Jun. 22, 2009 - biting a big bullet in little pieces / 9 Murray closes off 40%

price of "canvass" has plummeted
The Manhattan loft 5SE at 9 Murray Street was presented to the market in August 2008 (just before Lehman) with grand ambitions and evident motivation: starting at $1.9mm on August 16, 2008; dropped to $1.8mm in five weeks (and to $1,799,999 -- just for fun, I assume -- soon thereafter); then to $1.6mm within another 4 weeks; then to $1.5mm in 2 weeks; then (exhausted, no doubt) to $1.4mm after another 3 months, which generated a contract within 6 weeks. That contract closed on May 29 at $1.15mm.

That's 9 months on market, with 4 price drops of more than one dollar, to clear at 60% of the original asking price.

The "2,084 sq ft" loft was marketed as a bring-your-architect special with "divine" light. Nearly square, having windows on only one side is a severe limitation to any layout having real "bedrooms" (i.e., with windows), no matter how divine the light.

reasonable, just wrong
Hindsight is terribly clear that this loft never had a chance, even starting at $950/ft. (It overlapped from January into May with a high-floor neighbor asking about $1,200/ft [and then about $1,100/ft] for a "delightful" renovation with city, sky and river views -- that one came off the market without finding a buyer.) But when it started, it did not appear to be unreasonable, as another "canvass" cleared in January 2007 at just under $1,000/ft. Unit 8NE was another gut job ("Calling all creatives. Blank canvas to change."), though perhaps with slightly better light and city views. At "2,254 sq ft", it found a full price deal within 2 months in late 2006, closing in January 2007 at $2mm.

While the #5SE sellers relied on that 2007 sale in setting their asking price, they hardly sat on that price when it didn't work -- with four $100k price drops after 5 weeks, then 4 weeks, then 2 weeks, then 3 months. Having cut-cut-cut, they were still flexible enough to negotiate another 23% off their last asking price.

funny little "Tribeca" corner
I get it that this block is "Tribeca", but it is a very different Tribeca than the rest. The street level retail is vastly different from most of Tribeca-proper and the "T" intersection into Broadway at City Hall Park orients this block more to that park than to the river. Subway access is nearby and myriad, but a lot of charm has been lost in the translation. So it is priced accordingly.

funky condo development
This building looks to have been converted only in 2000. Judging from the 1 bathroom layout of #5SE (and of other units), it must have been sold as white boxes, and several people left them in that form (at least as far as plumbing). The lower 4 floors are commercial and the upper residential floors have varying layouts -- with 3, 4 or 2 units per floor and no two floors exactly alike. Makes me wonder if it evolved from residential rentals....

Prior pricing here reflects non-prime Tribeca values, with a typically powerful roof terrace premium: a no-detail-overlooked renovation sold around $1,150/ft in June 2008 (#8W) and (an even better renovation?) closed that same June around $1,300/ft (#8E; no listing info), while a "2,000 sq ft" penthouse with terrace sold for $4.85mm in September 2008 (#12SW) -- just a few weeks after #5SE came to market at $950/ft.