We Are Tickled Pink that Someone Besides Our Relatives is Reading These Reviews: A Reader Responds to our Thoughts on Truffles Tribeca

Like OMG, we received a beautifully written response by a charming reader today (let's call you...Chace) who likes to think of us as "Brittney" (kewl) and has his own thoughts on the addictively weird Truffles Tribeca, which we visited and reviewed a few weeks ago. Chace is a Truffles Tribeca resident who probably just can't wait to start alternating between Turks and Frogs and the bar at the Dylan Prime and (just a guess here) enjoys Dave Matthews Band concerts, South American wine, and thinks that Panko bread crumbs are so 2006. Because Chace's comment was so well-written, we've decided to post it in it's entirety. Please see our additional thoughts in bold. Chace writes:
--------------------------------------
"Just for a little balance here, I thought I would comment on your post, Brittney. (I’ll call you Brittney because that's sort of how I think of you) (Yeah, us too sometimes - we're kind of brunette though and gave up the short skirts in the 90s).
I moved to Truffles Tribeca over a month ago (sweeeeet) so I might have a better feel for the place than you do although you seem to come by quite often, including night time visits! (Might want to work on the root of your strange fixation with the building, Brittney!) (We're telling you, it's the mannequins)
Yes, parts of the place are still under construction so you do walk through a temporary “ugly” path to access the lobby. Sorry if the retaining walls were not up to your standards but really, since when do construction sites need to be pretty? From my standpoint, it is a small (huge) price to pay for being able to live in a brand new apartment. Remember, we did not buy, we are renting!
Not sure what unit you visited, but one of the cool things about the building is that they are many different lay-outs. I looked at over 10 different units before opting for my one bedroom. On a higher floor, mine does have a foyer, an island in the kitchen and a huge walk-in closet in the large bedroom. In addition to a large closet in the foyer area. (We bet you are paying through the nose for this, do tell) Now you are right, the living room is not huge but if you know of any comparable rentals in the neighborhood that offer the same views, the same amenities plus a massive living room, do move in right away! (There are none. Tribeca is famously bereft of affordable new construction rental buildings, hence the popularity (even if you exclude the mannequins) of the ol' Truffster)
The building does face West Street. That’s actually how I can wake up in the morning with the most amazing views on the (super tiny from over there)Statue of Liberty and enjoy amazing sunsets through my living room bay windows! That’s the point! If it wasn’t on West St, I would face… well buildings, duh! (totally)
A 5 mn walk to the Canal St subway stop doesn’t seem so unmanageable for me. And the neighborhood is so enjoyable that on mornings when I just want to take my time, I walk the extra 5 minutes to the Franklin station.
The lounge IS quite impressive (but would you pay $850 for it?). Certainly the nicest I’ve seen in any NY rentals. And it is pretty cool to be able to book the private movie theatre to watch live TV or a DVD with your friends. Imagine Brittney, a private screening of “Real housewives of New Jersey” or “The Biggest loser” (actually, we're more Top Chef and Gossip Girl but whatevs) just for you and you best girlfriends!
I could go on about the awesome gym and yoga studio, the roof terrace with showers, bbq and private cabanas just about ready to open (do send pics) , the amazingly friendly and helpful staff but I might actually convince you to give the building another try, when really, Truffles and you weren’t meant to be, Brittney. C’mon, don’t be bitter and just let it go, it’s gonna be ok!

Best,
A (very happy) Truffles resident

PS: the first tagline was a quote by Edward Albee but obviousely, that was lost on you Brittney…"(Edward Albee: cool; "You Gotta Have Swine to Show You Where the Truffles Are" as an ad campaign: not cool).
--------------------------------------

More BS from the NYT on Supposed Residential "Sales" in Tribeca

Last week, we took a hard look for the first time at the New York Times' "Residential Sales Around the Region" weekly column, which profiles "sales" in the New York City area. We'd always assumed they were actual sales (with accurate stats) until we actually recognized one of the units last week, the uber-new Tribeca condo building at 60 Beach Street which so far shows zero closed units (still true today, folks) yet somehow popped up in the NYT column last week as having "sold" a $3.75 million unit (a seriously troubled price range, as any reader of any New York real estate blog knows) right at the asking price (whatever).

