Price Cuts Lead to Feeding Frenzy at Warehouse 11
Evidently if you price condos at $550 a foot in prime Williamsburg they will sell. That’s the lesson from last week’s open house at Warehouse 11, the 120-unit, Karl Fischer-designed condo that’s staging a remarkable turnaround. Earlier this month, aptsandlofts.com relaunched the building’s sales process by slashing average asking prices from over $700 a foot…

Evidently if you price condos at $550 a foot in prime Williamsburg they will sell. That’s the lesson from last week’s open house at Warehouse 11, the 120-unit, Karl Fischer-designed condo that’s staging a remarkable turnaround. Earlier this month, aptsandlofts.com relaunched the building’s sales process by slashing average asking prices from over $700 a foot to the mid-$500s (with some as low as $450). Last night was the first time buyers could step up, and step up they did. According to a NY Post article today, 34 offers at full asking price were accepted last night (while another 20 or so below asking price were rejected); thirty people were lined up ahead of time to get in the door first. Don’t get too excited though—at some unknown milestone, prices are going to be raised again.
Open Fire [NY Post] GMAP
34 Accepted Offers in One Night [Curbed]
20% Off at Warehouse 11 [Brownstoner]
Warehouse 11 Seeking a Savior [Brownstoner]
Winelover… “why should less successful, perhaps not even as hard working people, get to live in an area that they cannot afford!”
Because they “less successful” people make your soup, clean your suits, walk your dog, wash your car, drive you taxi, maintain your subway, teach your children, protect your sorry ass, put out fires… etc. etc. etc.
My argument is that a HEALTHY city still allows for these people to live in proximity to their work… the work that support you and your business partner’s lifestyle. Obviously money should make a difference, but should it EXCLUDE the very people that make your neighborhood and life as enjoyable as it is?! *In proximity to* — not in the luxury condo two doors down from you. A 2+ hr daily commute to work as a $34k secretary is not a symptom of a healthy city.
quote:
when he can make Bahn Mi sandwiches in Hackensack
lol. i dont think he’d make any money doing that
*rob*
quote:
lots of couples buy together which is then combining 2 savings accounts and 2 incomes.
so unfair. i dont think people should be allowed to combine stuff like that!
*rob*
No, I agree – I just take issue with the assumption that the only way a person in their 20s can afford something is to have a trust fund. That was my only point in that post.
Jaysus 11217… it’s about the distribution of wealth, not the friggin’ prices. Who cares if the housing prices were EVEN MORE absurd than they are now… how do they track with wages in the city? Is the housing market still well outstripping the rate of increase in income? Along with this “bubble collapse” (btw, bubbles burst), there was a collapse in wages and people losing their jobs. This was slightly less horrible in NYC than elsewhere, but SO WAS THE HOUSING BUBBLE “burst”!
Why should John Smith make your Bahn Mi sandwich and scrape by AND commute 2+ hrs a day for the pleasure…. when he can make Bahn Mi sandwiches in Hackensack AND save a little money and take the bus 20 mins to his job.
It’s the formation of a dessert of sorts. It happened in Manhattan, BUT there were convenient locations to live in order to support the dessert.
wow
lots of stuff here
11217 – some thoughtful comments! actually when i lived in PS, had a relationship where the person needed a good hour from PS to get to job in Manhattan. many in the burbs spend 1- 1/2 hours to get to work. my biz partner drives 2 hours each way to work in Manhattan. why should less successful, perhaps not even as hard working people, get to live in an area that they cannot afford! that’s nonsense.
re Warehouse 11: this building is just not crap. 11217 not suggesting you bother with looking at it unless you are in the area or something… but, it’s really nice. high end, not average. the exterior is very well done. parking a big deal to lots of people.
re age of people buying: older than the pics may reveal. ran into a married with child, almost 40 yr old friend, who was going to see the building over the weekend. there’s several 30 somethings that are married with kids in my building who dress casual and don’t have corporate jobs that in a picture would perhaps come across as single and younger. lots of couples buy together which is then combining 2 savings accounts and 2 incomes. there are few singles in my condo building- i know 2 only. one is a doctor in mid-30’s, so don’t think the money was a big deal. i absolutely believe 20 year olds get parents money for rent, but unless you are all cash, you need an income for a loan and to pay common charges.
re oil: i do not think it’s over an oil spill. back when he was alive, robert from gowanus lounge used to run around taking pictures and creating controversy and started many many unfounded rumors. oh, the beauty of blogs! what happened to him was sad, but the guy was no journalist. i thought i had read that really it was old heating oil and had been cleaned up.
yeah im totally laughing at someone giving the argument well i can afford to buy in the city, im an accountant and my significant other is a lawyer, we are childless. :-/ c’mon now,.. id HOPE you be able to buy something in the city in that demographic.
*rob*
Blackie, I agree with Rob (though in a less colorful manner). You can afford a home within the ever-expanding high-price bubble, because you are a couple and your household income is probably pretty significant… What if there was only one of you? What if one of you didn’t work or couldn’t work? (kids or illness) What if one of you only got paid $9/hr instead of TWO healthy salaries?
This is the economic diversity of the city… not double (relatively) high income couples.
“Well, now we’ve gone off on the hyperbole train (I know, I started it)… I’m just suggesting that what is forming is NOT a *healthy city*!! That’s all.”
So NYC has been around a lot longer than you have Ty and it’s done ok. Some ups and downs but it’s survived without you taking over as Mayor…yet.
But pardon my ignorance…we are now experiencing the worst housing bubble collapse in decades so how is that not helping the city? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that what is forming right now is a healthier city, by your definition?
Or do you need housing to cost zero to be happy with the direction the city is going?