Category — Downtown

A 1,400 square foot co-op in a Soho loft at 16 Greene Street just sold for $1,415,000, just $20k more than what seller Fiona Carter paid for it in May 2005.


The most recent sales price plunged $140,000 from its original $1.55 million listing back in January 2008.

The seller was Fiona Carter (inset, left) of the Omnicon Group, and the buyer was David M. Nash, according to public records.

Corcoran broker Kathleen Manikowski had the exclusive.

This gorgeous railroad style loft is located at the southern end of Soho near Canal Street.  The apartment is on the West side of Greene Street, and heads back towards Wooster.

The bright unit has 10½ ft. ceilings and a sleek, stylish loft kitchen loaded with a stainless steel Subzero fridge, Bosch dishwasher, and DCS range.

Although it was listed as a 1-bedroom cooperative, there is also a nursery next to the kitchen that could be used as a second bedroom or home office (inset, below).

The co-op’s financials must be pretty solid: the building was marketed as having no mortgage on the building. Ordinarily that presents a disadvantage since it would mean buyers wouldn’t be able to deduct any percentage of their monthly maintenance charges from their income taxes.

Remember, since co-op shareholders own shares in a corporation — not real property like in a condo — they are usually able to deduct the percentage of their maintenance used to pay down the co-op’s underlying mortgage on the building. The deduction is allocated on a per-share basis.

At 16 Greene Street, however, the lack of a mortgage means that maintenance charges are way below market. Maintenance for this unit was listed at just $795 per month.

The spacious living room overlooks Greene Street. The co-op also has a washer and dryer — a huge extra that many other cooperatives do not allow.

The keyed elevator is located just inside the building’s doorway, and opens directly into the living area.

A co-op loft at 45 Lispenard Street in Tribeca just sold for $1,998,500, slightly more than $100,000 below the $2.1 million list price.


The 2 bedroom 2½ bathroom downtown loft has 1800 sq.ft., and monthly maintenance charges of $1,650.

The buyers are Jean Jacques Cesbron and his wife Rosaria Di Maggio-Cesbron. Jean Jacques is well known as President of Columbia Artists Music, the classical music talent agency of Columbia Artists.

Cesbron’s clients include The American Ballet Theatre, The National Philharmonic of Russia, Ballet Folklórico de México, pianist Lang Lang, conductors Markus Huber and John Mauceri, and violist David Aaron Carpenter.

The sellers were Eugene Park and Jeehyun Kim.

Stribling brokers Sean Turner and Michelle Della Peruta had the exclusive for this listing.

Today’s WSJ has a great article on how Manhattan apartment prices — co-ops and condo prices alike — are “humming along” at strong prices


WSJ reporter Jeff Opdyke writes “SoHo, the Lower East Side, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Murray Hill, the Upper West Side and Harlem are all up in the past year,” citing DataQuick Zip Code analysis.

This blog recently noted that co-op Manhattan apartment prices remain largely unaffected by the current real estate debacle, because co-op apartment buyers must meet a stringent set of financial criteria established by the co-op board.

Co-op Boards have a fiduciary duty — a financial responsibility — to protect the financial interests of other shareholders (i.e., their neighbors) in the building. They can legally reject prospective apartment owners if they believe that a low sales price of an apartment would seriously reduce the value of other apartments in the building.

If you’re hoping to buy a Manhattan co-op at a fire sale price, fuggedaboutit!