Yesterday therefore, we also had to raise another eyebrow at the Sunday Times reported sale for $6.44 million (also right at the asking price, whatever) at 101 Warren Street, a building with which we are very familiar and cannot recall anything listed at that price. Of course, if you check out ACRIS or Streeteasy, nothing has sold at 101 Warren in this price range since 2008 and the 3BR, 2.5BA listing is nowhere to be found on Corcoran's site (at least, not for $6.44 million).

In fact, in all of Tribeca, there have only been three real sales in the past month, all at substantial discounts off of the ask. At 50 Warren St, the 3rd floor unit sold for $3 million, 20% lower than the ask. At 73 Worth, #4B sold for $2.69 million, 16% lower than the ask. And finally, at 155 Franklin Street, #3S brings us home for $2.575 million, 14% lower than the ask. Any one of these real sales are a much better view of the Tribeca high-end market (duh) than the misleading nonsense that the NYT has now published for the second week in a row.

Exactly What Does the New York Times Mean by a Residential "Sale"?

Like many New Yorkers, we get just a little bit excited every Saturday (or Sunday morning if you're buying at the newsstand) to read the New York Times Real Estate section, long the guilty pleasure of owners and renters alike who enjoy reading the timely cover stories (including this week's article about rental scam artists) and following people just like you and me in columns like "The Hunt".

Although we devour the Real Estate Section, one weekly column that we usually only glance at is called "Residential Sales Around the Region" which features four columns of price ranges and apartments/houses that "sold" in each of those ranges in various areas around New York City and surrouding suburbs. Based on the language in this section, we had always assumed that the residences featured here were actually "sold" (e.g. there was deed transfer) and that the sales price was actually the amount that the buyer paid the seller at closing.

Normally, we don't recognize the properties featured in this column, which usually sell for around the asking price (starting to smell fishy already in this market) and have sometimes been on the market for as little as 2 weeks (ditto). Today however, we did recognize a property: 60 Beach Street in Tribeca, where according to the New York Times, a 3BR, 2BA just "sold" for $3.75 million which also happened to be the listing price (yeah, right).

Although this condo conversion is seriously out of our price range, we're still vaguely familiar with the development and are almost 100% certain that nothing has started closing there yet. When we poked on over to Streeteasy/ACRIS, it turns out that we are right. There have been no deeds filed at this building, so whatever the NYT considers to be "sold" is either "In Contract" (which is not sold New York Times, hello) or (best case) this $3.75 million apartment is the very first closing at 60 Beach Street and the paperwork is on it's way to City Hall.

Either way, we're certainly a touch annoyed. Come on NYT...we've occasionally defended you against naysayers that claim that you are industry lackeys but this is a tad egregious. Did this unit really sell? If so, who the heck is paying the asking price for a $3.75 million unit, a price range that we all know is severely distressed and would never generate this type of sale.

Truffles Tribeca (Blogger Review)

Oh we just couldn't help ourselves from stopping by this uber-weirdly marketed all rental new construction building on the West Side Highway in Tribeca. In case you haven't been in a cab in this area in awhile, Truffles Tribeca is the boxy slate gray building (thanks to Curbed for the pic) with the intensely creepy mannequins (sometimes dressed in tuxes, sometimes wearing nothing but scarves) hanging out on some of the upstairs balconies and downstairs terraces.

Although the current slogan "Repent...and Rent" is a serious upgrade from the previous "You Have to Have Swine to Show You Where the Truffles Are" (I mean seriously, what?), the building itself is far from upgraded, with a truly surprising level of on-going construction activity and almost nothing to show for it except the Sherlock Holmes-esque den "exclusive club" known as Trufflesprive (didn't we stop adding "prive" on to the end of shit in like 2007?).

When we popped by on a Sunday to check out some rental apartments, we walked over an astroturf construction zone (complete with retaining walls and an ugly path) to the doorman-manned front door. The lobby is small and unimpressive although the doorman was nice to us while we waited for our rental agent, whom I will call Gonzalo (because that's sort of how I think of him) whose real name I learned and forgot in 30 seconds while being distracted by his perfectly fitted pants and pointy gangster shoes. Gonzalo did not ask our price range (weird) but did manage to figure out that we were interested in a 1BR. He took us to the "model unit" (which is not surprising given that the entire building is still basically under construction).

