Manhattan House
845 West End Ave
The Aldyn
15 Union Square West
The Rushmore Riverside
515 East 72
Overview
Originally a horse stable in the late 19th century, 11 Spring Street is a beautifully crafted stone building. But until it recently changed owners (reportedly for just under $15 million), 11 Spring was more often mentioned as “the candle building,” known for its uniformly tied white window drapes and the eponymous candles in each of its 60 windows. But even more notable than the mysterious candles, drapes, and the beautifully crafted stone was the bottom floor of the building that had long been a venue for muralists, graffiti artists, and renegade tromp l’oie-ists from around the globe. Pieces done on its brick bottom level are well documented, numerous, and often remarkable even superlative examples of the genre. The developers, Caroline Cummings and Bill Elias, sensitive about taking an eraser to this artistic institution, showed some class by hosting a graffiti exhibition throughout the building’s 6-floor interior as a last hurrah for the street art. (Pictures from the exhibition can be found here
While the beloved (although not by all) art is coming down, the community is taking some solace in the fact that the developers are not going to include any ground-floor retail space (even though it was zoned for retail). While I write below that the area has great shopping, it also should be recognized that anymore shops in the area could tip the area from a neighborhood to a NoLita-themed shopping mall.
Units and Pricing
11 Spring seeks to capitalize on the outrageous NoLita price tags by seemingly using its $6,700,000 starting price as a cornerstone of its marketing strategy: the advertisement on the front of the building (presumably designed to take advantage of multi-millionaire pedestrian traffic) says only that units start at $6,700,000 and that you can arrange to pay this price to one of three exclusive real estate agents, thus seemingly putting conspicuous consumption at the fore of the promotional strategy. On the other end of the spectrum and other end of the block a photographer resides in a six-story former bank and is making no money off the property (which he has owned forever), quite the opposite of what is going on at 11 Spring.
Renovated by muted-modernist Edward Asfour, 11 Spring Street will be split into just three units (which works out to one unit per exclusive broker). The three units have been named The Flat, The Townhouse, and The Penthouse (one wonders if these three names will be printed on the mailboxes in the lobby). The Flat has two bedrooms and two baths and encompasses an entire floor. Its 2,085 square feet are priced at the $6,700,000 listed on the banner outside the building. The Townhouse is a duplex with a 595 square foot private garage. It has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, two half baths, comes in at 4,025 square feet, and is going for $15 million and change. The Penthouse, the most expensive unit at nearly $18 million (nearly $3 million more than the building itself was recently purchased for), is a triplex with 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, and comes in at 4,600 square feet. The Penthouse has the best window-to-brick ratio, but the reported view of the Empire State Building is available from the roof only. The ceilings in the property range from nine to upward of twelve feet, and the kitchens and bathrooms are appointed by Bulthaup.
Amenities
This property is very weak on amenities. There is no doorman, no concierge service, no gym, and no beautiful Zen garden, but such things would seem odd in a property with only three occupants. The Townhouse does, of course, have its private garage, which, in New York is just about one of the most precious amenities you can have. Asfour had an initial plan that included a pool in the basement, but that seems to have been scrapped. Clearly, though, this is a building for people who want more of a private, urban hearth and home-type living environment as opposed to the luxury model where you are attended to intimately (or, perhaps from certain perspectives, intrusively).
Location
NoLita has changed to such an extent that if you know someone who lived there as recently as 10 years ago, you know how impossible it is for them to step foot in today’s NoLita without a diatribe spewing instantly forth. And speaking of change, the removal of the building’s graffiti is in itself a significant indication of a neighborhood in flux. Ironically, this sort of funky, colorful, edgie yet nonthreatening atmosphere that the former graffiti typified was the basis upon which rents in the neighborhood where able to soar so high. In many respects I think NoLita represents New York’s collective fantasy of a perfect downtown neighborhood. In other words, it is simulation, an elaborate facade. The companies located in NoLita are mainly in the business of image fabrication and NoLita’s residents are generally wealthy people in the trappings of bohemia. But NoLita is lovely. For all its fakeness, it is one of the most rewarding places to stroll and a great place for unique middle- and high-end shopping. Besides, Little Italy’s crass, touristic fakery just to the south puts into high relief just how nice NoLita is.
Investment Potential
I suspect 11 Spring Street’s three units will quickly be picked up by people high up in the moneyed stratosphere of some version of the art world. Although, I do wonder how someone could have the discerning eye required to find undiscovered prospects in the arts yet only be discovering NoLita at this late date. 11 Spring Street is a unique buying opportunity. The supply of three unit condos in converted 19th-century stables is limited to this one property, so one can sensibly assume the demand will always be there. What is more, it seems clear that NoLita is going to go the way of SoHo, artiness and charm propelling property values up until they level off at an entrenched upper echelon. We rate the building a B+.
