Plaza unit loses 40% of value in 14 months
July 28, 2009 05:30PM By Adam Pincus
The Plaza
A unit in the Plaza sold for $8.5 million last week, a 41 percent discount from its original sponsor sale price achieved a little over a year ago, in May 2008.
Co-owners Andria and Irakli Jokhtaberidze bought the 2,841-square-foot unit from the New York-Presbyterian Fund on July 21, after going into contract in May, city property records published today show.
The unit was listed in January for $14.5 million, but its price was cut substantially and ultimately sold for $3,045 per square foot at the high-profile hotel-condo rehabilitation at 768 Fifth Avenue at Central Park South.
O.S.S. Capital Management money manager Oscar Schafer bought the unit in May 2008 for $14.6 million, or $5,165 per square foot, then gifted the condo unit to the New York-Presbyterian Fund, an affiliate of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, in December 2008, city records show. The Plaza declined to comment.
A recent purchase at 15 Central Park West shows that some apartments have increased in value over the past year and a half.
Earlier this month, Roberta Campbell, the ex-wife of William Campbell, the chairman of the board of software company Intuit, paid $17.5 million for a 3,480-square-foot condo at 15 Central Park West, or $5,028 per square foot. That resale price was $3 million higher than the sponsor sale in March 2008.
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Comments
Anonymous
Everything was priced exorbitantly in the go-go 2000s. The hangover is a killer.
Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/09
Anonymous
I believe # 1 has the makings of comment of the week.
Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/09
Anonymous
I love this guy,Oscar Shafer, who got a tremendous tax deduction for "gifting" a doggy piece of real estate to a hospital. Pure genius for not taking the hit himself.
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/09
Anonymous
If this was a coop, the board would not have approved this bargain basement sale. Just goes to show why coops will hold their value ofer condos, despite the rigmarole and dogcrap the board puts new buyers through.
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/09
Anonymous
Can people still afford the maintenance fees, real estate tax and mortgage in coops. I'm waiting for the massive foreclosed coops condos to hit the market.
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/09
Anonymous
Coops are a nightmare if you're a seller right now - another reason not to buy a coop.
Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 07/29/09
Anonymous
Buy now, or be priced out forever! What a crock!
Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 07/29/09
Anonymous
Coops aren't going to hold their value just because some boards don't want to allow sales. This wasn't a bargain basement sale, it is just a sale reflecting reality. Besides, if boards take too hard of a line, eventually they will be in court with owners. When they try to pull this crap with a bank, most of them will get crushed.
Comment #8 Posted By: Anonymous 07/29/09
Anonymous
If coops don't approve sales, owner arrears on fees etc. can eventually compromise the financial security of the whole building.
Comment #9 Posted By: Anonymous 07/29/09
Anonymous
Not to mention that the drop in price will be greater when they finally do allow sales.
Comment #10 Posted By: Anonymous 07/29/09
Anonymous
The value will bounce back...in 2015. In the meantime, one sale will lead to another and prices will drop to 50% of the initial closings. Sell now because you can only lean of 2008 prices for so long.
Comment #11 Posted By: Anonymous 07/29/09
Anonymous
OSS.....could be the brilliant move of the year.....tax loss heaven...kudos
Comment #12 Posted By: Anonymous 07/31/09
Anonymous
ok...reality: While the 'sale' was shown to be May 2008 - the reality is that contract was probably signed with the developer in mid 2006 or early 2007. Remember just because it 'closed' in May 2008 does not mean it contracted then. So the original sale price reflects what observer 1 said was the go go 2000s. So the price drop is not just a one year price drop - it's more a reflection of where things were in buyers minds in 2007 or 2006. 2) Probably as the apartment was gifted to the Fund and was not purchased by it, they were willing to let it go for less than someone who would have actually been in for the original price. However, that is the nature of this market - those who have owned for ten years can negotiate below those that have owned for three and still make a profit. THE market - is what someone will offer and what someone will accept.
Comment #13 Posted By: Anonymous 08/01/09
Anonymous
part two... Condos vs. Coops? NYC coops may be difficult, especially on the UES near Fifth and Park, however coops in general still have helped the market remain stable. Some few coops may engage in not facing reality on their sales, however as condo prices go down so will coops, becuase their prices were in part raised in the last five years by the dramatically increasing new development prices. Here's food for thought though: With CCs /RET running dollar for dollar with coop mtc on the monthly basis in a new development two years ago (when new developments were at fully abated taxes) - why would one expect that Coops would be worth less five or eight years from now, when the condos are not fresh, the sizes are similar and the carrying charges are double or 2/3 more than coops? I think coops will hold their own.
Comment #14 Posted By: Anonymous 08/01/09
Anonymous
Co-ops setting price floors: Hooray communism and price controls! Of course they can't pull that nonsense with a secured creditor and the boards are cowed by the proprietary lease boilerplate. Shocking, and stupid, how many people think that a dinky co-op board is going to able reverse an entire market full of bargained exchanges.
Comment #15 Posted By: Anonymous 08/02/09