By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
BARGAIN seekers, nostalgists and ascetics, take heart: the $200,000 apartment has returned to Manhattan.
It is something of a homecoming. The turbocharged market of recent years left the island all but walled off from middle-class buyers and sent younger New Yorkers scurrying to the outer boroughs. But as prices fall sharply and sellers hope to attract reluctant buyers, numbers that seem a relic of a bygone era have re-emerged.
With all the chatter about bargains, the time seemed ripe to explore just how low one could go in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world. A bit of hunting turned up 10 studio apartments in prime Manhattan neighborhoods. The most expensive: $269,000. The cheapest: $199,000.
To answer the obvious question: yes, these places are small. How small? Combine the square footage of all 10 apartments and you’ll fill less than half of the Rockefeller Center skating rink.
To tour these Lilliputian abodes is to find the feats of pragmatism that are a hallmark of Manhattan living. Murphy beds abound. One owner, perplexed by a tiny kitchen, decided to place the full-size refrigerator a few feet away — in what had been a coat closet. Another enterprising woman tucked her home office into a side closet, storing clothes and boxes on shelves above a folding table that doubled as a desk.
But by no means is this a collection of caves. While a handful fit the dark-and-dreary model, these co-op studios offer a surprisingly generous array of perks. Only one is a walk-up. Many are found in doorman elevator buildings with gyms, laundry rooms and roof decks. Beamed ceilings, track lighting and parquet floors are commonplace. Dishwashers, a luxury item by New York standards, pop up every now and again. In one building, the owner is ferried to the apartment by an elevator operator.
And breathe easy: the location is not Yorkville or bust. At these prices, you’d be excused for imagining a box perched on the West Side Highway — or at the very least, a treacherous trek to the subway. Instead, you’ll find properties in Carnegie Hill; Avenue B in the East Village; Tudor City; and the East 50s, 70s and 80s.
Brokers and sellers expressed mild shock — and in some cases outright chagrin — that prime Manhattan property can now be had for a fraction of an A.I.G. bonus.
“When was the last time I saw these prices?” said Dan Danielli, a broker at Halstead Property. “Not in a long time. Let’s put it that way.”
A few caveats are in order. In compiling this list, time shares and rent-stabilized units already occupied by tenants were skipped over. And because the idea was to seek affordable apartments in traditionally unaffordable areas, neighborhoods like Inwood, Hudson Heights and South Harlem were left out. READ
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