In 2007, when anything went, a lot on the SW corner of Leonard St and West Broadway which housed a sports bar became a construction site. There rose 34 Leonard St. A small handsome building with 16 units, which tried to integrate the Loft Exteriors of the neigbhorhood into the design. It also tried to capture the essence of the time, naming it’s own Sommelier for the project. Yes, your apartment was coming with a wine-specialist. Much was hoped for it, however it failed to close buyers. Perhaps among other things one major drawback was that it was a Condop (a Coop with Condo rules) in a condo world. The developer had to lease the land it was being built on, so it could not be a condo.

Why do land lease buildings get a bad rap? In part because their CC’s include rent for the land, and that means one more component of your cost basis is not under the Board’s control. Attorneys tend not to like land lease either, so it’s hard to convince a buyer to sign a contract, for a type of property that many real estate attorneys raise an eyebrow at (yet, all of Battery Park City is land-lease).

So the times moved forward and we all know what happened almost 2 years ago this month. With the financial crisis, sales of properties between $2-4 Million dried up overnight and caught up in the drought was 34 Leonard. The developer failed to pay on the loan and in June the building was foreclosed on and sold for $34 Million. Per Curbed, city records indicate the transferred hands for $40 Million just months later. Recently, the a web-site was created and it indicates the contact informaton for a Leasing office. I’m doubtful the Sommelier is still part of the deal.