An investment partnership has sold a townhouse that has undergone a major overhaul. The early 20th century townhouse was located on a prime street in Greenwich Village.
According to NY Times, the transaction involved the amount of $23,282,932.60 that is more than twice the price the townhouse was purchased at two years ago. City records reportedly show that this is the most expensive closed deal of the week.
The Greek revival building at Waverly Place is about 23 feet wide. It was built originally in 1905 with a classic front stoop. When Robert Kaliner of Ascend Builders and his business partner, Jeffrey Davidson of West Orange, N.J., acquired it for $10.2 million in December 2013 it was an empty eight-unit flat. The building then underwent complete renovation from top to bottom that lasted more than 21 months and cost the partners additional $6.5 million, according to Kaliner. He said, "It was demoed and built from the ground up - the only thing left were the front and side walls." He added, "It wasn't architecturally beautiful. It was a pretty crummy rental building."
It was initially offered as a customizable townhouse with a list price of $22 million, according to StreetEasy.com. But according to the partners, they later on realized that people don't want to be involved in the reconstruction process because no one was interested with the offer. The strategy was changed and as part of that process the partners employed the help of architect Wayne Turett and with Kaliner's building contracting business, the five-story building was transformed into a fully illuminated house with high ceilings, high-end finishes, floor-to-ceiling windows and new mechanical systems throughout.
Kaliner said, "Our vision was to build something that was classic with a contemporary feel to it. It's hard when you're building a house on spec to pick something that everyone loves. We made sure this house was built the way it should be built."