Manhattan listings that have lingered

New York

THE New York real estate market's recent hot streak has brought smiles to many faces. But not everybody is happy.

Even as buyers snap up units left and right, some apartments are still struggling to find buyers, a situation that has vexed sellers, confounded agents and challenged assumptions about style, cachet and location. Many of the stragglers have languished for years, suggesting that Covid-19 is only part of the problem.

"People think they have a God-given right to make a profit, and it's just not so," said Donna Olshan, the president of Olshan Realty, which analyses the luxury sector, a price segment that contains many of these tough-to-trade units.

A review of co-op and condo listings in Manhattan, where the market's recovery from the coronavirus crisis has lagged behind other boroughs, revealed that some properties have hung around since the last real estate boom, in the mid-2010s.

Many of these resale listings are in less-than-buzzy neighbourhoods uptown. But trendy enclaves in lower Manhattan also have laggards, and even a boldfaced name attached to a property is no guarantee that an apartment will sell. It appears though, that overpricing may be the biggest deal-breaker.

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Consider the Pierre, the 42-storey prewar hotel/co-op hybrid on the Upper East Side, at Fifth Avenue and East 61st Street. Although historic and across from Central Park, the limestone-and-brick edifice has failed to sell one of its showpiece units, a duplex spanning the 30th and 31st floors, despite seven years of efforts.

The apartment, which includes dark-stained herringbone-patterned floors, marble baths and a 42-foot-long panelled library, was first listed in 2014 for US$70 million. The price has been lowered just once, to US$60 million, and that happened in 2018, well before Covid-19.

Also that year, brokers, seeing little traction, began to test an alternative strategy by offering each floor as a separate apartment, one for US$37 million and the other for US$23 million. But splitting them up has not worked either.

The buyer pool is also limited by the Pierre's no-loan policy: it is either all cash or no sale.

Maintenance costs can also be daunting. The 30th/31st floor unit has monthly fees of about US$41,000 - or almost a half-million US dollars a year - for the privilege of amenities like twice-daily maid service.

While the exclusivity of co-ops can make them desirable, it can also limit the pool of buyers. The 12-unit co-op at 927 Fifth Ave has an A-list roster that includes fashion executive Kenneth Cole, TV journalist Paula Zahn and Marc Rowan, a private-equity mogul.

But a six-bedroom, five-bath prewar apartment there has lingered since 2018, when it came on the market at US$39.5 million. After two mid-pandemic cuts, it is now listed at US$32.3 million, according to StreetEasy.com.

The unit comes with 27 windows, four exposures and original crown molding, but with lemon-yellow walls, swagged curtains and dark wood antique tables and chairs, the apartment has a throwback look that might not appeal to everyone.

Based on tax records, the apartment's seller is Judith F Hernstadt, a former television executive whose husband, William H Hernstadt, was a former state senator from Nevada, who grew up in Manhattan.

The marketing team for the listing chose instead to highlight a long-ago owner, jeweller Harry Winston, who died in the 1970s. He "was known to carry priceless jewels in his pocket" and "therefore appreciated the very highest level of security and privacy offered by this glorious apartment", said the ad from Louise Beit, a Sotheby's agent representing the listing who declined to comment.

But even current celebrity cachet is no guarantee of a quick sale. Since 2017, Jennifer Lopez, the superstar singer and actress, has not found a taker for her penthouse co-op at 21 E 26th St.

She may be in a good position to wait for a buyer for the unit, which came on at about US$27 million and has been discounted just once, in 2019, to US$25 million. She paid about US$20 million for the apartment in 2014.

Some apartments do not find buyers even after significant price reductions.

A duplex penthouse at 245 Seventh Ave in desirable Chelsea, with nearly 12-foot ceilings and 1,100 square feet of terraces, has awaited a suitor since 2016, despite a sharp drop in price to US$6 million from about US$11.6 million. The apartment's nearly US$12,000 in monthly expenses, for taxes and building upkeep, however, may be a hindrance.

Though properties with steep price tags seem to be lingering the longest, more modest offerings are occasionally running into problems as well.

Among the longest-listed apartments at the lower end of the price scale in Manhattan is a one-bedroom co-op at 333 E 43rd St, No 418, in Tudor City. The unit, which has pre-war details like casement windows and beamed ceilings, plus a windowed kitchen with stainless-steel appliances, was first introduced in early 2019 at US$595,000. More than two years later, it is still around, though now at US$525,000, or a 12 per cent drop.

If it sold at that price, the apartment, would trade at a loss. The current owner paid US$555,000 for it in 2017.

A lack of furniture hurt the listing in the early days, said Elizabeth Wohl, of Brown Harris Stevens, the unit's agent. Determined to move quickly to a bigger apartment, the owner bought a two-bedroom before selling her unit and took all her possessions with her, she said.

Then Covid-19 struck and halted showings. Even when the pandemic began to ease, the building's co-op board has continued to limit visitors. To this day, open houses are still banned, Ms Wohl said, and weekend showings are forbidden.

"We just got stuck," she said, adding that it is not inconceivable the price will have to drop again. "It's been very frustrating." NYTIMES