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March 13, 2009

110 Amity Price Revealed, Buyers Circling

110-Amity-Buyers-0309.jpg
When we broke the news earlier this week that 110 Amity Street and four adjacent lots had been put back on the market by the developer, the price of the Lamm Institute building itseld had not been posted. Now it is: $4,500,000 gets you the 14,000-square-foot French Renaissance mansion. The five properties are asking a combined $9,535,000; the developer paid a total of $6,125,000 in '07. Judging from this photo from yesterday afternoon, though, the listing is already generating some interest. No surprise: This would make a pretty killer single-family home!
110 Amity Back Up for Sale [Brownstoner] GMAP
110 Amity: LPC Says Yes to Lamm, No to Townhouses [Brownstoner]
110 Amity Proposal Takes a Drubbing at LPC Hearing [Brownstoner]
Cobble Hill Association: 110 Amity Plan ‘Unacceptable’ [Brownstoner]
Opposition to 110 Amity Plans Grows [Brownstoner]
CB6 Tries to Avoid Amity Street Horror [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:01 AM | Comments (19)
Categories: Cobble Hill, Properties

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Comments

That would have to be a pretty big family.
Looks more like an institution to me.

Posted by: Hal at March 13, 2009 11:13 AM

Love the Cadillac in the vacant lot; a picture says a thousand words...

Posted by: Fjorder at March 13, 2009 11:33 AM


Voyeur?

Posted by: East New York at March 13, 2009 11:39 AM

"Love the Cadillac in the vacant lot; a picture says a thousand words..."

No, only two: Old Money

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at March 13, 2009 11:41 AM

BHO...If it were "new money" they'd probably have more of it and it would be a Bentley!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 13, 2009 11:45 AM

Bently? Brooklyn? Let's not OD, DIBS. Foxy Brown aside.

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at March 13, 2009 12:03 PM

could you imagine all the time you'd end up spending on your shrink's couch - dealing with Cobble Hill assoc/and LPC
if you even dared doing anything.

Posted by: Petebklyn at March 13, 2009 12:10 PM

We wish some philantropist can rescue LAMM institute for LICH. It seems like such a travesty for such a storied building to be sold off like this. Vraiment triste!

Hey what do folks think about the pricing? $3.4m mark up in 2 years with practically no improvements in a bad economy...highway robbery but it won't surprise us one bit if this sells close to asking given the location and the fact that LICH may have stupidly under priced.

Posted by: pierre de taille at March 13, 2009 12:23 PM

I was inside the property a few months ago. When they say it's gutted - they really should say it's a shell ! They ripped out ALL the pluming, electrics and even the boiler. There is nothing left in the building. It's worth less than 1M.

Posted by: patio at March 13, 2009 3:29 PM

Current owner/developer may be testing market at his point of indifference - to develop or to sell. I would be more than surprised if they achieve a price anywhere near these asking numbers.
"Townhouse Lots"
4,231 sf at $1,400,000 equals $330 per FAR
4,013 sf at $1,250,000 equals $311 per FAR
3,925 sf at $1,210,000 equals $308 per FAR
3,850 sf at $1,175,000 equals $305 per FAR
These FAR numbers are far in excess of the highest of high land comps. Land in this location will probably end up being priced around $150 per buildable sf when all is said and done.

Exist bldg
14,243 sf at $4,500,000 equals $315 per FAR
as Patio points out above, this property in its current condition is actually worth less than the land it occupies.

We are in the early innings of a major asset repricing cycle. Early players in this game usually get burned bad. Most probable end-user price to consider for this location and property type is less than $750 psf. Buying land at $310 per FAR doesn't work. Winner of this auction most likely an entity with no local development experience.

Other red flags:
"approved plans" - approved by what entity?
Is a variance required for Lamm property due to it's proximity to the lot line. It does not comply with current residential requirement of 30 ft setback.

Posted by: ITM at March 13, 2009 4:01 PM

Patio, the fact that it's THAT Gutted only saves the next buyer on demolition. No one who's gonna restore that building would be keeping any of the old plumbing, electrical -- and especially the old boiler. I'd say this is exactly what the building needs to be for someone to begin restoration.

On the other hand, are any of the original details (wood trim, moldings, stairs) still in existence? That's the part that's worth keeping, if only for replication purposes if they want to be historically accurate when they replace the damaged/demo'd trim.

BROWNSTONER: 14,000 is a bit much for a New York family. I get it if you're living in Virginia horse country and you've got servants and you're basically sitting around all day playing chess and getting drunk, but anyone living in New York doesn't want to waste time having to cross an entire mansion because they left their cell phone in the powder room. Yes, there are those crass ones on the upper east side but they're mostly consulates now, no?
I suppose you could turn one floor into an olympic pool or tennis courts or something.

Posted by: iz at March 13, 2009 4:07 PM

ITM, we are talking about brooklyn heights, right? I mean, you have gutt jobs in Ft Greene going for 350 a square foot. In BH, 315 a sq ft seems like steal. Especially for THAT building.

I'm still confused by this "gut" idea. How does old plumbing and electricity add value to a property?

Posted by: iz at March 13, 2009 4:19 PM

Here's that Ft Greene listing, gut job for 350 a sq ft.
http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=1493577&ohDat=

Posted by: iz at March 13, 2009 4:22 PM

IZ - this is not Brooklyn Heights. This is the fringe of Cobble Hill and abuts a hospital complex. Henry Street is heavily trafficked, especially in the evening.

"Going for"? Recently closed sales are the only relevant comparable and even then they should be adjusted down. Are you aware of a closed transaction that has land priced at over $300 per buildable sf? Only the best lots in Manhattan were able to achieve such prices when we were at the top. We are now on our way down with a very long way to go.

As you can see by the current owners ploy, developement profit is all in the land - the difference between what was paid upon entry into a project and what was achieved upon sale to the end-users represents the developers profit. Logically it follows that if land is trading for more than it did in the past then the price the end-user will be willing to pay must be higher than it was in the past. Who is going to make the case that finished product will be worth more two years from now than it was say last year? I would like to hear it.

Posted by: ITM at March 13, 2009 4:40 PM

Oh perhaps I forgot to add they tore it out of the walls and floors....the walls are unsavable and there are large holes in the floors. And no there is no existing molding, wood trim. In fact most of the walls have paint and plaster literally falling off the walls. Did I mention the LARGE holes in the floors !

Posted by: patio at March 13, 2009 4:56 PM

Oh perhaps I forgot to add they tore it out of the walls and floors....the walls are unsavable and there are large holes in the floors. And no there is no existing molding, wood trim. In fact most of the walls have paint and plaster literally falling off the walls. Did I mention the LARGE holes in the floors !

Posted by: patio at March 13, 2009 4:57 PM

Does anyone have any feel for what the appropriate price is for new, finished, condo or 1-2 family space in this location, approx 18 to 24 months from now?

I am guessing approx $750 psf. Anyone think that is high, low or approx right?

Posted by: ITM at March 13, 2009 5:00 PM

It's not 14,243 sf. It's about 9000 sf. Check the floorplan.

Posted by: OTDKB at March 13, 2009 10:14 PM

I spoke with an architect who said that his firm drew up plans to convert the building into 6 condos with a seventh in the "penthouse." The current owner paid for this and the demo--i wonder if there was asbestos and lead paint and if those are still issues. WOnder how much the current owner put into it so far....

Posted by: Cobblehillite at March 14, 2009 1:17 PM

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