Tudor City Midtown East Unit to Buy Bldg Feedback (Murray: sale, real estate)

[Riley329]

Hi, Looking for feedback from owners and renters of units in buildings in Tudor City Murray Hill area. Looking to purchase a unit with lower maintenance, under $1000, and sale price around 300K. I read some mixed reviews about buildings in Tudor City and could use more intel. Any feedback on the Cloister, 5 or 25 Tudor City or the Woodstock? Other buildings I should consider? I'm trying to stay within a 10 minute walk of 54th and 1st Ave. TIA

[globetrekker96]

If you like being around the United Nations and the East River, this is the place for you. A realtive of mine used to reside there before she got married and had kids. Not big enough to raise kids and start a family, to tell you. If you are single and want to be in Midtown, I think this is the right place for you.

Memorable moments were going to watch the fireworks from Tudor City. Almost all floors on 25 have hallway windows facing the East River. During the 4th of July you are actually in one of the better spots in the city and you get privacy from a crowd. Not sure if all units have a window, but you can look into that.

Again, it was a relative of mine so I cannot speak of the financial aspects of that. That area is unique because there is a half acre park across from Tudor City you can enjoy being outside and it's rather quiet so you can find harmony in a noisy city. Also the stairs leading down to 42nd street can be a hike, so you might want to invest in a scooter if you have to be somewhere fast.

If you have a car and go to Queens or Long Island alot this area is good because it's a few blocks from the Queens tunnel exit.

[90sSitcom]

Tudor city has great small studio's for single people to use if you are a Minimalism or as a crash pad.
Area is great.

[elnrgby]

Originally Posted by Riley329

Hi, Looking for feedback from owners and renters of units in buildings in Tudor City Murray Hill area. Looking to purchase a unit with lower maintenance, under $1000, and sale price around 300K. I read some mixed reviews about buildings in Tudor City and could use more intel. Any feedback on the Cloister, 5 or 25 Tudor City or the Woodstock? Other buildings I should consider? I'm trying to stay within a 10 minute walk of 54th and 1st Ave. TIA

While I already have a crashpad in the Bronx for visits to NYC, if I decide to move more substantially to NYC later in retirement, I will likely buy a unit in Tudor City. I have spoken with an elderly lady who has been renting there for more than 50 years, and she has been very happy with everything. She warned me only to avoid 45 Tudor City building, but I could not pry out of her the reason why, she didn't want to talk about it, just said to avoid it. Also, 2 Tudor City is on a leased land (which means that condo fees could soar unpredictably, but I do not believe it would affect the fees for other buildings, as I believe they are separate co-ops - but check on that, and obviously do not make any real estate purchase in NYC without a lawyer). I looked at a 300 sq ft unit about two years ago, which was offered for $315k with monthly co-op fees of $800, which seemed like an average maintenance cost for a micro-unit (which includes taxes and electricity, so an okay deal for NYC), probably still about the same now.


Tudor City has had major financial problems around 1990 when a real estate company that owned a lot of units in the buildings stopped paying all mortgages (and I think actually might have bankrupted), so there were massive liens on the co-ops, which caused prices of units to plummet to incredibly low levels, as all co-op owners were trying to unload their shares, but I think they have been careful watching that something like that does not repeat - nevertheless, your lawyer should thoroughly check the co-op documents for anything funny.



Also, since there are always rentals available in Tudor City, you may consider renting for a year, before you make up your mind about buying.

[Riley329]

Thanks for the feedback. I will be using as a pied e terre so I can go to the city and visit family. One question - are the buildings wheelchair accessible or are there steps from all directions to access the area? Thanks for any more feedback. BTW, I researched and found comments that 45 Tudor City has bug and maintenance problems so that might be cause for negative feedback.

[Riley329]

Any feedback on the Woodstock at 321 E 42nd? TIA

[macnyc2003]

I'm sorry, Riley, I don't have an opinion on Woodstock. I think the location is not as nice, though, as the buildings on Tudor City Place.

Good advice from elnrgby though!

I used to rent in Prospect, which is 45 Tudor City Place. I loved it, and I am sorry to hear that there are bug and maintenance problems! The apartments in No. 45 are a bit larger than the ones in 25 and 5.

I would say to avoid No. 5. There is a huge huge huge plot of open land to the east of No. 5, and that will be built upon someday. It has been vacant for a long time though. There used to be a ConEd plant there. I remember that plans for many tall buildings on the site were scuttled by the downturn of 2008, so that tells you how long ago it was.

I would say in general that the apartments in the tall TC buildings are very small. They were built without real kitchens because they were considered residential hotels, for some zoning loophole. When I lived there, I had a half fridge and no stove. I used two hotplates and a convection oven to cook. Some owners have put in kitchens, which is good if there's space to do so.

It's a very convenient area yet you are far enough to the east to "get away from it all." I wish I had bought my apartment when it went coop. It would have been $30,000! And it was one of the nicer studios, fairly large and with clear views of the Chrysler Building.

Here's a view of the open space east of No. 5:

https://goo.gl/maps/XiNv6GKNg72M2Vpm6