Big Apartments for Big Bucks: 255 E 74th

A few agents from my office had the opportunity to get an up close and personal look at 255 E 74th street, a new development by the World-Wide Group (The Milan, 50 Murray, Park Belvedere). The development and sales team interviewed about 100 local residents, buyers, and brokers before determining the unit mix for the building to find out what people wanted to see in the neighborhood. Here's what they came up with:

Building Overview:
- 80+ units; 30 floors
- Estimated completion Fall 2008
- Base of the building has a few one bedrooms (starting at ~$1.2M), 2 bedrooms (starting at ~$1.8M), and 3 bedrooms (starting at ~$2.7M) and duplex homes
- Tower of building has 3, 4, and 5 bedrooms
- 25% sold
- 10 year, 421-a tax abatement

Amenities:
- 24 hour doorman
- 43,000 sq ft Equinox in the building
- 2,400 sq feet "Children's Pavilion" with separate rooms for toddlers & teens/'tweens. Includes a "cruising wall," ping pong, foosball, dance kareoke, pinball, and basketball
- Bike room
- Storage (for a fee)
- Private garden

Apartments:
- 10 foot ceilings (most units)
- Some apts with balconies, terraces, and/or fireplaces
- Most apts have windowed breakfast area in the kitchen
- Choice of kitchen cabinet colors

Pros:
- Washer/dryers are fully vented to the outside. Apartments are pre-wired for every technology need. For an extra charge, you can turn on the a/c, lower the blinds, turn up the iPod, and dim the lights - all from one command and control center. Lower floors have triple-paned city windows to keep out any street noise (usually you only get double-paned windows, which only keep out about 90% of the noise; triple-paned windows keep out about 95% of the noise)

Cons:
- Common charges are high (& the Equinox Membership is not included). A four bedroom, 3.5 bath apartment on the 12th floor has common charges of $2,644.91 for 2,325 sq ft ($1.14/sq ft - the rule of thumb is to stay under $1/sq ft). The apartment itself is $3.88M ($1,668/sq ft). Apartments on lower floors are closer to $1,250/sq ft.

Misc:
The marketing materials say, "The superb finishes and details...appeal not only to families, but to professionals and empty nesters wanting to live in one of Manhattan's most sought-after neighborhoods... 255 E 74th is located in the PS 290 elementary school district." Were I to tell customers that this is a "family friendly" building, I would be treading on thin ice around the Fair Housing Act ("Questions Your Broker Can't Answer," Front page, NY Times, Sunday, June 24, 2007), so don't say you heard it from me!

Assessment:
There aren't that many buildings in this area with true 4 and 5 bedroom apartments. Generally, owners have to combine apartments to get anything larger than a three bedroom, and combinations frequently lead to awkward configurations, frustrating construction experiences, and higher maintenance costs. Some co-ops require that the purchaser have one or two times the purchase price of the apartment in liquid assets. In a condo, you don't have to sell your soul to be in the "Club" - if you can get a mortgage, you can buy into the building without having to worry about what the Jones' think of you.

For the big spenders out there, PHA, a three bedroom, 3.5 bath, 3,240 sq ft apartment with 1,286 sq foot of outdoor space is available for $12,000,000 ($3,703/interior sq ft).

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