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Open House Agenda: 3 Apartments to See This Weekend

By DNAinfo Staff on June 5, 2015 7:56am  | Updated on June 5, 2015 5:58pm

 Check out these three ground-floor apartments.
Open House Agenda: 3 Apartments to See This Weekend
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NEW YORK CITY — Despite the conventional wisdom, a ground-floor apartment has advantages. You walk in, you walk out. No waiting, no stairs, no packed elevators. These three ground-floor Manhattan apartments are having open houses this Sunday.

130 W. 20th St., Apt 1B, Chelsea
1 Bedroom/ 1 Bath
Condo
Approximately 750 square feet
$1,325,000
Common Charges: $1,065 per month
Real Estate Taxes: $400 per month
Open House: Sunday, June 7, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Lowdown: The Prima, a 36-unit condominium building, opened in 2009.

"For a building with a small number of units, it has pretty big amenities," said David Margolies of Compass. Those include a gym, roof deck, common garden, cold storage for food deliveries and even a pet spa. This one-bedroom has a secluded location within the building, just past the elevators.
 
"There are no adjoining walls with the neighbors," Margolies said. The building’s one other ground-floor unit is farther down the hall, behind the stairwell.
 
The developer was concerned with soundproofing, Margolies said, so "even when there are people standing on the street with a cellphone, you can’t hear them." The windows are high on the wall; the Hunter Douglas shades come with the apartment.
 
The seller is the first-ever owner, who bought the unit from the developer "and kept it in immaculate condition," Margolies said.
 
Location: The building is on one of the less boisterous, less bar-laden blocks of prime Chelsea, in the thick of big-box shopping and nearby Ladies’ Mile. The closest subway is the 1 train at 18th Street.
 
Why put it on your open house calendar? This one-bedroom has more space than others in the building, with 9’6” ceilings and extra closet space, too.
 

225 E. 73rd St., Apt 1A, Lenox Hill
0 Bedrooms/ 1 Bath
Co-op
Approximately 475 square feet
$475,000
Maintenance: $978
Open House: Sunday, June 7, 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Lowdown: This 1929 building has a sunken lobby — two steps down and two back up. It is one of several in the Eastgate enclave, designed by famed architect Emery Roth.
 
This cozy apartment started as a studio but continued life as a “half-bedroom apartment.” Originally, an entry hall led straight to the bathroom, with the rectangular living area to the left and a huge walk-in closet to the right.
 
Now, the closet has been transformed into an alcove currently used as a sleeping cocoon. It’s 60 inches wide, which is also the width of a standard queen mattress. Plan accordingly! Still, one person can shut the door and sleep while another stays awake in the living room.
 
The alcove could be used as an office or returned to its closet origins, said Trisha Lawton of the Corcoran Group. The living area has a single closet, but the building rents basement storage bins for $75 a month.
 
The sellers are open to including some of their furniture with the purchase — including a white, glossy armoire that matches the kitchen cabinets.
 
The view isn’t much — “an interior negative space between buildings,” Lawton said. “You see another backside of a building across the way.” But view-seekers can avail themselves of the building’s common roof deck.
 
Location: The tree-lined block is a few doors down from messy Second Avenue, but close to two stations for the No. 6 train and the 72nd Street crosstown bus.
 
Why put it on your open house calendar?
“This is a really gracious studio with a warm, charming feeling,” Lawton said. “It’s a great location for someone who wants to be on the Upper East Side.”


520 E. 90th St., Apt. 1D, Yorkville
2 Bedrooms/ 1 Bath
Co-op
Approximately 950 square feet
$675,000
Maintenance: $1,965 per month
Open House: Sunday, June 7, 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Lowdown: Though ground-floor units can be shadowed by the urban canyons formed by surrounding high-rises, this apartment faces north toward Asphalt Green, getting a fair amount of light.
 
The building is one of a four-building complex, Gracie Gardens, built in 1942.
 
The living area is large, with an open foyer big enough to use as an office area. The second bedroom, small and almost square, is situated away from the master bedroom. It currently houses bunk beds for two kids, said Max Rather of Compass, but could easily work as a guest room or home office.
 
The original layout included so much closet space that the owners broke through one closet to combine it with the kitchen, adding a pantry area. The kitchen even has a window, as does the bathroom.
 
An apartment in the same line on the fifth floor is currently asking $799,000, but the ground-floor unit is in comparable condition, Rather said — and you get to skip the elevator ride.
 
Location: The one-way block, where cars head east to East End Avenue, doesn’t connect to a major thoroughfare, so there’s little through traffic. The calm greenery of Carl Schurz Park is steps away, as is the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station, where expansion is proceeding after years of controversy over potential noise and smells.
 
Why put it on your open house calendar? The apartment is for “somebody who needs a true two-bedroom but doesn’t have the budget to go above a million dollars or even close to a million dollars” and who appreciates the “potential for appreciation with the Second Avenue subway line coming in,” Rather said.