good. The whole place is overloaded with built-ins that make the apartment feel smaller than it is, including a huge desk that occupies nearly half of the living room.

The closed-in feeling is exacerbated by views of brick walls from every room except the bedrooms, which face east over West End. Unfortunately, the rooms that need light are dark, and the rooms that need quiet are noisy.

The kitchen needs appliances, counters and a new floor, but the old cabinetry is in good shape and the newer oak cabinets that have been added match the old stuff pretty well. I can’t say the same of the extra woodwork in the living/dining area. For some reason, the doors and transoms between the two spaces are stained cherry, so they clash with the old paneling. Maybe the paneling was covered with paint at the time the new woodwork was added, and the mismatch didn’t become evident until later, when the old wood was stipped?

The bathrooms have been restored – not very gracefully, but at least the original fixtures have been preserved, as have the beautiful stained-glass bathroom windows. The interior doors have been refinished nicely. Closet space is a bit tight everywhere except the master bedroom, where floorspace has been sacrificed to create some nice built-in closets.

645 is a pleasant building that doesn’t fetch high prices. (It was interesting to see the head of the co-op board and several other curious/anxious neighbors buzzing around this debut showing.) #12D sold last year for $1.61MM. The high floor makes a big difference here. So, although $1.5MM seems pretty good for a classic six on West End, it probably has room to fall. I don’t know how motivated the seller is. According to the agent, he was a renter who subsequently bought, but I missed his reason for selling. He seems to have moved out already.

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/4916-open-house-reports-9708-any-requests-on-uws

Thank you very much for your input, West 81st.