The "model" 1BR is anything but. At a tiny 615 sq ft (what?) with a boring bathroom, an impossibly small living room, exactly one coat-size closet in the bedroom and a second (smaller) closet in the living room, we immediately asked how much the asking price was for a unit of this size. Gonzalo (leaning on the granite countertops in the 45 John-like kitchen, which was basically a wall of appliances in the entryway, no island) very calmly said $3015. "Do we look stupid?" we wanted to blurt out, but instead said "really? interesting" as we squeezed over to the living room window to take a look at the view (buildings, duh).

After we saw the model 1BR, Gonzalo showed us Trufflesprive ha ha ha ha. This "exclusive club" is really just a residents' lounge with some leather saddles, backgammon and a WII. There is a bar, which supposedly has a bartender (although we've walked by at night several times and never seen anyone in there) but you bring the booze and put it into your own cute little clubby locker. There is also a cheap juice machine (which you can use for breakfast in the morning) and the requisite stylish hipsters scattered around the rambling space. Oh, and normally there is an annual membership fee for Trufflesprive of $850 (come on) although the building will "waive it" for the first year.

Gonzalo claimed that Truffles Tribeca is 73% rented (whatevs) and that despite being a total construction zone with only about 4 windows lit up at night (seriously, drive by there), only one line of units is still to be built (whatevs). Even though this building is located in a great area of Tribeca, across the street from the charming "everything souffle, oui oui" Capsuoto Freres, Truffles Tribeca is basically on the West Side Highway, far from the subway, and seems to be attracting a well-heeled youthful clientele that we surmise primarily works for the US government at Citi, which is located just down the street. Additionally, we were surprised that Gonzalo would not negotiate with us on rent (huh?) but perhaps we were not swine enough for his tastes (oui, oui).

#7E is actually in contract at 295 Greenwich!

As you may be aware from our diligent visits to this set of non-descript but well located buildings on Chambers and Greenwich, we think the apartments are remarkably over-priced but we're always happy to gawk at anything under $1MM in Tribeca, a price range where listings are...limited.

We are therefore curious about listing #7E at 295 Greenwich, a tiny apartment that we visited back in April and forgot to write about (yes, the space IS that boring). Apparently, this listing, which was last priced at a kind of reasonable $675,000 (until you look at the 652 sq ft size of the unit), just went into contract. We saw quite a few people at the open house (any 1BR, apparently no matter what size it is under $700k is going to attract eyeballs in Tribeca), but we never actually thought someone would buy this place anywhere near the still outrageous ask.

Overall the apartment is cute and bright, with attractive floors......................sorry, we fell asleep for a second.

I Don't Know...We Kind of Like Mary Ann's...Kind Of.

We weren't aware that the budget TriBeCa Cosmopolitan Hotel is planning a takeover of vaguely gross, yet actually affordable chain mex hangout Mary Ann's, located next door on Duane and West Broadway.

Even though Mary Ann's is described as "nasty" and "do you actually eat here?" by friends from California, we are happy to have even one affordable Chili'sMexican restaurant in TriBeCa. If Mary Ann's closes, looks like we'll have to trudge all the way to over-priced Centrico (how, how does it stay in business?), where the food is only slightly better yet the prices are about twice as high.

TriBeCa Price Chop at 303 Greenwich Has Us All in a Tizzy

When we first visited this tiny one bedroom at 303 Greenwich, one of the non-descript but well-located buildings on Chambers and Greenwich, we ran screaming from the $850,000 price tag for the 700 sq ft unit.

Although the unit appears to have gained a couple of square feet, we are really excited to report that this apartment has been chopped down to the still too expensive almost 2006 price of $699,000. That basically puts this prime Tribeca apartment, which is well-renovated (yes, there's still too much wood in there) at < $1000 per square foot, which is a step in the right down direction.

