WEST VILLAGE
421 Hudson St.

Two-bedroom condo
Asking price: $1.74 million
Selling price: $1.72 million
Time on market: 5 months

ENERGY CONSERVATIVE Both the apartment and the building of this deal are unique for the West Village. The building used to be a printing house. In 1975, the managing directors of Orb Management, Barnet Liberman and Winthrop Chamberlin, converted the building into a residential building with duplex apartments. It is also the largest building in the Northeast to have water heated via a solar panel. “This was like the first green building,” Mr. Liberman said. Both Mr. Liberman and Mr. Chamberlin live in different duplexes at 421 Hudson Street. “Since it had 16-foot high floors, we made each of the floors duplexes,” Mr. Liberman said. “The perimeter rooms – the living and dining rooms – have the original height ceilings and the middle part of the apartment has two levels where there is a bedroom or two above and below are the kitchen, bathroom, and closets.”

A 1,500-square-foot apartment in the building closed this past Monday and was sold to a young married couple who have a six-month-old daughter. The man is a financial adviser, and the woman works for a magazine. They were already living in the West Village and wanted to stay in that area, but needed a bigger place. David Allouch, of Corcoran Group Real Estate who represented the seller and wound up representing the buyers as well, said the buyers like the apartment because it has tons of light and great, unusual views for a West Village apartment. “The view is very surprising because it’s one of the few buildings in the West Village that has unobstructed eastern views – you can see all the way to the Empire State Building,” Mr. Allouch said. The apartment is built in a contemporary style, which also appealed to the buyers. “It has a very open, lofty feeling, and they liked that about the apartment,” Mr. Allouch said.

Although the building was built in 1911, the inside layout is quite modern. There’s a gym and swimming pool on top of the building, which also has a doorman. The woman who sold the apartment, after living in it for only a year, is a French writer who was married to a famous journalist. She is relocating to Paris for personal reasons and had originally bought it because she loved the views, Mr. Allouch said.

“It’s a one of a kind apartment because you are living in a condo in the West Village, but you have nice views and are living in a full-service building,” Mr. Allouch said. “It seems to me like it’s the best of both worlds if you are living in the Village, and the building is certainly ahead of the trend.”

TRIBECA
275 Greenwich St.

One-bedroom condo
Asking price: $699,000
Selling price: $699,000
Time on market: 30 weeks

TRIBURBIA CONDO Masajuki Kaneda decided to sell his apartment on the second floor of 275 Greenwich St. after living in the building for 10 years. “He was traveling a lot, and no longer wanted to own an apartment,” Irene Kruglova of Bellmarc, who represented the seller and wound up representing the buyer, said. Mr. Kaneda had been living in the 855-square-foot apartment with his wife, Maki Noguchi, who is a designer for women’s clothes, particularly jeans.

The buyer of the apartment, Daniel Gluck, is the founder and executive director of the Museum of Sex located on Fifth Avenue in New York. Mr. Gluck, who is in his 30s and has two sons, is recently divorced and needed a new place to live. One of the reasons why he liked this apartment is the location. Mr. Gluck has two sons and right across the street is P.S. 234, where he wants them to be able to attend because it is supposed to be one of the top public schools in New York. “We mainly came here for the school district,” Mr. Gluck said. “We used to live here about five years ago and we love this particular street and area. There is a park right across the street and my kids are five and two. It’s a big open street and a block away from the water.” Mr. Gluck also likes that he feels like he is living in a suburb without actually having to live in one. “I like to call the area Triburbia, because it has a semi-suburban feel.”

Moreover, the one-bedroom apartment is really a convertible two-bedroom so that there will be enough space to live in with his sons. “The dining alcove can be turned into a small bedroom or office,” Ms. Kruglova said. “There is also enormous amounts of closet space so that’s definitely helpful for sharing this apartment with children.” Mr. Gluck said he is gutting the apartment and putting in new floors, lighting, a kitchen, and a bathroom. “I’m investing in the apartment so we are ripping everything out,” he said. “I’m adding a small bedroom, which will also make for a nice office or dining area for a future tenant. It will also allow my two young sons to have their own bedroom. “The boys’ bedroom will open up into the living room so that they can use that as their playroom as well. “I’m trying to maximize the use of the space,” Mr. Gluck said.

– Special to the Sun