House of the Day: 85 State Street
The first and only time we’ve discussed 85 State Street was back in March 2005 when the five-story brick townhouse was listed as an Open House Pick with an asking price of $2,500,000. That turned out to be a very good price for the dude who bought it; six months later he flipped it for…
The first and only time we’ve discussed 85 State Street was back in March 2005 when the five-story brick townhouse was listed as an Open House Pick with an asking price of $2,500,000. That turned out to be a very good price for the dude who bought it; six months later he flipped it for $3,200,000 to a developer who proceeded to do a modern gut renovation of the place. Although we have no reason to doubt the quality of the work in the house, the aesthetic result just doesn’t do it for us. For $5,500,000 (the asking price), we’d want a little more character. If we wanted to spend that kind of dough on something modern, we’d probably opt for something more like this. Apparently, we’re not the only ones: The single-family house has been on the market now on-and-off for more than a year, starting at $5,800,000 with Corcoran, moving to $5,950,000 with Douglas Elliman, before moving to Halstead last November where it’s gradually edged its way down to the current asking price of $5,500,000.
85 State Street [Halstead] GMAP P*Shark
Open House Picks 3/11/05 [Brownstoner]
Look at the 2005 photo. The house has no stoop. All that “browntone” work, the stoop the door, etc. is new, and it is not done very well.
It looks clumsy, has wavy lines, just not the best work. It will take at least 20,000 to cut back to the scratch coat and have it redone right.
A layer of dryvit perhaps? Or maybe a porcelain glaze like TOTO uses.
sam , I agree re: the exterior masonry. For that price, it should have been touched up – although, frankly, I’m not familiar with what can be done to spruce it up without replacing the whole facade. Does anyone have ideas?
Sam, why do you think the exterior masonry sucks?
Biff, you are not in Kansas any more, you have to learn to let go of Toto.
But seriously, don’t you think the exterior masonry sucks as well? This whole thing looks very un-polished, not really up to par.
Biff- haven’t you been collecting tarts? Perfect house for you with the mirror:-) (TOTO is presently dead in Kansas.)
As we all know Biff, a spec rehab typically skimps on the high end stuff like the toilets.
Are there any other renovated houses in the Heights for sale less that $1000 per sq ft? I don’t see any.
I wonder if the mirror above the fireplace tilts down. It would be an added bonus while doing the hoochie koochie in front of the fire. If this renovation really was in the $1MM to $1.5MM range, I would expect a TOTO in each bathroom.