Please see today’s update on the auction.
Some 300 individuals showed up for the auction of 54 units at Riverdale’s troubled Solaria condominium for four hours of bidding today.
Although the results failed to impress either me or apparently the roughly 10 percent who were left by the end the auction at a mid-Manhattan hotel, people from the auction company, Real Estate Disposition Corp. (REDC), said they were pleased.
After all, they contended, the sponsor of the luxury building was able to unload 54 units in one fell swoop at prices they said were within 5-10 percent of the retail market for the area. If true, that tells you that the units were mind-numbingly overpriced, though that’s hardly shocking news.
I’ve had to perform an inordinately quick calculation – which I will do again, adding substantially more analysis in a post tomorrow morning – so I may be off a bit. But here are the numbers:
The total obtained for all 54 was $38,656,062. The number of square feet sold was 90,797. The cost per square foot comes to $426, and that’s low, low, low in my estimation.
The asking price of each of 45 of the units on the block exceeded $1 million, one sign of Joseph Korff’s (the developer) disconnection from market reality. Of the 45, I noted only four that topped $1 million.
Moreover, it was not disclosed how many of the 54 condos fell below the developer’s reserve prices. But surely, he won’t let all of them go for the bid amounts, which seemed to average at least 35-40 percent below the list prices. I hope to have more on that as well if, and when, the information, is released or I can complete the calculations.
Tomorrow, I’ll verify my numbers, include many more and provide photos of the auction scene.
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Share This PostMalcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022
M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201
Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
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I, on Cambodia 
I “won” an apt (the 2nd time it came up) and walked away when there was a refusal to address any punch list items – other than the minor ones noted by the developer.
I am curious if you know the auction prices for 18B and 19B
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According to my notes, the winning bid for 19B was $850,000, which was the second time it came up at the auction; the first time, the winner was $945,000. For 18B, it was $810,000, also the second time, versus $855,000 the first time.
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Great work Malcolm. Will the full list of winning bids be published? Looking forward to the pictures.
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I have my own notes of the winning bids for each apartment but can’t undertake to publish all of them because of: 1. the work involved; 2. the possibility that I misunderstood the auctioneer by as much as $5,000; and 3. the question of whether a winning bidder actually had the sale approved.
However, if you or anyone else wants to know about one or two units, just let me know and I’ll publish those in comments.
As for pictures, I seem to be having technological issues that I’ll continue to try to resolve.
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Thanks for the quick Solaria update. Homes that were not auctioned will be re-auctioned?
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Very doubtful.
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