Battery Park City
$1.22 million
300 Rector Place
300 Rector Place2-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,600 sf combination condo in a full-service doorman building; unit has view of the Hudson River; building has elevator, storage, roof deck, gym, garden and bike room; common charges $2,079 per month; taxes $1,552 per month, asking price $1.399 million; 39 weeks on the market. (Brokers: Cheryl Greenberg, A.C. Lawrence & Co.; Greg Olson, A.C. Lawrence)
Cheryl Greenberg, A.C. Lawrence“What was special about the apartment was that it was a two-bedroom combined with a one-bedroom and it was a high floor with views: It faced east, south and west. The apartment [has] a magnificent library that a former owner had actually designed, and you would swear that you had walked into a professional library. The seller was a retired lawyer who moved to New Jersey. The buyers have actually lived in Battery Park City for a number of years. The apartment currently has two master-bedroom suites and a library, but they wanted to [reconfigure it as] a three-bedroom, because they have a growing family.”
Cheryl Greenberg, A.C. Lawrence
Financial District
$770,000
88 Greenwich Street
88 Greenwich Street1-bedroom, 1-bath, 681 sf condo in a new doorman building, the Greenwich Club; unit has river and city views, teak floors and cabinets, and open kitchen; building has gym, library, business center, party room and sun deck with river views; common charges $735 per month; taxes $280 per month, asking price $799,000; 17 weeks on the market. (Brokers: Gisela Vergara and Eileen Blydenburgh, Prudential Douglas Elliman; Eileen Kim, Bond New York)
Elleen Kim, Bond New York“The buyer was a family friend; the seller worked in the financial industry. It was an investor unit, so the buyer actually lives in California. I felt proud because it was my first sales deal, and it sold for 3.6 percent below the last asking price. I got my buyer [a price that was] $5,000 less than what my sales director thought I would be able to get. It’s a corner unit on a high floor. The buyer thought that the Financial District would continue to grow, that the area had the most potential for property values to rise in a shorter period of time. This particular investor is a person who can’t just purely go off numbers; it has to be the kind of place where they would want to live themselves. And coming from California, they’re used to sun and space. The fact that this apartment really fit into their idea of a place where they could live was very special for New York City.”
Eileen Kim, Bond New York
Gramercy Park
$1.65 million
205 Third Avenue
205 Third Avenue2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,450 sf co-op in Gramercy Park Tower; unit has custom cabinetry, crown molding and an open kitchen with wine bar and storage; building has 24-hour doorman, concierge, fitness center, roof deck and garden; maintenance $1,898 per month with taxes included; asking price $1.8 million; 192 days on the market. (Brokers: Elaine Mayers, Citi Habitats; Tracie Hamersley, Citi Habitats)
Tracie Hamersley, Citi Habitats“The buyer was a longtime friend and client of mine. The last property I helped him buy was a convertible one-bedroom in this same building, on the 16th floor. He’s a doctor, a radiologist at Beth Israel Hospital. He was originally commuting from Philadelphia, and just working a couple of days a week in New York, so he started out with a smaller crash pad, and now he’s full-time in New York so he wanted more space. We looked around at a lot of different areas for a larger two-bedroom, and all roads led back to home. He’s very happy to go up three floors to the 19th floor, where [he has] a better, more open view. The seller had put some money into the apartment and was attached to it, and would not have sold if she hadn’t been transferred to D.C. The board approval process was very smooth, since the buyer had already been approved once.”
Tracie Hamersley, Citi Habitats
Interviews conducted and condensed by Miranda Neubauer