Mar. 19, 2009 - 50 Walker Street closes well off August ask after being publicly negotiable + serving bourbon

not like yesterday
The full history of the Manhattan loft #6A at 50 Walker Street will reveal just how different this marketing campaign was from the loft addressed yesterday (why be that negotiable in secret? 25 Ann Street closed nearly 25% off ask ), but for now (before the clearing price is known) the difference is sufficiently stark and (in relation to 25 Ann St) sufficiently timely to warrant a post. (Side note to the chasing-a-dream Anon from March 15: this is the kind of timely + relevant info I like to provide, but the trade-off is that it won't be complete until ACRIS is updated with the actual sale price.)

a truly spectacular loft (did a grandparent buy?)
This loft has been one of my favorites since it came to market last August, just weeks before Lehman, when the world was a different place. In fact, I have twice drafted posts about it, but have never finalized them for one reason or another.  (The part of the PruDE listing captured by StreetEasy is here.) The loft is only "1,600 sq ft", set up as a 2 bedroom, but it is (to my loft-y snobby eyes) beautifully finished and there is "1,000 sq ft" of private roof deck. As the broker-babble has it, "old Tribeca meets the 21st Century". I've had it high on my list of classic-lofts-with-outdoor-space, but haven't had one of those buyers while this has been available.

The loft was featured in a NY Times article on November 14 about a one night 4-stop loft tour with whiskey and bourbon. They served bourbon at 50 Walker Street, the last stop on the tour. Although the reporter liked the loft (it "seemed like a bargain"), one philistine 24-year-old-trader sniffed: “It’s cool, but it’s kind of like a museum,” he said. “It feels like my grandparents’ house.” Dude must have cool grandparents, no?

no secrets
Ii have watched the price history with interest, and not  a little sympathy for the owner and the experienced agents who manged this process:

• 8/13/2008  to market at $3,195,000
• 10/08/2008 drop 9% to $2,895,000
• 11/12/2008 drop 3% to $2,795,000
• 11/18/2008 drop 4% to $2,695,000
• 2/05/2009 drop 7% to $2,495,000
• 2/12/2009 contract

It was updated yesterday as Sold & Closed, ironically at about the same time I posted about the

negotiability of 25 Ann Street #4 which -- I have to believe -- cost that seller some money. Nothing secret about the intentions of the seller at #6A 50 Walker Street ... drop the price to find The Market. Assuming (optimistically) that #6A got the last ask, there is a 22% spread between start and finish (more likely, the spread will be higher when the trading price is available).

This seller recognized the problem (though not its scope) within 60 days, lopping 9% off the original price. This seller waited only another month to drop again by six figures, then tried again almost immediately, to head into the 'holiday season'. This seller then gave the New Year a chance to see if it would bring a new set of buyers and -- when it did not after 35 days of New Year -- dropped the price another $200k.

price found The Market.

No buyer that was at all interested in a loft like this could have mistaken this seller as one who would not negotiate -- the owner made four public announcements to that effect. In contrast, 25 Ann Street #4 had one price change and one change in firm over 4+ months before negotiating a deal 23% off the last asking price. My point yesterday was that they'd have done better if they had been more public about their willingness to compromise. Most buyers are likely to have interpreted the refusal to drop that price again as implying that the seller was not very negotiable.

I suspect that the buyer for #6A at 50 Walker Street did not negotiate a deep discount off the last asking price, but time (and ACRIS) will tell....

© Sandy Mattingly 2009