Jan. 4, 2008 - real price drop at 112 W 18 but still a real project

still no size, but floor plan will do
I hit 112 West 18 Street #4C in an open house review when it was new 2 months ago (6 Sunday Open Houses in the 1.4s if you set your clock right), saying tersely: "yes, it is hard to get excited about such a "rare offering" without a floor plan or size…." At that point it was $1.495mm and $1,348/mo for a 3 BR + 1 bath "white box", but the price has just been dropped to $1.35mm.

architects, please call in
I don't know that I have seen a "white box" with 3 bedrooms before, but clearly this is being marketed as a gut-and-build job. The floor plan has since been added to the listing and shows plumbing in only one corner, which would be a major limitation to creative design if there are no risers elsewhere.

The space is (very) roughly 29 x 45 feet if the room dimensions are accurate, yielding something under 1,300 sq ft of serious renovation project. Using my new ballpark figure for a gut renovation of $200/ft (see Dec 10: need renovation stories / a reader writes for help), that is 'only' about $1,200/ft to buy-and-build in a central Chelsea location.

engineers, too
The key to whether this makes sense near this price point as a renovation project will be whether there are hidden (so far) issues with a renovation. Are there other risers? Does the whole place have to be re-wired?

But it is a condo with low monthly expenses ... if you are interested in a project and need only about 1,300 sq ft, this may get interesting for you.

© Sandy Mattingly 2008