Over in Tudor City there is a ruckus going on that would make any New Yorker feel proud: a 180 square foot studio apartment with no oven and no view has sparked a bidding war around $215,000 since it went on the market July 1.
Reported in the New York Post on Saturday and given more spin at Curbed today, the apartment is called "nice", "underpriced" and "feels like a dorm room." With over 250 emails coming in from people who are desperate for a place to lay down in, the broker says "It'll sell within a week." MGR
Pathetic.
Assuming 20% down, with common charges this is $1500/month for a dorm room.
Curbed said it was larger than 180 SF... The conflicting information makes me think it's probably not the smallest apartment. I'll bet it's nto even the smallest co-op. Anyway, it's definitely wacked.
Hmmm -- I think I sense a bubble on the verge of bursting . . .
me: i hear that the nyu dorms are $1500/month.
At a certain point, one stops feeling all smug and superior for the good deal one got, and starts thinking, "Ew! This is getting a little too weird."
EL: if NYU dorm rooms really are $1500/mo, its yet another reason I would never send my kids to that school. But that's a topic for another time.
Good luck to the seller of that apartment -- I wonder what he/she bought it for, and when?
$1500/mo is likely true, as I visited a friend at NYU 10 years ago and he was already paying something close to $1100/mo for a tiny room of a 3 or 4-bed room apartment in a high-rise NYU dorm building.
I just keep hearing the spell used for the bogart in Harry Potter.
"Ridiculous!"
A reminder that the fault for this craziness does not lie solely on the shoulder's of the realtors...
the people doing the bidding REALLY need to reevaluate some things...
oops... errant apostrophe.
$1500/month was the price of the fanciest studios+doorman NYU dorm when I went there ten years ago. Surely they have more expensive ones now... NYU keeps building new dorms to keep up with demand, and it's not like a dorm is any less expensive to build than any other building.
I'm not surprised that this particular apartment would be expensive, considering the other kazillion amazingly pricey Manhattan studios out there. You and I both know that there are plenty of people who'd rather live in a tiny apartment in Manhattan that was all theirs than an enormous one anywhere else on the planet.
This reminds me of one of the reasons why I'm so glad I don't live in NYC any more.
Even if NYU dorms are $1500/month, food, utilities and internet access (among other things) are included!
Unbelievable! Real estate in this town is ridiculous.
Much as I want to buy, I may have to stay in my rent-stabilized apartment. Ooooh.
Back in 1982 I was an editorial assistant at a company on th e East Side, and I went on the waiting list for an apartment in Tudor City. I was thrilled to get a call about two months later and ran over on my lunch hour to view the apartment. It turned out to be a tiny studio in, yes, the Cloister. The previous tenant's belongings were still in there, and the sight of a messy mattress on the floor turned me off immediately. Also, the apartment must have been in the rear of the building, because when I looked out the window, I could see a flat roof. It looked as if anyone on the roof could leap right into the window.
I said no to that apartment and a few weeks later got called again. This time the apartment was larger, in one of the tall buildings, and looked west out to the Chrysler Building. Yes, yes, yes! The studio was $402 a month and that included electricity. It consisted of one room, 14 feet by 18 feet. When the building went coop in circa 1985, the studios were selling for about $30,000. I guess I should have bought it!
People are making a big deal over the price of the Cloister studio, but I don't think it's such a bad deal. The common charge isn't too high, unless I'm overlooking something, and the building is just lovely, really Old World fantasy.
Yes, but the only part of the "lovely building" you live in is the actual apartment. And that ain't so lovely.
If you find nothing wrong with this picture, you have been living in Manhattan for waaaaaaaaaay too long.
And it's exactly that attitude (and being out of touch with the rest of the world) that is keeping real esate prices in this city ridiculous, unattainable, and obscene.
Yes, it's a stupid ammount of money for something that small, but it's also approachable for many people who can't afford the penthouse they'd rather have. I'd rather own something small and build up equity in my home than pay a landlord a similar amount of money.
Assuming the value keeps increasing...
I lived in NYU's dorms for three years. I have no complaints. Pricey, yes, but you get a prime location (I was on Washington Square), big rooms with private baths, doorman, 24 hour security guard, utilities, and no lease--making the after-school-year getaway hassle-free.
P2--
You're absolutely right!
This is precisely why I have grown to absolutely despise this city; an insane market driven by idiots who have turned NY into a 2 class catastrophe. Viva Monaco!
Aaaagh. This is why I love Seattle. Every time I want to laugh my head off over a tiny, junky little 50's house crammed onto a Central District lot going for 300,000 dollars I see something like this.
Oh, and Patrick, you don't have to post just to say that you had a *tiny* little punctuation issue. We know that you know.
CODA:
Two years later - Studios in Tudor City are going for $2150/month for rental, and as much as $300,000 to buy.
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