what would Cass Gilbert think / 130 W 30 St challenges : Manhattan Loft Guy

Manhattan Loft Guy

May. 18, 2007 - what would Cass Gilbert think / 130 W 30 St challenges

great building! the block … not so much

There are few great loft buildings in Manhattan that separate the Prefer-Loft people from the Love-Lofts people the way The Cass Gilbert does, at 130 West 30^th Street. Indeed, this building even separates the Merely-Love-Lofts people from the Love-Lofts-And-Authentic-Grit people, as only the latter should find their way through the Lincoln Tunnel exiting traffic and past the police station next door to #130.

Nothing pretty about this block. And not much that is pretty about any nearby blocks, either. (see digression, at bottom)

Yet there is a beautiful loft there, new to the market this week– that may be worth – to the right buyer -- the $1,300/ft they are asking for it.

#17A at 130 W 30 St is newly offered by Susan Sears of Corcoran. It is 2,300 sq ft and is offered for $2.995mm (and an even $3,000/mo). In a world in which downtown lofts with more than 2,000 sq ft on less ... gritty streets can be had under $3 million, Susan’s challenge will be in getting $3 million buyers to this block. Once there and up the elevator, there is a lot to like.

the plus factor is out the window

I will assume for this discussion that the finishes are as advertised – and worthy of this price range. What makes this unit stand out from others in the building, however, is the 17^th floor views, including the Empire State Building. Many units in the building are well appointed, but their big windows look at nearby buildings. It appears as though the 17^th floor is high enough to provide the sense of space that is the kind of “extra” a $3 million buyer could need on this block.

By way of contrast, see #7B offered by Tamir Shemish of PruDE. It is nearly the same size (2,150 sq ft) and “no expense [has been] spared” in tricking it out, but it is offered at only $1.95mm (and $2,411/mo). Granted, this layout does not have as many windows as #17A, but the north windows on the 7^th floor are looking across the street – not four blocks to the Empire State Building. (Open House in #7B on Sunday from 2 – 4)

helpful comp next door, facing south

Height matters. #17B sold in August 2005 for $2.35mm – nearly $1,100/ft for its 1,987 sq ft. (These south views might actually be preferred by many to the Empire State Building views in #17A.) It is likely to be at least two full years between the closing of #17B in August 2005 and the completed sale of #17A -- $1,300/ft is within a reasonable range as an asking price for #17A, IMO.

Final curio about marketing The Cass Gilbert: the listing descriptions for both #7B and #17B make lemonade out of the police station next door, by describing the locations as “the safest block in the city”. Well, I guess …. Nice try , for sure.

Open House in #17A on Sunday from 12 – 3

digression:

I thought about the Cass Gilbert this morning – before seeing the listing for #17A -- when reading a NYT review of Of Mice And Men. (really) The review begins:

This is the 70th anniversary of John Steinbeck’s novella “Of Mice and Men,” and the play he adapted from it, also in 1937, is being honored in a tiny theater on a West Side street where drunks and derelicts roam.

That “tiny theater” is Urban Stages, at 259 W 30^th St – one block closer to the Lincoln Tunnel than the Cass Gilbert, and the block that has a fire station to the Cass Gilbert’s police station. Can’t get much authentically grittier for a $3mm loft buyer than “where drunks and derelicts roam”. Bet those drunks and derelicts are safe, though.

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May. 18, 2007 - what would Cass Gilbert think / 130 W 30 St challenges

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