The Lore - 261 West 112 Street

1. BUILDING OVERVIEW (ANALYST FRAMING)

• Building Type: Postwar Resale Condo (Built 2008).

• Scale: 6 Floors, 36 Units.

• Primary Category: Hybrid.

• Secondary Category: Core / Defensive.

Justification: Post-sponsor data indicates a highly functional boutique building that achieves a strong balance of structural compounding, rapid secondary market liquidity, and solid rent capture. Initial standard market-rate sponsor sales cleared at heavily discounted baselines of $580–$680/SF in 2010–2011. Early holders captured massive equity as the building matured into a $1,030–$1,240/SF bracket during the 2015–2021 mid-to-late cycle. Crucially, while standard 2BR lines have recently normalized to a $930/SF plateau in the 2024–2025 period, the building actively preserves the vast majority of its peak equity base and clears inventory efficiently. By maintaining this high price floor and strong velocity, it effectively mirrors the long-term compounding stability of the NYXRCSA benchmark, which pushed to historic all-time highs of 330–333 in late 2025 and early 2026.

2. UNIT MIX & COMPOSITION

Based on historic sales data and transaction weighting across explicitly categorized layout records:

• 1BR: ~21% of sales volume (10 recorded standard transactions).

• 2BR: ~76% of sales volume (27 recorded standard transactions).

• Other/Unlabeled: ~3% of sales volume.

Influence on Liquidity & Rent Behavior: The building is predominantly a 2BR structure. Fortunately, this concentration operates entirely differently than in bloated luxury buildings. Because the 2BR lines here represent efficient, functional ~1,061 SF footprints, they act as a high-velocity liquidity engine rather than a structural bottleneck. The building maintains a stable internal rhythm that processes 2BR inventory exceptionally well on both the sales side (median 36 days) and the rental side, reliably absorbing tenants with limited volatility.

3. LINE (STACK) PERFORMANCE — RESALE ONLY

A. Liquidity

• Fastest Resale Velocity: Both 1BR and 2BR lines clear with exceptional efficiency on the mature market. Lines such as 5A cleared in just 12 days, 3D in 23 days, and PHD in 25 days, driving an overall healthy median of 36 days.

• Slowest Resale Velocity: The building generally escapes severe structural drag, but mispriced late-cycle clears experience resistance. The building's recent 2025 clearing of Unit 5E sat for an anomalous 283 days, signaling that the current $930/SF plateau requires precise pricing to maintain historical velocity.

B. Price Strength

• Resale pricing is remarkably stable across stacks. Penthouse 2BR units maintain persistent premium pricing strength, frequently locking in $1,149–$1,201/SF baselines (e.g., PHA, PHD). Standard 2BR units have settled into a solid, defensible plateau between $930–$937/SF in recent 2024–2025 clears (e.g., 5A, 5E).

C. Appreciation

• Lines have compounded robustly over the long term. Holders who entered during the 2010–2011 market-rate sponsor phase captured +60% to +70% equity into the mature phase. Mid-cycle and late-cycle buyers have seen minor baseline cooling (roughly 10%) off absolute euphoric peaks but have successfully avoided the destructive mean-reversions seen in neighboring submarket assets.

4. BUILDING-WIDE PPSF TREND (NORMALIZED)

• 2010–2011 (Sponsor Clearance): Initial market-rate clearance volume clustered at baselines of $580–$680/SF.

• 2015–2017 (Mid-Cycle Peak): Rapid expansion achieving peak pricing power in the $1,030–$1,240/SF bracket.

• 2019–2021 (Late-Cycle Premium): Maintained strong momentum, holding $1,100–$1,200/SF on premium lines.

• 2024–2025 (Plateau / Defensive Hold): A slight, highly stable normalization settling cleanly at $930–$940/SF for standard layouts. Conclusion: Compounding into a Stable Plateau. The building securely holds the vast majority of its peak value and successfully tracks the long-term upward trajectory of the NYXRCSA macro index.

5. RENT CAPTURE ANALYSIS

A. Rent Capture by Line & Unit Type

• Formula: Effective Annual Rent = Achieved Rent × (365 − Rental DOM) ÷ 365.

• Example 1 (High Efficiency): Unit 2A (2BR). Achieved $4,700/mo. DOM 13. Effective Rent = $4,700 × (365 - 13) ÷ 365 = $4,532/mo.

• Example 2 (Moderate Leakage): Unit 5B (2BR). Achieved $4,950/mo. DOM 51. Effective Rent = $4,950 × (365 - 51) ÷ 365 = $4,258/mo.

• Example 3 (Severe Leakage Outlier): Unit PHD (2BR). Achieved $4,250/mo. DOM 139. Effective Rent = $4,250 × (365 - 139) ÷ 365 = $2,631/mo.

B. Rent Appreciation Nominal rent per SF functions strongly, frequently yielding $50 to $65/SF on mature 1BR and 2BR footprints. The building captures yield efficiently, with many units absorbing in 13 to 35 days (e.g., 2A, 4E, 5E, 5B). However, the asset is not immune to volatility; occasional severe localized DOM drag on specific lines (e.g., 118 days for PHC, 139 days for PHD) creates distinct cash flow leakage for affected landlords.

