Neighborhood Search Leads to NoHo
The Wall Street Journal //June 26, 2014
After moving to New York City from Brazil, the homeowners lived in, and looked at, several neighborhoods for their growing family before finding the right fit in NoHo
The hallway of the apartment is shown. Mr. Jereissati works in finance and Ms. Jereissati was a fashion designer who specialized in children’s clothes and now works as a fashion consultant. The couple have three children; two daughters aged 13 and 4 years old, and a son, six years old. The couple moved here from Brazil for Mr. Jereissati’s work. Initially they lived in the Upper East Side in a rental building, which they found convenient, but they didn’t feel like the neighborhood had ‘the right vibe’ for the family., Mr. Jereissati said.
The living room is pictured. The couple had visited New York City before, but weren’t familiar enough with its neighborhoods to know what would work for them. ‘It’s one thing to come for four, five days, it’s another thing to come for a place for yourself,’ Mr. Jereissati said. After a few months on the Upper East Side, the family decided to try living downtown, where their daughter was accepted into school. They moved to TriBeCA and stayed there for two years.
When the couple were expecting their son, they decided to look for a larger space in a neighborhood other than TriBeCa, which felt a bit too far south for the family, and not ‘like a place we wanted to be in for the long haul,’ Mr. Jereissati said. They set out on a year-long search, looking at neighborhoods like Chelsea, the West Village, SoHo and NoHo. ‘When we came across this place, it had a lot of things we wanted,’ Mr. Jereissati said.
Custom bookshelves are pictured in the living room. The apartment was basically move-in ready for the family. The building, located close to several subway stops and with only six units, felt ‘very private,’ Mr. Jereissati said. At the same time, there was an opportunity to get to know neighbors through co-op meetings, he said.
The apartment’s open plan kitchen is pictured. The couple viewed over 40 homes and looked at this one three times before putting in an offer, the only offer they made other than a space in Chelsea. ‘We were being very critical,’ Mr. Jereissati said. When they first moved in they didn’t do much to the space other than painting. Wardrobes and built-in cabinets were painted white, which ‘brought in a lot of light and amplitude,’ to the space, Mr. Jereissati said.
The master bedroom is pictured. An elevator opens directly into the approximately 2,300-square-foot apartment, which has two bedrooms, an additional room that could be used as an office, two full bathrooms and one half bathroom, as well as access to a roughly 200-square-foot basement storage space, according to listing broker Martin Eiden. The building has a shared roof deck.
Last summer, the couple gut renovated the apartment’s bathrooms. The spaces were done in light tones with white marble and tile, giving them a ‘clean, modern look’ that was still ‘cosy,’ Ms. Jereissati said
During the renovation, the couple gave their daughter a budget to buy furnishings for her bedroom. ‘She did it to her taste, under our supervision,’ Mr. Jereissati said, adding that it was a ‘good opportunity’ for her to learn the cost of things. She also picked up some negotiation skills, Ms. Jereissati said. Spying a carpet in a SoHo store that she liked, she told the store owners it was outside of her budget and was able to negotiate an over $900 discount, according to Ms. Jereissati.
During the renovation of the apartment, the walnut floors were refinished and a built-in bed was installed in the children’s bedroom, which gave them more ‘more space to play,’ Mr. Jereissati said. The couple estimate they spent almost $300,000 on improvements to the home.
A second bathroom is pictured. The couple has decided to sell so that they can be closer to their children’s schools, which are now uptown. Mr. Jereissati said it will be hard to find another neighborhood he can love as much. ‘We’re going to trade off what I think is the best block in the best neighborhood for something that’s very far…but something’s got to give,’ he said. ‘If we could move the schools to where the house is, that would be perfect, or if we could move NoHo to the schools, that would be perfect,’ he said.
‘I have the sense of neighborhood here,’ said Ms. Jereissati, who said she’s enjoyed the nearby shops, restaurants and taking her kids to Washington Square Park, a ten minute walk from the apartment. ‘It’s close to everything I love, but I’m not in the middle of things,’ she said. The water fountain at Washington Square Park is pictured on June 22.
A view of Great Jones Street from the apartment is shown. The apartment was first listed in 2012 and again in 2013 for around $3 million before it was renovated. It was relisted in mid-March for $3.7 million before reaching its current listing price of $3.425 million. Patrick Lilly and Martin Eiden of CORE hold the listing.
Original Article: The Wall Street Journal