Double or nothing: West Village townhouse goes for $23.3M

Ascend Builders paid $10.2M for 146 Waverly Place in 2013

From left: 146 Waverly Place in West Village and Leonard Steinberg
From left: 146 Waverly Place in West Village and Leonard Steinberg

A mystery buyer is the proud new owner of a gut-renovated townhouse in the West Village that just closed for $23.3 million – more than double the previous sale price of $10.2 million in 2013.

The five-story townhouse at 146 Waverly Place, Between Grove Street And Sixth Avenue, measures 7,600 square feet. It is 23 feet wide with seven bedrooms and 6.5 baths.

A partnership between Robert Kaliner of Ascend Builders and Jeffrey Davidson bought the property in 2013 for roughly $1,667 per square foot. The latest sale price works out to about $3,066 per square foot – an 84 percent premium on a square foot basis.

Months after closing, Kaliner and Davidson tried to lock in a buyer and listed the house at $22 million. When a buyer failed to materialize, the duo proceeded to gut the townhouse, which was previously carved into multiple apartments. Working with architect Wayne Turett, Kaliner and Davidson added approximately 800 square feet and recalibrated the floors to accommodate 10-foot ceilings.

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With the renovation complete, 146 Waverly came back onto the market asking $24.5 million in October 2015. Compass President Leonard Steinberg, who was marketing the property, said Kaliner and Davidson received multiple bids before entering into contract in late December. “It sold very quickly,” he said.

The buyer, identified as Waverly 146 LLC, was represented by a Pittsburgh-based attorney, according to public records.

According to Steinberg, a key selling point was the buyer’s ability to move in without having to renovate the home themselves. “There are opportunities where you can buy for less and do the work,” he said. “The people buying this house found a lot of what had been done met their needs.”

At $23.3 million, the sale falls short of records in the area. In November, the boutique development firm Amirian Group sold a townhouse at 16 East 10th Street for $32 million, breaking a prior record of $28 million at 42 West 12th Street.