Van Zandt Lists 135 W. 4th St. Penthouse at $19M, Bought for $6M

Steven Van Zandt is asking $19 million for his penthouse in a converted Greenwich Village church, according to the New York Post, and ACRIS shows he and Maureen Van Zandt paid $6,000,000 for it in a deed dated Feb. 29, 2008.

Why it matters

The record puts a number on what a church conversion can become. The Washington Square United Methodist Church deeded the whole building at 135 West 4th Street to 133 West Fourth Street LLC for $5,650,000 in a deed dated July 19, 2005. When that sponsor sold one penthouse, unit PHE, to the Van Zandts less than three years later, the price was $6,000,000, which is 106% of what it paid for the entire church.

The ask is $13 million above the deed, or 3.2 times the purchase price after 18 years and 7 months. The $19 million asking price is as reported by the New York Post.

The numbers

The deed names 133 West Fourth Street LLC as seller and the Van Zandts as buyers of unit PHE. Two mortgages were recorded against the unit the same day, one for $4,800,000 and one for $600,000. Together that is $5,400,000, or 90% of the price, so the buyers put down about $600,000.

City tax records for the building list it as built in 1860, six floors and eight residential units, which matches the eight-unit condominium the church became. The 2005 church deed is the record of the sponsor’s entry. We did not find a square footage for the penthouse in the public records we checked, so we do not state a price per square foot.

What’s next

Watch for a recorded sale in ACRIS, which would show whether the penthouse trades near the ask or closer to the 2008 price. For other Manhattan deals, see the New York market page.