The story of the marketing and sale of Unit 1E at 147 Waverly Place (a 'successful' flip) is not a long story (except as I tell it), but it packs a punch. But first, a digression (feint?)....
This true loft building is one of several along the Sixth Avenue corridor in the Village, and this one is just far enough from the avenue that it is probably nearly placid. The building was (finally) converted to condos in 2008, with the sponsor sales closing from February through November.
A project converting 147 Waverly Place in the West Village to condos had to contend with another unusual structural detail -- a heptagonal, or seven-sided, building. Some of the 20 half- and full-floor condos in the building feature as many as seven exposures, a definite draw for buyers who want views. The potential downside of working with a seven-sided building is that rooms could have unusual shapes, but that was minimized.
***
Because of limited floor space, common hallways were eliminated. Instead, the building was outfitted with two banks of elevators so elevators open to each individual apartment.
and a history digression
I have tried to figure out what this building was,
pre-conversion, but Google has
not been my friend on this one. It is clearly a loft building with a commercial or industrial past, but neither the
building website for the marketing, nor the
architect's website (
BKSK Architects), nor any of the various press mentions I found for the project describe its prior use, with one small exception. Hoping for Christopher Gay, I got
Florence Fabricant, covering the theatrical (?) production of Tony and Tina's Wedding, which in the 1980s held the wedding reception of that eating extravaganza at Vinnie's, a second floor restaurant at 147 Waverly Place (if "Vinnie's" is fictional, then Gus's is the restaurant on the ground floor; I think).
Other than the Tony & Tina restaurant connection, does anybody know what this building used to be?
back to The Story Of The Flip
Unit #1E is basically a very large studio ("975 sq ft" plus a terrace) that sold originally on June 13, 2008 for $895k. (If you are sitting down and have no liquid in your mouth, continue reading ....) The June Buyer started as Wanna-Be-Seller on July 28, 2008 (if you are going to flip, why wait?), asking (I said no liquid in the mouth) $1.995mm, which is not a typo but an asking price more than double the purchase price.
But the Wanna-Be-Seller did want to be a seller, so the price dropped to $1.695mm within 7 weeks, to $1.499mm 2 weeks later, to $1.299mm after another 7 weeks, and (finally) to $1.199mm on December 5 -- which generated a prompt accepted offer (December 17) but a slow contract (January 15, 2009). No delay on the closing, though, as that seems to have been February 6 according to the inter-firm data-base. (Clearing price is not yet available.)
velocity x magnitude = whiplash
The speed at which the Wanna-Be-Seller adjusted the asking price for this Manhattan loft is remarkable, as is the magnitude: the $796,000 price reduction was a 40% "discount" off the asking price. Yowza. (How's that for punch?) But they still did the deal in six months.
The other attempted flip here was both much larger and more modest, yet unsuccessful (the listing expired without a sale). That one was bought for $5.85mm in July and immediately put on the market at $7.25mm, then $6.95mm, then $6.495mm. No deal, and off the market as of a couple of weeks ago.
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