Dec. 10, 2007 - need renovation stories / a reader writes for help
how far could $150/ft go?
A faithful reader wrote in off-line asking for help in ball-parking the potential renovation expense in buying a loft that would need a lot of work.
More precisely, he said:
I have mostly been looking at recently refurbished apartments, but have recently expanded my search to include apartments that would require either partial or full renovations. Like everyone, I like nice finishes, but my tastes are not extravagant. I think the finishes on this apartment are about what I would be looking for - certainly nice, but not over the top. http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=1041451. [that is #3A at 16 Hudson Street]
Based on your experience, could you tell me what range of cost I could expect to gut renovate a traditional loft in Tribeca? Do you think it would be possible to do nicely (but once again, not extravagantly) for $150 / sq. ft. for a 1750 sq. ft. loft ($250K in total)? Kitchen, two bathrooms, central air, etc.
Also, if you have any architects whose work you really recommend for something like this, I'd be grateful for the recommendation.
My response (below) won't be as helpful to him as Actual Information from Actual Loft Renovators. Anyone care to share facts about what they spent on a renovation, or what they were quoted?
I told him: "Short story is that you *can* do a renovation for a buck and a half per foot, *depending*…. The quotes I have seen for installing central air (assuming it is do-able at all, and the compressor doesn't have to go on the roof) were less than $50k for less than 2,000 sq ft. I find that kitchens are often easier (cheaper) than baths - that's where The Big Money will go. The rest is cosmetics, up to the limit of your budget, with built-ins and fancy stuff if there's room."
And I gave him the contacts for 2 loft architects I know.
(C) Sandy Mattingly 2007
|
Comments (3) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
View more entries tagged with: Renovation, Gut, Budget, Architect
|
Oct. 14, 2007 - combo job at 8 W 13 needs answers
Unit "9FRW" at 8 West 13
Street does not exist yet, but will exist after someone buys these adjoining units and combines them, after paying
perhaps as much as the $2.495mm asking price (with maintenance of $1,505/mo).
As presented by Corcoran, the combination will be an unknown number of square feet, with 2 baths and 3 bedrooms. It is not
surprising to see an offering for a combination with no interior pictures (assume you will gut the whole thing) but maybe
you would keep a kitchen or bathroom - and wouldn't you want to know the footprint? Wouldn't you want to know where the
plumbing is so you know if you can add bathrooms?? Wouldn't you want to know which walls should come down to meld the
spaces???
Digging only a bit reveals an "F" unit currently for sale with pictures and floor plan and a "RW" unit recently sold, with
web pix and floor plan still on line. Elise Ward of PruDE is representing #2F, which is "1,100 sq ft" of a "renowned designer's own home
featured in multiple architectural publications", asking $1.5mm and $818/mo for all that renown. (I hit it when it came to
market, on July 9: min to the
(small) max / new at 8 W 13, when reader Jess outed that renowned designer.)
Unit 4RW was sold through
Gabriella Winter and Alex Nicholas of Corcoran in August (for $991,700 after 10 months on the market) as "1,100 sq ft" of
architecturally designed quiet space, so it looks as though the combination of an F and RW should yield 2,200 sq ft. I
have trouble visualizing the layout of such a combination from the floor plans on the two listings, but others may find
that easier. But it surely would be nice if you could see the foot print of "#9FRW" to assess where the combination would
be, how the combo might flow, and how much flexibility the plumbing stacks provide. Sigh….
Interesting that #8F sold in January 2006 for $1.1mm - above the $995k asking price - as a bring-your-architect special.
But for that sale, I would look at offering "#9FRW" for $2.495mm as a 2,200 sq ft combo that (probably) needs a total gut
job as a big stretch. It is probably still a stretch, just not as far, for that fairly small set of buyers who would
rather create their own space than buy someone's else's idea of a beautiful loft.
Even those buyers are going to want more information, nonetheless.
© Sandy Mattingly 2007
|
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
View more entries tagged with: West 13, Union Square, Renovation, Combination
|
Jul. 29, 2007 - loft pioneering as late as 1998 / 62 Orchard St NY Times ‘Habitats’ feature
story + back story from the Lower East Side
Fascinating article in Sunday’s Habitats section of the NY Times real estate section about a California couple who found “exactly the vision of what we thought a New York City loft would be”, A Loft Built on Vision and Sweat.
As with so many happy loft stories, this couple had the guts to take a shot in a ‘fringe’ area, they got a bit lucky, they had a vision, and they invested a huge amount of sweat equity. One result provides the punch line (and last line) of the article: the friends who declined to join with them to buy a dilapidated and under-utilized seven-story Lower East Side building (only the ground floor was being used when they saw it): less than a year after they bought it
“They [the friends] stood and gaped,” Ms. Weinstock said. “They were like, ‘Why didn’t you tell us it could look like this?’ ”
A little research reveals that these folks live at 62 Orchard Street – between Hester and Grand, you can’t get much more Lower East Side than that. They formed a coop with the original building owner and four other pioneers, then set out to build the loft they envisioned (the ‘before’ picture is here; ‘after’ is here). Their 3rd floor 2,400 sq ft cost $275,000 to buy in 1998, gave the rest of their money ($35,000) to a contractor who then fled the country, and ended up doing the demolition and renovation themselves.
“Our existence was this: we’d come home from our jobs at 6 or 7 and work until midnight. Then we’d go down to the local bar and have a Scotch and a cigarette. I don’t even smoke! It was just our ritual, the one moment of the day we could look forward to.”
Not many people have the combination of courage, motivation and skills to pull off this kind of project, then or now. Kudos to them!
It almost seems tacky to assess the market value of what they have accomplished, so perhaps it is fortunate that there are no recent sales in the building to provide comps. The only sale I see was the 4th floor four years ago, which had an asking price of $1.25mm.
© Sandy Mattingly 2007
|
Comments (3) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
View more entries tagged with: Orchard Street, Ny Times, Habitat, Renovation, Pioneeers, History, Lower East Side
|
|
on matters of interest to Manhattan coop or condo loft apartment dwellers, buyers, sellers, and others, especially about New York City real estate
Links
• Home
• View my profile
• Archives
• Email Me
• Blog Manager
|
RSS Blog Feed
