This month, Tracy McNamara drops in on open houses in Gramercy
A park of one’s own
Designer buildings, revamped Gramercy Park Hotel add spark to an area that’s already in demand
Demand is high for apartments in the Gramercy Park area, attracting both wealthy families who can afford new developments and first-time home buyers. The latter are willing to live without some features of more ritzy apartments in exchange for a key to the exclusive Gramercy Park.
Well-priced one-bedrooms in Gramercy — a neighborhood that spans from 18th to 22nd streets and from Second Avenue to Park Avenue South — seem to get snatched up as quickly as the $10 million four-bedrooms in Ian Schrager’s new 50 Gramercy Park North building, which adjoins his redesign of the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In addition, low inventory in the neighborhood has made property valuable for developers. At 18 Gramercy Park South, the Salvation Army has put its Parkside women’s residence up for sale for more than $100 million. Nearby, designer Philippe Starck has branded his new luxury glass tower “Gramercy” — though, given its actual location at 340 East 23rd Street (between First and Second avenues), it is out of the bounds of the neighborhood.
The average price per square foot for co-ops and condos in the area is $1,049, compared to $924 last year, according to appraiser Miller Samuel. While that’s lower than the average for Manhattan — which is $1,070 per square foot, compared to $1,004 last year — the percentage increase is higher, at 13.5 percent versus 6.6 percent. The average rent in Gramercy is $2,996 per month, up 7 percent from 2005, according to a report by Prudential Douglas Elliman.
Most open houses draw a crowd. On a Tuesday evening, more than 45 mostly young people visited an open house for a $595,000 one-bedroom, one-bath co-op at 39A Gramercy Park North, a 24-unit building. The sunny, approximately 550-square-foot space at #6D has open city views to the north, cathedral ceilings and loft space extended over the living room.
The seller had already moved out to a new apartment on the Upper West Side.
Susan Fishman, vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman, said the co-op board is lenient — allowing pets, guarantors and pieds- -terre. “You can basically do anything,” she added, referring to some construction a purchaser would likely undertake.
While the building isn’t nearly as ritzy as its well-heeled neighbors on the street — there is an intercom rather than a doorman, a slow elevator and a worn, generic lobby — it comes with a key to Gramercy Park, a gated-access oasis that is only about 10 feet up the quiet block.
“It’s fine — maybe a stretch in terms of what you’re getting,” said a potential buyer, Jonathan Rubenstein, 38, who just sold his one-bedroom in the Financial District. “As is everything, it’s ridiculously overpriced. But I’ve seen 25 open houses in the last week, and this is in top five — unfortunately.”
Andrea Gulli, a 30-something who declined to give her exact age, toured the space with her mother and a friend. “It’s cute,” she said, as she examined the wooden floors and stairs leading to the loft area.
“It’s all about location,” said Gulli, who rents a one-bedroom in Hell’s Kitchen. “The location is really great. But it needs some work.”
The marketing photos, which displayed a staircase leading to the loft, confused a few potential buyers who had expected a more spacious unit. While the kitchen was brand-new with stainless steel appliances, it was located right at the front door in a short hallway that led to the living room.
“For the space, it’s an appropriate price. But it’s not what I’m looking for,” said Shai Vichness, 24, who said he wants something bigger than what he currently rents Downtown. “It’s good for the price. I almost bought a one-bedroom on Irving Place last week but got cold feet.”
Fishman, however, noted that the unit had an accepted offer the next week; a mortgage broker and bid sheets on the premises may have sealed the deal.
A few streets down from Gramercy Park, in a more commercial part of the neighborhood, Ivana Tagliamonte, vice president at Halstead, had five people waiting for her at a Tuesday evening open house at 242 East 19th Street, located between Second and Third avenues and across the street from Cabrini Medical Center and the coveted P.S. 40.
The pre-war one-bedroom, one-bath at #5H, listed at $730,000, was in a more upscale pre-war co-op building with a doorman, attractive art deco lobby, newly renovated common laundry area and shared roof garden. The sellers — an artist, her husband and their 6-year-old — are moving to a larger space.
Tagliamonte said that over 35 people visited on a Sunday open house. “Usually at this price you see many couples, but there are mostly singles looking at this space.”
Most potential buyers commented on the neatness of the 784-square-foot unit. It was tastefully decorated with dark wooden floors, a built-in bookcase, a windowed kitchen that fit a table and artwork on the walls.
Even though the bedroom window faced a building wall, viewers seemed drawn to the sunny space with a walk-in closet. Looking around the entire apartment for a while, a seemingly stunned man gave an approving nod to the broker and said, “It’s nice.”
“I think it would have a bigger, open feeling without the [built-in] bookcases. But their style is my style. This is the third I’ve seen this month, and it’s the nicest,” said Frank Mendoza, 39, who is also looking at one- and two-bedroom units on the Upper West Side.
“It’s priced really well; I assume it will go for above asking. I haven’t seen an apartment in this area that’s this nice,” said Alexis Segal, 30, who is renting a one-bedroom in Greenwich Village and looking Downtown at one-bedrooms.
“This is the 57th place I’ve looked at. It’s pretty nice and very clean, but I wasn’t crazy about the layout. And the bedroom window faced a wall,” said Veronica Volk, who is moving from an Upper East Side two-bedroom after separating from her husband. “The Upper East Side has better values and Central Park, but Downtown is nicer for going out.”
By week’s end, Tagliamonte said there were seven offers — six over the asking price — and a contract out with a first-time home buyer.
Also on the market is an opportunity to combine two apartments, #4G/F — an oversized one-bedroom, one-bath and a studio — at Park Gramercy, a doorman co-op located at 7 Lexington Avenue, for $1.995 million. Rajan Khanna at Brown Harris Stevens said the sellers, who already converted the one-bedroom into two-bedrooms to accommodate their young daughter, own both units and are moving to Long Island. Both apartments have windows facing leafy treetops and together provide approximately 1,500 square feet.
“It’s much harder to sell a unit that needs to be combined at this price,” said Khanna. “If it were $5 million, people are OK with reconstructing it since they were likely to do so anyway.”
Also available is a one-bedroom that is convertible to a two-bedroom with one bath at 145 East 15th Street, #9A. Just a few blocks from Union Square, the doorman building offers a central laundry room, bike storage and welcomes pets. The space is 872 square feet with four large closets and 16 feet of southern windows, according to Anne Marie Salmeri, vice president at Corcoran.
While the empty space looked like it needed some updating, Salmeri said it was attractive to families since it is “hard to find a [functional] two-bedroom for under a million.” Days after a Wednesday open house, Salmeri said there was an accepted offer above the $879,000 asking price.
Buyers were also looking at a $1.625 million two-bedroom, two-bath at Gramercy Park Towers, a full-service co-op at 205 Third Avenue. The 1,400-square-foot unit listed with Corcoran’s Lisa Nederlander was renovated with a chef’s kitchen, built-in bookcases and dark wooden floors. The building has a renovated fitness center, available to residents for $200 a year.