6. B³ SCORING SYSTEM (0–100)

• Liquidity Score: 75

  • Speed: Good. Normalized median resale DOM of 36 days cleanly processes its core 2BR inventory.

  • Consistency: Good. Broad market participation, though slightly offset by the 283-day late-cycle outlier on 5E.

• Rent Capture Score: 70

  • Efficiency: Strong nominal ($50–$65/SF).

  • Absorption: Moderate to Good. Standard units clear fast, but extreme 100+ day rental outliers slightly pull down structural reliability.

• Appreciation Score: 80

  • Durability: Outstanding structural compounding from original baselines (+60% or more). Late-cycle capital preservation is highly resilient, mirroring the NYXRCSA index stability, despite slightly drifting 10% off the absolute mid-cycle peak.

7. COMPOSITE SCORE & CLASSIFICATION

Composite Score = (75 × 0.35) + (70 × 0.30) + (80 × 0.35) = 75.25. Category Assignment: Hybrid (Leaning Core / Defensive). The asset securely passes the required thresholds across all three pillars, proving it functions as a highly liquid, wealth-preserving store of value while simultaneously generating stable, high-margin rental yields.

8. TRANSACTION EXAMPLES (REQUIRED)

Resale Appreciation (Structural Compounding):

1. Unit 5B (2BR): Feb 2011 Sponsor Trade ($670,000 at $631/SF) → Aug 2017 Resale ($1,100,000 at $1,036/SF with 44 DOM). Held 6.5 years. +64.2% change (CAGR ~8.0%). Driver: Sponsor price normalization + Market regime timing.

2. Unit 1B (2BR): Oct 2010 Sponsor Trade ($615,000 at $579/SF) → Aug 2019 Resale ($995,000 at $937/SF with 69 DOM). Held 8.8 years. +61.8% change (CAGR ~5.6%). Driver: Sponsor price normalization + Market regime timing.

3. Unit PHD (2BR): Jun 2011 Sponsor Trade ($785,000 at $739/SF) → Jun 2021 Resale ($1,275,000 at $1,201/SF with 25 DOM). Held 10.0 years. +62.4% change (CAGR ~5.0%). Driver: Sponsor price normalization + Market regime timing.

4. Unit 4C (1BR): Jun 2010 Sponsor Trade ($630,000 at $593/SF) → Aug 2015 Resale ($695,000 at $1,051/SF with 28 DOM). Held 5.1 years. +77.2% change (CAGR ~12.0%). Driver: Sponsor price normalization + Market regime timing.

Resale Flat Normalization (Late Cycle Baseline Shifts): (Note: Because violent equity destruction is completely absent, the following line-pair comparisons map flat baseline retention and slight localized corrections against peak clears).

1. 2BR Line Normalization: Unit 5B Peak Trade (Aug 2017 at $1,036/SF) vs Unit 5A Late-Cycle Resale (Aug 2024 at $937/SF with 12 DOM). -9.5% baseline shift. Driver: Market regime timing.

2. 2BR Line Normalization: Unit 5B Peak Trade (Aug 2017 at $1,036/SF) vs Unit 5E Late-Cycle Resale (May 2025 at $931/SF with 283 DOM). -10.1% baseline shift. Driver: Market regime timing + Liquidity shift (DOM change).

9. RISKS & RED FLAGS

• Slight Late-Cycle Drift: While entirely stable, peak buyers from 2016–2018 (who paid over $1,000/SF for non-penthouse 2BRs) will take slight ~10% haircuts upon exit in the current $930–$940/SF reality.

• Occasional Rental Leakage Outliers: While overall rental velocity is strong, premium high-ticket units and occasional standard layouts can suffer severe delays on the rental market (up to 139 days) when mispriced, eroding expected yields.

• Avoid: Panic selling or aggressively pushing $1,050+/SF pricing on standard 2BR layouts. The 283-day DOM on unit 5E in 2025 proves the market will violently reject over-leveraged pricing, whereas fair pricing clears effortlessly in 12 to 25 days.

10. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Lore (261 West 112th Street) is a highly functional, Hybrid postwar condo that generated massive wealth for its initial 2010–2011 buyers and securely maintained a stable pricing plateau through subsequent market cycles. Driven almost entirely by a 2BR unit mix that nonetheless clears the sales market at an exceptionally efficient 36-day median, the building completely sidesteps the structural illiquidity common in Upper Manhattan. Rents process cleanly at strong nominal yields ($50–$65/SF), and despite slight late-cycle normalization off its absolute $1,030+/SF mid-cycle peaks, standard 2BR lines defensively hold a ~$930/SF plateau today. This allows the asset to successfully track the long-term compounding stability of the NYXRCSA benchmark. Investors should view this as a premium, low-friction vehicle for capturing stable yield and reliably protecting long-term capital.

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