The Bennett - 736 West 187 Street
1. BUILDING OVERVIEW (ANALYST FRAMING)
Type: Postwar Resale Condominium.
Vintage: Built 2004.
Scale: 55 Units across 7 Floors.
Primary Category Classification: Appreciation-Driven.
Justification: Post-sponsor data indicates a building that successfully compounded substantial capital value from its 2005–2007 baseline (~$460–$600/SF) to structural highs nearing ~$800–$970/SF in the 2020–2023 cycle. Unusually for the NYC market, the larger 3-bedroom family units demonstrate significantly faster liquidity (median ~41 DOM) than the smaller 2-bedroom units (~110 DOM). The rental yields here are exceptionally weak ($34–$48/SF), meaning value is heavily dependent on capital appreciation. Recent pricing has retreated slightly from absolute peaks, mirroring the macro NYXRCSA benchmark, which plateaued between 332.1 and 333.0 in late 2025 before settling at 330.5 in early 2026.
2. UNIT MIX & COMPOSITION
Based on the transaction-weighted sales data where bedroom counts are explicitly recorded:
2-Bedroom (1 to 2 Baths): ~43% of known layout sales (34 total sales).
3-Bedroom (1 to 2 Baths): ~57% of known layout sales (45 total sales).
(Note: 26 early sales lack explicit layout data, but the building is dominated by family layouts).
Analysis: The building is overwhelmingly concentrated in large, family-sized 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom layouts. This drives a fundamentally different behavioral profile than transient, 1-bedroom-heavy buildings. The high concentration of 3-bedroom units anchors the building with long-term end-users, driving high pricing power but starving the building of high-yielding rental stock.
3. LINE (STACK) PERFORMANCE — RESALE ONLY
A. Liquidity: The secondary market pacing inversely correlates with standard NYC liquidity profiles. The largest 3-bedroom units clear with exceptional speed, frequently charting between 17 and 61 DOM (median ~41 days). In stark contrast, the 2-bedroom units suffer structural friction, averaging a sluggish 110 DOM (e.g., Unit 302 at 112 DOM, Unit 301 at 139 DOM, Unit 607 at 533 DOM).
B. Price Strength: The high-floor 3-bedroom lines and Penthouses established the building's absolute pricing ceilings, reliably commanding $800 to $955+ PPSF (e.g., Unit PH3 at $955/SF, Unit 305 at $925/SF).
C. Appreciation: Core 3-bedroom layouts aggressively compounded capital from their ~$500–$600/SF initial baselines up to the ~$800–$900+/SF marks by the late-cycle, proving strong structural demand for rare large-format inventory in the submarket.
4. BUILDING-WIDE PPSF TREND (NORMALIZED)
2005–2008 (Sponsor/Early Baseline): Initial developer pricing was set between $460 and $618 PPSF.
2014–2018 (Mid-Cycle Growth): Prices successfully stair-stepped into the $680–$740 PPSF range.
2020–2023 (Peak Cycle Compounding): Robust growth pushing median values to $790–$974 PPSF.
2024–2026 (Macro Plateau): Pricing has cooled slightly from absolute peaks, with recent 2025–2026 trades clearing between $766 and $925 PPSF (e.g., Unit 108 at $796/SF, Unit 303 at $804/SF). This contraction identically maps to the NYXRCSA index, which confirmed a macro growth stall through late 2025 and early 2026.
Conclusion: Cyclical / Plateaued Compounding.
5. RENT CAPTURE ANALYSIS
A. Rent Capture by Line & Unit Type:
Unit 602 (2 Bed / 2 Bath - May 2025): Achieved Rent: $3,600/month ($42/SF) | DOM: 106 days.
Effective (DOM-adjusted) Annual Rent: $3,600 × (365 − 106) ÷ 365 = $2,554/month ($30,654 annually).
Unit 504 (2 Bed / 2 Bath - Feb 2025): Achieved Rent: $3,600/month ($43/SF) | DOM: 28 days.
Effective (DOM-adjusted) Annual Rent: $3,600 × (365 − 28) ÷ 365 = $3,323/month ($39,886 annually).
Unit 403 (3 Bed / 2 Bath - Mar 2024): Achieved Rent: $3,995/month ($39/SF) | DOM: 32 days.
Effective (DOM-adjusted) Annual Rent: $3,995 × (365 − 32) ÷ 365 = $3,644/month ($43,736 annually).
Conclusion: Income capture in this building is fundamentally weak. The absolute achieved rent-per-square-foot is exceptionally low ($34–$48/SF), and landlords face moderate to severe vacancy drag (28 to 155 days). This destroys effective yields, proving the building operates purely as a capital-growth vehicle rather than a yield vehicle.
6. B³ SCORING SYSTEM (0–100)
Liquidity Score: 65/100 (3-bedroom units move with excellent 41-day median efficiency, but the score is heavily penalized by the 110+ DOM drag on 2-bedroom units).
Rent Capture Score: 45/100 (Very weak baseline rent efficiency under $45/SF, compounded by unpredictable 30-to-150-day vacancy leakages that destroy yield).
