Deep discounts for “bottom fishers”: How 3 deals show the state of Manhattan’s buyer’s market

Clockwise from left: 48 West 10th Street with Peter Fenton and Kate Greer, 3 Collister Street with Michael Davies and Extell's Gary Barnett with One57 (Photos via Getty; Google Maps; One57)
Clockwise from left: 48 West 10th Street with Peter Fenton and Kate Greer, 3 Collister Street with Michael Davies and Extell's Gary Barnett with One57 (Photos via Getty; Google Maps; One57)

Three high-priced deals that closed within two days this month offer a glimpse into the buyer’s market Manhattan has become in 2020.

Two of the properties — a condo at Extell Development’s One57, and TV producer Michael Davies’ Tribeca home — sold at deep discounts, to the tune of 32 and 25 percent.

A spokesperson for Extell summed it up when reached for comment: “Almost all Covid-era transactions have been at exceptional prices for the buyer. The bottom-fishers think we have hit bottom and it’s time to buy.”

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The condo at One57 on Billionaires’ Row has been on and off the market for years with an asking price of $27.1 million. A Delaware-based limited liability company, Villa Borghese, agreed to buy the three-bedroom apartment in June at a 32 percent discount. The unit closed for $18.4 million in early December.

Extell’s spokesperson admitted “that pricing was set in a different world,” but noted that since news of the Covid-19 vaccine was announced, buyers have been out in force — and the developer says it’s willing to meet them where they are.

Davies, known best for bringing the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” to American audiences, apparently agrees. The British producer listed his five-bedroom home for just under $15 million in September 2019. After more than a year on the market, it went into contract this October for $11.4 million, or 25 percent less than its original ask.

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But considering Davies bought the 6,670-square-foot home for $8.3 million in 2005, he’s still walking away from the deal in the black. He did not respond to requests for comment.

The more than 6,000-square-foot unit was marketed using an alternative address, 3 Collister Street, by Douglas Elliman’s Tamer Howard, Raphael De Niro and Maggie Leigh Marshall. Billy Rose and Natasha Barrett of The Agency also provided marketing for the property on the West Coast. Howard, the lead broker on the deal, declined to comment.

In a third deal, the buyers — venture capitalist Peter Fenton and his girlfriend, popcorn entrepreneur Kate Greer — didn’t get a discount, but the seller, Orda Management, didn’t turn a huge profit, either.

The Silicon Valley-based couple bought a five-bedroom Greenwich Village townhouse through a joint trust for $11.5 million. The seller, an entity linked to developer Orda Management, bought the house in 2017 for $10.5 million.

The 4,400-square-foot home spans five floors with three outdoor terraces and a private backyard, plus a wood-burning fireplace. The couple closed the off-market-deal within a month of signing the contract in mid-November. They did not respond to requests for comment.

Listing agents Meris, Kenny and Sydney Blumstein declined to comment.