Soha 118 - 301 West 118 Street
1. BUILDING OVERVIEW (ANALYST FRAMING)
Building Type: Postwar Resale Condo (Built 2006).
Scale: 15 Floors, 93 Units.
Primary Category: Appreciation-Driven.
Secondary Category: Yield-Oriented.
Justification: Post-sponsor data indicates a building that successfully compounded early wealth but suffers from catastrophic secondary market illiquidity on its largest layouts. Early market-rate sales cleared at baselines of $650–$900/SF between 2008 and 2012. The asset actively compounded into a mid-cycle peak in the $1,100–$1,337/SF bracket between 2017 and 2022, and crucially, has maintained strong defensive pricing into the 2023–2025 period ($1,047–$1,210/SF). By actively preserving its equity base, it effectively tracks the long-term compounding growth of the NYXRCSA benchmark, which pushed to historic all-time highs of 330–333 in late 2025 and early 2026. However, massive DOM friction (150 to 280+ days) entirely precludes it from achieving a Core/Defensive classification.
2. UNIT MIX & COMPOSITION
Based on historic sales data and transaction weighting across 105 explicitly categorized layouts:
1BR: ~10.5% of sales volume (11 transactions).
2BR: ~31.4% of sales volume (33 transactions).
3BR+: ~58.1% of sales volume (61 transactions across various bath counts).
Influence on Liquidity & Rent Behavior: The building is extraordinarily top-heavy, completely anchored by massive 3BR and 2BR units. The severe lack of 1BR "commuter" footprints (only 10.5% of volume) deprives the building of a functional, high-velocity liquidity engine. Consequently, the large footprints dictate the building's operational rhythm, resulting in extreme structural drag (frequently 157 to 281+ DOM) on the sales market and highly volatile, destructive vacancy intervals on the rental market.
3. LINE (STACK) PERFORMANCE — RESALE ONLY
A. Liquidity
Fastest Resale Velocity: Paradoxically, 3BR/2BA layouts represent the only pocket of functional liquidity, clearing at a highly efficient median of 42 days.
Slowest Resale Velocity: The building's core 2BR and premium 3BR layouts sit for destructive durations. 2BR/2BA units carry a median DOM of 157 days, while 3BR/2.5BA lines suffer from a catastrophic median DOM of 281 days.
B. Price Strength
Resale pricing demonstrates high durability across sizes. 3BR penthouses and premium layouts successfully established and held $1,100–$1,300+/SF baselines into the late cycle (e.g., PH2A at $1,210/SF, PH2B at $1,303/SF). Standard 2BR units hold a steady $1,050–$1,170/SF plateau.
C. Appreciation
Lines have compounded robustly over the long term. Holders who entered during the 2008–2012 phases systematically captured +30% to +60% equity into the mature phase. Late-cycle buyers largely preserved their capital, avoiding the violent 20%+ mean-reversions seen in neighboring properties.
4. BUILDING-WIDE PPSF TREND (NORMALIZED)
2008–2012 (Maturation): Initial market-rate volume clearing at $650–$900/SF.
2016–2022 (Mid-Cycle Peak): Rapid expansion pushing into the $1,100–$1,337/SF bracket.
2023–2025 (Plateau / Defensive Hold): A highly stable plateau settling between $1,047–$1,210/SF. Conclusion: Compounding into a Stable Plateau. The building securely holds its mid-cycle value and successfully tracks the long-term upward trajectory of the NYXRCSA index.
5. RENT CAPTURE ANALYSIS A. Rent Capture by Line & Unit Type
Formula: Effective Annual Rent = Achieved Rent × (365 − Rental DOM) ÷ 365.
Example 1 (Moderate Efficiency): Unit 8C (2BR). Achieved $4,300/mo. DOM 13. Effective Rent = $4,300 × (365 - 13) ÷ 365 = $4,146/mo.
Example 2 (Severe Leakage): Unit 5J (3BR). Achieved $5,800/mo. DOM 67. Effective Rent = $5,800 × (365 - 67) ÷ 365 = $4,735/mo.
Example 3 (Catastrophic Leakage): Unit 5C (2BR). Achieved $4,600/mo. DOM 144. Effective Rent = $4,600 × (365 - 144) ÷ 365 = $2,785/mo.