Although we don't know how much #3A sold for prior to its most recent sale at the height of the market for a whopping $850,000, we do know that #9A (which appears to be the same line) sold in January 2006 for $650,000. We don't think that January 2006 (which is almost 2005 peeps) is even close to low enough for this apartment, but boy does it feel good.

evnyc is Willing to Overlook "Pigeon Splatter" for "lovely" 2BR loft at 157 Duane

evnyc writes "It's hard not to fall for the lovely two-bedroom Tribeca loft apartment at 157 Duane. The broker isn't exaggerating when he touts the “terrific chef's kitchen” and “storage galore.” Closets conceal a pantry, full-size side-by-side washer and dryer, and air conditioning units, with plenty of space left over for clothes and whatever else one might want to hide from general view. The apartment has great flow and separation between private spaces and spacious public areas. The kitchen is thoughtfully renovated with an emphasis on functionality, and the painted white brick in the living room adds considerable visual interest.
The low ish maintenance offsets the fact that there is neither an elevator nor a doorman, but while it is a decided plus to have only one flight of stairs to walk up, being on the second floor means that the apartment doesn't get great light. The bedrooms face directly into the building next door and onto an alleyway reminiscent of New York's good-old-bad-old days. Rusty iron shutters and pigeon splatter complete the “true loft” experience. While many New Yorkers would shrug this off as a part of living in the big city, the ugly back alleyway may not be what buyers in the $1-2 million market want to wake up to each morning.
According to Streeteasy.com, #2 was originally listed with Brown Harris Stevens in April 2008 for $1,995,000. It went into contract a month later and was delisted for the summer, only to be relisted in July 2008, right before the meltdown last fall. After a year with BHS, the seller recently switched to Halstead but kept it at the last listing price of $1,650,000. Given the state of the market and some stiff competition from 1 Worth, #5F (3br/2 ba, $1,250,000), 88 Chambers #2 (2br/2ba, $1,695,000), and a ton of inventory at 80 Leonard, even this charmer might need another haircut to get the deal done.

On a side note, we're seeing more apartments in Tribeca falling into the $900 per square foot range, compared to the recorded median of $1,246. Are these places bargains? Or simply an example of the velocity of decline in the Tribeca market in particular?"

Tribeca Price Chop Makes Us Wish We Had $6.5M Too

We were fascinated by this recent sale at 140 Franklin of a 6 bed, 6 bath stunning condo for a mere $6.5M. We say "mere" because this apartment was listed back in July of 2007 for a whopping $13.7M (which did not result in a sale) and was most recently listed at $7.75M.

We sure dig these new owners who bought this place for 16% off of it's most recent ask and an eye-popping 53% off of the July 2007 listing price. In the words of Juno, ku-DOS.

78-80 Leonard Comment Candy

Apparently, we are not the only people that have had problems with a leaky ceiling at uber-expensive Tribeca conversion 78 Leonard. A reader today writes that they "lived on the top floor (duplex) of this building 6 years ago and the roof leaked so severely then that there was water all the way down to the floor below -
my guess/fear they'll just patch the roof and leave the new owners with a special assessment surprise!"

78-80 Leonard - The Tribeca Lofts

We have always been curious about this set of loft buildings located in a cute part of Tribeca near our favorite speakeasy hangout. When we walked in to the completely under construction entrance (45 John anyone?), we thought that we would be whisked right up to some goofy showroom where we would sit through yet another "conversation" about:

- what our needs are (just show us an apartment)
- the lending situation (we know you're flexible on price)
- how it's a great time to buy (we know you're flexible on price)

Instead, much to our amazement, we were told by the doorman to sign a construction waiver and then proceed to the elevator. We were handed a sheet of paper with a bunch of unit #s and prices and...that's it folks. For the next hour, we roamed completely unattended through floor after floor of fascinating old loft units. It was like poking through an old haunted mansion - you never quite knew what you would find behind each door.

Fortunately, in one unit, we actually ran into a Brown Harris Stevens agent, who informed us that The Tribeca Lofts are a "conversion" from rental units to sales (even though the building basically just looks abandoned) and that we can choose to buy units "As Is" (abandoned) or "Finished" (around $300k more). As you can see from the photo of the leaky ceiling (yes that's a garbage can collecting rain water) above, the units are in various states of repair. Despite some leaks, we loved the location here and the units are large and laid out quite well (particularly the enormous lofts on the 5th and 6th floors that really feel like houses). Although we don't think there are any "view" units in these buildings (view choices are a dark ugly building very close to your windows or a dark ugly building further away), the ceilings are magnificent and the windows in some units are truly spectacular.

Unfortunately however, we cannot find a single recorded sale in this building (even though BHS tells us that there were two sales and that occupancy will happen "very soon") and the 9 apartments that are supposedly in contract are also nowhere to be found.

