The 18 foot wide, 3-family townhouse just south of 117th Street at 403 Manhattan Avenue finally went into contract as of mid March. This rental-grade, 2,660 square foot property started out a couple of years back with the asking price of $1.67 million (then went up a little) but eventually had several price reductions until the listing landed at $875K. The location is only a block away from Morningside Park and the 116th Street train at the bustling FDB corridor but the house is rather chopped up with lackluster finishes. The basic look of this house didn't really help move things along but the well-appointed neighboring one to the left at No. 401 sold for $1.55 million last year:
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At first glance I could not imagine why a habitable 18-footer in that location would sell anywhere near that location, no matter the finishes. But some searching turns up some relevant details.
ReplyDelete1. A "Schedule A" I located on a mortgage document shows the lot as only 50 feet deep - could that even be accurate? Apparently a very small footprint, despite its width.
2. A broker listing shows the place as wholly rented, so presumably it would go as an investment property.
3. A few years ago the place was acquired from a foreclosure by some developers whose work I have reason to question very seriously, and who in turn had acquired it from a questionable developer.
I also noticed the blue cabinetry, which resembles that we saw in the post on the property on ACP in the upper 130s. This Manhattan Ave. property has a name on the mortgage documents that is similar to the name on that ACP property.
Coopster, you could be a detective. Although you are right, that ghastly blue cabinet work is hard to miss. Unless it’s The Next Big Thing and I’m just too dim to know.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I am missing something, but for a place of this size anywhere from Morningside to Lenox up to 125th st, I would consider 875K as a pretty good deal for the buyer. That works out to $324 per sq. ft. Comps are in the 500+ per sq. ft. range. It isn't that difficult to switch out a blue cabinet!
ReplyDeleteI looked at Manhattan Avenue townhouses as well - it's a beautiful street and close to FDB as well as Morningside Park - but there are some issues. One major issue is the lack of a backyard of most of the townhouses on Manhattan Avenue.
ReplyDeleteAlso, many of them are only 3 floors - most of the other townhouses in Harlem have an "English Basement" so 4 livable floors plus cellar. This basement is called a "rec area" so I imagine the same issues exists.
It also clearly needs work. I don't think unfinished townhouses are selling at $500+ per square foot. The only places getting those prices are move-in ready townhouses.