B. Rent Appreciation Nominal rent per SF is functional, frequently yielding $40 to $53/SF. However, true rent capture is extremely volatile; units routinely suffer from unpredictable localized DOM spikes (e.g., 67 days, 105 days, 144 days) creating devastating cash flow leakage that heavily erodes realized annual yields.
6. B³ SCORING SYSTEM (0–100)
Liquidity Score: 35
Speed: Failing. Normalized median resale DOM frequently sits between 157 and 281 days for over 50% of the building's inventory.
Consistency: Low. Extreme friction gap between 3BR/2BA clears (42 days) and all other layouts.
Rent Capture Score: 55
Efficiency: Moderate nominal ($40–$53/SF).
Absorption: Failing. Baseline rates are severely compromised by extreme 60 to 144-day rental DOM outliers.
Appreciation Score: 85
Durability: Excellent structural compounding from original baselines and robust late-cycle capital preservation, insulating buyers against major losses and accurately tracking macro indices.
7. COMPOSITE SCORE & CLASSIFICATION
Composite Score = (35 × 0.35) + (55 × 0.30) + (85 × 0.35) = 58.50. Category Assignment: Appreciation-Driven. The asset's robust compounding behavior acts as its sole structural strength. Severe holding costs in the sales and rental markets entirely prevent it from operating as a defensive Hybrid asset.
8. TRANSACTION EXAMPLES (REQUIRED)
Resale Appreciation (Structural Compounding):
Unit PH2A (3BR): Mar 2012 Buy ($2,000,000 at $896/SF) → Sep 2025 Sell ($2,700,000 at $1,210/SF with 80 DOM). Held 13.5 years. +35% change (CAGR ~2.2%). Driver: Market regime timing.
Unit 8A (3BR): Apr 2012 Buy ($920,000 at $688/SF) → Aug 2023 Sell ($1,400,000 at $1,047/SF). Held 11.3 years. +52% change (CAGR ~3.8%). Driver: Market regime timing.
Unit 7F (3BR): Mar 2011 Buy ($911,333 at $699/SF) → Sep 2022 Sell ($1,480,000 at $1,136/SF with 39 DOM). Held 11.5 years. +62% change (CAGR ~4.3%). Driver: Market regime timing.
Unit 5C (2BR): Mar 2008 Buy ($865,105 at $909/SF) → Aug 2021 Sell ($1,299,000 at $1,173/SF with 40 DOM). Held 13.4 years. +30% change (CAGR ~2.0%). Driver: Market regime timing.
Resale Flat / Normalization (Late Cycle Baseline Shifts): (Note: True value destruction is virtually nonexistent here. The following pair maps flat retention against extreme time value decay).
Unit 10G (3BR): May 2014 Buy ($1,850,000 at $1,028/SF) → Jul 2025 Sell ($1,885,000 at $1,047/SF with 126 DOM). Held 11.2 years. +1.8% change (Flat/0% real growth). Driver: Market regime timing + Liquidity shift (DOM change).
9. RISKS & RED FLAGS
Chronic Illiquidity on Large Layouts: The building's inventory routinely sits for massive intervals on the sales market (157 days for 2BRs, 281 days for 3BR/2.5BA lines), representing deep secondary friction.
Catastrophic Rental Leakage: Landlords holding larger footprints are heavily exposed to volatile vacancy; outsized rental DOMs (105 to 144 days) completely destroy up to 40% of a year's gross yield.
Avoid: Purchasing 2BR or 3BR/2.5BA units under the assumption of short-term liquidity. The cost of time completely neutralizes theoretical equity gains if a fast exit is required.
10. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Soha 118 (301 West 118 Street) is a top-heavy, Appreciation-Driven postwar condo that has demonstrated excellent long-term wealth compounding but aggressively punishes investors requiring liquidity. The building's core operational rhythm is dragged down by its dominant 2BR and massive 3BR inventory, which severely lacks secondary market turnover velocity, resulting in 157 to 281-day medians for resale clears. Despite this friction, pricing has proven remarkably durable, compounding from its early $650–$900/SF baseline up to a solid $1,050–$1,210/SF plateau in the 2024–2025 cycle, mirroring the long-term durability of the NYXRCSA benchmark. Investors must treat this purely as an illiquid store of value, strictly avoiding the assumption that these massive footprints will offer efficient secondary exits or frictionless rental yields.
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