The Ansonia - 2109 Broadway - Upper West Side - Manhattan
When The Ansonia opened in 1904 it was called:
"the most technologically advanced apartment house in the world"
Today the Ansonia condominium has 462 apartments on 18 floors. Beaux arts architecture, landmarked in 1975
iPhone photo courtesy of:
Mitchell Hall, Associate Broker, The Corcoran Group
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How much is your Manhattan apartment or townhouse worth in today's market?
©Mitchell Hall 2010
I'd love to spend a year there....New York City is one of many places I'd like to live in...but not permanently, just for a while.
Mitchell, love the architecture, especially the arched lower level windows. Could you imagine it's cost to build today. Thanks!
I'm a history buff, and always like to hear about architectural gems...a different design ethic, then, that's for sure!
Mitchell - what a fabulous, classic NYC building. I can imagine having a home there, with a corner view of course, to look out on the city. Couldn't afford it, but fun to dream about.
Jeff
Mitch, when I lived in New York, I would crane my neck looking up every time I passes that building. Some day, I'll have to tag along with you if you preview stuff in there!
Karen, It's a great city for a second home or what we call a pied-a-terre. I felt the same way about California. I'd love to be bi coastal.
Kevin, I can't imagine the cost today. The Beaux Arts style is loaded with ornate balconies, balustrades and bay windows. The lower level arched windows are retail stores.
Roger, Yes. Broadway's most opulent structure. Its located where the street curves so it is visable from 20 blocks away.
Li, It was state-of the-art in 1904. It was the first building to provide tenants with such luxuries as electric stoves, hot and cold filtered water, freezers, a pneumatic -tube system to deliver messages, and even an early form of central air conditioning. The building also had incredibly thick walls installed to protect against fire, which meant Ansonia suites were among the most soundproof in the city so many famous musicians took up residence in the building.
Jeff, Actually there is a south facing studio with renovated kitchen and bath, new floors and molding, new dishwasher full size refrigerator, large windowed bath. perfect pied-a-terre. Asking $295,000
Diane, They certainly don't build with all the details anymore. The corner apartments have circular rooms.
Pat, Ok, I showed 2 apartments there on Sunday. Only one was in my buyer's price range. It was a beautiful apartment. They would have bought it but it faced the back with no view and was dark. The other one had the circular rooms but it was $2.6M. There was an open house and we were already there so my buyers wanted to see it. It's already in contract.
Karen, I felt the same way until I moved to NYC in 1992. My plan was to stay a year just to experience the city and be able to say I lived there. I had been visiting NYC several times a year for about 25 years before I made that decision.
Ten years later I was still there. It was the most amazing place to live.
Mitchell, I know the building well. Spent a lot of time on the Upper West Side when I lived in Manhattan. Do you remember the West 63rd Street Steakhouse in The Empire Hotel across from Lincoln Center? I managed that restaurant for several years.
You brought back some great memories with your post, thanks so much.
Roger, Yes 63rd Street steakhouse was a great place. I've been living on UWS since 1982. West 63rd Street Steakhouse closed, there is a new seafood restaraunt there now. I haven't been to it. Many of the good old fashioned places have closed. Manhattan has become very suburban with a lot of chains. I can't even get good Chinese anymore. The Empire hotel used to have good deals many of my out of town friends stayed there.
I left NYC late in 2001 and moved back to Cleveland, miss the city terribly. Been back to visit quite a few times and agree, the city has an entirely different rhythm now. But you still can't beat it, there's no place like NYC.
My first six years there I was in the restaurant industry. I worked for the New York Restaurant Group (Smith and Wollensky, The Post House, Manhattan Ocean Club) at the Park Avenue Cafe and Maloney and Porcelli before going to manage the steakhouse.
Had a brief stint in real estate right before 9/11 and wasn't established enough to ride the big wave.
Sorry to be rambling, The Ansonia hit on a bit of nostalgia for me.
Roger, Do you know my buddy Cleveland Carole Cohen? She's not on activerain anymore but she has a blog Cleveland real estate news.
You worked for some very fine restaurants.
I actually started in real estate right before 9/11 too. I had a 20 year career in film and television and ad sales. In 2000 I went to work for a start up Dot com with stock options and all. Remember the dot com tech bust. The company burned through so much money it only lasted about 9 months.
I got my real estate licence and started in real estate the summer of 2001. I did a rental deal but my first sale (accepted offer) was the Friday before 9/11. I never thought any one would ever buy in NY again. Luckily my buyer didn't back out. That fall was very gloomy in NYC but 2002 turned out to be a good year. People started buying and selling again.
Fabulous building. I'm curious. how many sq ft do you get in the $295k studio?
Fabulous building. I'm curious. how many sq ft do you get in the $295k studio?
i don't know your buddy Carole Cohen, but will look her up on Cleveland real estate news.
The NYRG was good to me. The restaurants were phenomenal and I so enjoyed working in Manhattan. The executive Chef David Burke kicked some butt at the Park Avenue Cafe and is so successful.
2002 was a good year for many realtors, glad you were one of them. I worked for a small company that dealt with mostly rentals, and like I said earlier, wasn't established enough to ride the big wave. I had six deals ready to hit the table and not one of them closed by the end of the year after 9/11, so it was time for me to go.
I thought I was immortal so was never good at planning for the future. Made gobs of money and took every advantage of everything the city had to offer, which you know is quite costly. No regrets here. I'm a firm believer everything happens for a reason and we all wind up where we're supposed to be.
Keep in touch. You can e-mail me at roger@shakenwithatwist.com, I'm not sure who else is interested in what we're discussing here.
Mitchell,
This is a remarkable building. Excellent architecture - so many details and so much to take in. :)
Steve
What a treasure! I wonder if the builders knew that over 100 years later we would still be marveling at its beautiful architecture.
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