Appreciation Score: 85/100 (Proven history of highly robust capital compounding from the mid-2000s, successfully lifting base values by 60% to 90% before plateauing recently).
7. COMPOSITE SCORE & CLASSIFICATION
Composite Score: 66.50/100 [(65 × 0.35) + (45 × 0.30) + (85 × 0.35)].
Category Label: Appreciation-Driven.
Unit Mix Summary: Highly concentrated in family-sized layouts, splitting between 2-Bedrooms (~43%) and 3-Bedrooms (~57%).
8. TRANSACTION EXAMPLES (REQUIRED)
Resale Appreciation Examples:
Line 03 Proxy (3 Bed/2 Bath, ~1374 SF): Unit 303 bought Oct 2005 at $643,534 ($463 PPSF) → Resold Jun 2025 at $1,105,000 ($804 PPSF). (+73.6% baseline growth over 19.6 years; CAGR ~2.8%). Drivers 1 (Market regime timing) & 5 (Sponsor price normalization).
Unit 509 (3 Bed/1 Bath, 1187 SF): Bought Oct 2007 at $719,000 ($605 PPSF) → Resold May 2019 at $870,000 ($732 PPSF). (+21.0% over 11.5 years; CAGR ~1.7%). Driver 1 (Market regime timing).
Unit 204 (2 Bed/2 Bath, 987 SF): Bought Nov 2005 at $529,490 ($569 PPSF) → Resold Mar 2017 at $730,000 ($739 PPSF). (+29.7% over 11.3 years; CAGR ~2.3%). Driver 1 (Market regime timing).
Unit PH1 (3 Bed/2 Bath, 1187 SF): Bought Oct 2005 at $511,161 ($549 PPSF) → Resold Dec 2015 at $835,000 ($703 PPSF). (+63.3% over 10.1 years; CAGR ~5.0%). Drivers 1 (Market regime timing) & 5 (Sponsor price normalization).
Resale Depreciation / Flatline Examples:
Unit 402 (3 Bed/2 Bath, ~1374-1395 SF): Bought Dec 2005 at $759,614 ($552 PPSF) → Resold Oct 2012 at $590,000 ($422 PPSF). (-23.5% absolute loss over 6.8 years). Driver 1 (Market regime timing - forced GFC exit).
Line 08 Proxy (2 Bed/2 Bath, 930 SF): Unit 608 bought Dec 2005 at $424,866 ($557 PPSF) → Resold Sep 2013 at $535,000 ($542 PPSF). (-2.6% absolute loss over 7.7 years). Drivers 1 (Market regime timing) & 5 (Sponsor price normalization).
Unit 507 Proxy (2 Bed/2 Bath, 912-987 SF): Unit 507 bought Oct 2005 at $575,311 ($582 PPSF) → Resold Jan 2026 at $699,000 ($766 PPSF). (+31.6% over 20 years; exceedingly weak CAGR ~1.3% trapped in plateau). Driver 1 (Market regime timing).
Late Cycle Plateau Proxy: Unit 208 sold Dec 2020 at $974 PPSF vs Unit 108 sold Mar 2026 at $796 PPSF. (Explicit value contraction lagging the absolute peak). Driver 1 (Market regime timing - trapped in macro plateau).
9. RISKS & RED FLAGS
Zero-Yield Rent Capture: This is fundamentally not a building for landlords. The remarkably low absolute rent yields ($34–$48/SF) combined with unpredictable 30-to-150-day tenant absorption pipelines severely handicap any return on investment (ROI) derived from cash flow.
2-Bedroom Illiquidity: While 3-bedroom units move swiftly, 2-bedroom units face immense secondary market friction, routinely languishing for 110 to 160+ days (and occasionally 200+ days) before clearing.
Macro Headwinds: Building-wide PPSF growth has officially hit a ceiling. Buyers purchasing today around ~$800–$925/SF are entering at a strict market plateau explicitly corroborated by the stagnant NYXRCSA benchmark in 2025/2026.
Recommendation: Do not buy for rental yield or cash flow. The asset functions exclusively for end-users holding 3-bedroom units long-term for capital appreciation.
10. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Bennett (736 West 187 Street) is a 55-unit postwar condominium operating exclusively as an Appreciation-Driven asset that successfully captured substantial capital growth from its mid-2000s baseline up to the 2020–2023 peak, before stalling into the current macroeconomic plateau explicitly mapped by the NYXRCSA index. The building's identity is defined entirely by its large family layouts; unusually, its 3-bedroom units act as the building's primary liquidity engine (clearing rapidly around 41 days), while 2-bedroom units suffer from sluggish secondary friction (110+ days). The building's greatest vulnerability lies in its catastrophic rental yield profile, suffering from very low top-line rent per square foot ($34–$48/SF) and highly erratic vacancy periods that destroy effective income. Opportunity here lies strictly in holding the highly-demanded 3-bedroom units for defensive long-term appreciation, while acute cash-flow risk awaits any buyer attempting to utilize the building as a yield vehicle.
