We've seen several units at 2 South End Avenue (The Cove Club), perhaps the most southern of Battery Park's 1980s era condo buildings which are all scattered in and around South End Ave.
Although we were
#5B is a very pretty true 2BR, 2BA with an ideal layout - the living room is in the middle, creating good distance between the two bedrooms. There is a nice-sized terrace off of the living room, which features far away but still nice water views. There is no W/D in this unit, which makes the family friendly two bedroom a little less family friendly, however the other appliances are updated and the apartment is overall nicely renovated.
As many BPC buyers know, the biggest issue with BPC apartments is often unwieldy taxes and common charges resulting from the monthly payment that owners must make toward the landlease held by their building. $2-$2.50 per sq ft of carrying costs in BPC is pretty typical (so a 750 sq ft apartment will have monthlies in the $2000 range). Those carrying costs typically result in lower sales prices in BPC, however the $2000 or more per month that you're plowing into carrying costs could be used to build equity instead in a different area where monthlies are more reasonable.
How common charges (including the landlease) are allocated between apartments in a given building is up to the condo. At 2 South End Ave, owners pretty much pay around $3 per sq foot, with 2BRs paying slightly more and 1BRs paying slightly less. We therefore were quite annoyed to see the common charges for #5B listed at around $1600 per month on a 1,087 sq ft apartment, quite a steal in BPC. It turns out (buried in the text of the broker's description) that the seller is offering a two year $1500 per month "abatement" on the common charges. The real common charges on this unit are over $3100 per month, a whopping total for which you could rent an entire other large 1BR or small 2BR in the same area.
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Thank you very much for your post. Besides being informative, it is also extremely relevant and accurate. Something similar had happened when an apartment (1 bedroom) on the 5th fl was listed as 700+ sqft, when in fact, this was not the case. The seller has several units @ 2 south end and seems to be desperate to sell. When I had offered a MORE than reasonable amount, hardball was played. So now that I have bought another apartment(one year later), I find the seller, STILL trying to sell the apartment at almost 100K less than what I offered. Greed is finally teaching a lesson. Although the CC/Tax is extremely high @ 2 south end, I love the building. The people aren't too social and the conceriges are sometimes TOO NICE (If I'm just stepping out to go across the street, I see no need for them to say hello and then justify my return 5 minutes later upon their immedaite, second greeting). If the CC/Tax were to go down by 25%, I would find it to be a perfect building. They also need to build a seperate entrance to the game room - there is no excuse to have to have your guests walk through the gym to get there. In the end, the Balconies and Townhouses MAKE the condo worth every penny.
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