We'll keep our eye on these lofts, which we hope will start selling...otherwise, back to rentals they go (we think).

We wish someone would sell us something at 200 Chambers for $10 too.

We don't know who this family is but we love the idea of trading an apartment at the still shockingly overpriced 200 Chambers (yes, the Palm is nice but really, does it matter?) for just $10. If you need some family members to come out of the woodwork, we are here for you at Downtowny.

"As If!" 311 Greenwich #6G - $825,000 - 650 sq ft

We debated whether this cute little apartment in one of the only Tribeca buildings that has listings for under $1MM is really the overpriced apartment of the week, but at $1,269 per sq ft, we just can't imagine such a price even in a renovated unit.

Both the Streeteasy ad and the floorplan loudly proclaim this apartment as a "Miracle on Greenwich Street!", although the only thing that we find miraculous here is that some new floors and a renovated kitchen would actually spur anyone to pay $825k for what is essentially a tiny apartment without a W/D in the unit and a "cute" balcony that is good for nothing growing herbs.

Although the renovations in this super small apartment are very nice and we like the location, we can't get over the unbelievable price tag given that a larger unit in the same building with a real balcony and in need of only new floors and some kitchen cabinets failed to sell at an ask of $775,000 and is now no longer on the market.

#6G sold in 2004 for $640,000, which we think is actually quite a reasonable price now, given the relatively low maintenance and pint-sized square footage. Add in the fact that absolutely nothing has sold in this building since September, 2008 and we're pretty sure that there are some sellers with high expectations here.

If we could be any buyer, we would be the dude who just bought at 101 Warren for $250,000

We've always loved the oh-so-overpriced, inaccessible, vaguely reclusive despite it's enormity condo building at 101 Warren in Tribeca. So it is with fascination that we note that#650, a 2 bed 2 bath 1,242 sq ft apartment that most recently sold in June 2008 for $1.5M just changed hands again a couple of weeks ago for $250,000 (what?). We don't know if there was a sex tape or something involved here, but whatever it was, we're willing to do it too for that kind of a discount.

[Downtowny Note: We've recently gotten a couple of nasty comments about this post from anonymous individuals claiming that we don't know nuthin' 'bout 'nuthin' and that this $250k sale was a parking space or similar. Ok, so first of all, duh. Obviously, $250k at a building like 101 Warren is not an arms-length sale, which is what we were trying to get at with this post. Second, yes, this could be a deeded parking space or storage unit, however that type of transaction (without a corresponding apartment sale) has NEVER, as far as we can tell, happened in this building, therefore it seems unlikely to suddenly be starting now, however of course, anything is possible.]

311 Greenwich Street, #7I - $775,000 (Just Reduced) - 730 sq, ft.

When we first saw this apartment (listed back then at $799,000), the first word that came to mind was "airy". The layout is quite nice, with the living room and bedroom both containing a bright wall of windows. There is a long (although not exactly wide) balcony that can be accessed from both the bedroom and the living room. The cutout kitchen also has a window (to the outside) which is a cute touch that we happen to be suckers for.

Although the apartment needs major refinishing - we're talking paint, floors (is that old parquet?), kitchen appliances, and even the closet doors (a few of which have jagged edged "half" plastic knobs), it is a much better value than the treehouse next door.

The carrying costs (at around $1100 per month) aren't terrible, although the building isn't exactly amenity-filled. There is no W/D in the unit but there is definitely room for one. We still love this location and heck this apartment, especially with the mild price reduction (not enough in our opinion though), is definitely worth a look.

303 Greenwich Street #3A - $850,000 - 700 sq. ft.

Say what? When we walked into this apartment, we couldn't believe the price. Similar to
our experience at 71 Nassau, this apartment felt smaller than the (already too small for this price range) list of 700 square feet.

But we digress...the real issue with this apartment is that every exposed surface is covered with a dark wood. The place smells like a wood shop, has no W/D (no room for one anywhere either in the cramped layout) and is very, very dark (not sure if it's the wood that makes it appear that way).

On the bright side, we are in love with the apartment's prime location at Greenwich and Chambers but wouldn't even think about paying the (we think) $200k premium to live on this block. You can get the exact same apartment plus an extra 100 sq ft. in a prime East Village location for about $150k less.