Veracity Development has grown slightly less bold in their asking price for the 3,000 square-foot, three-bedroom penthouse at 111 Mercer Street, the cast iron building between Price and Spring Streets that it reconfigured as (surprise!) luxury loft condominiums. But only slightly. Between 2012 and February of this year, the unit was listed with Douglas Elliman, asking $12.5 million.
While the building’s other units, also under the auspices of Douglas Elliman, sold out, the penthouse, whose construction lagged a bit behind, failed to find a buyer based on renderings and floor plans alone. Veracity’s forlorn penthouse went off the market for a few months, during which time CORE’s Emily Beare and Christian Rogers were tapped for rescue operations. (OK, very low level rescue operations.)
“We’re small,” Ms. Beare, whose listing asks $12 million even, recently told the Observer. “We don’t have a million properties and television shows and everything else. So we can really focus on the listing. We’re very excited to be working on this property.” The triplex has three distinct terrace spaces at two different elevations, the higher of which is equipped with an outdoor kitchen, a feature which, much to our surprise, some people actually use, according to the broker. “Oh, people absolutely use them!” she said, aghast in a good-humored way at our skepticism. “It’s very much appreciated, especially in a case like this where your indoor kitchen is on another level. You don’t have to be running up and down.” Fair enough.
The apartment’s ample outdoor space, she predicted, will also prove much more alluring now that prospective buyers can actually stroll along its balustrades and gaze upon the alfresco fireplace, from which the World Trade Center is visible. The interiors, too, are highly attractive. “People love conversions,” Ms. Beare said. (Somehow, we’ve been getting that impression lately, too.) “The building has that old, solid architecture. It feels good, and you also get to live in this very very modern space with all the modern niceties.”
The kitchen is equipped with Calcatta Gold marble counters and a built-in espresso machine, in the unlikely event that the eventual owners ever want to brew their own coffee. There is a “grand” master suite featuring a wood burning fireplace (Get ‘em while they’re hot!), and a “discrete” virtual doorman. You will find none of those gossipy robot types at 111 Mercer. No sir. And if the comforts of home are not enough, building residents enjoy access to amenities at the nearby Nolitan Hotel.
“Additional fees may apply,” of course, but somehow, we doubt the buyers will be sweating it.