Inside Bob and Cortney Novogratz’s most ambitious NYC project to date — a whimsical townhouse on Waverly Place

It takes a colony to raise 7 children while building a thriving creation and existent property business successful New York City.

Just inquire Bob and Cortney Novogratz.

Their latest book, “The Novogratz Chronicles,” tells their communicative — and that of New York City — complete nan past 3 decades.

Now, Gimme Shelter takes readers wrong their latest circuit de force: a colorful, 197-year-old townhouse connected Waverly Place — their astir eager task to date.

“A batch of years and acquisition went into building this cleanable house,” Bob told Gimme Shelter.

But existent property deals successful New York dangle connected moreover much than difficult activity and a bully eye. Real property luck is besides a factor.

The couple’s first location was a Chelsea townhouse backmost successful 1995. But nan location was condemned, which meant that Bob and Cortney couldn’t get a slope loan. That was until nan seller — a man known only arsenic Joe successful nan book — asked if they had ever heard of “taking paper.”

It’s a way, Joe explained, “to acquisition a gut occupation without involving a bank.”

Bob and Cortney wondered if they had fallen into a Scorsese film.

“Joe explained: We’d make a mini down costs connected nan townhouse, and nan remainder would beryllium treated arsenic a indebtedness from him — an interest-only loan. He would fundamentally clasp connected to nan owe until we paid him successful full. It was an unbelievable woody — which, arsenic acold arsenic we could tell, progressive zero horses’ heads near connected our bed.”

Things only sewage better. The spot had been chopped up into mini rooms, but Bob and Cortney saw its original beauty and brought it backmost to life. Then they secured nan slope loan, and bought nan house. To dress it up, and particularly successful a cool New York way, they shopped successful flea markets and moreover recovered beautiful stained solid successful a neighbor’s backyard. Cortney asked to bargain it; they gave it to her for free.

The Novogratzes person 3 guiding principles for each project.

“It’s each astir really you bargain nan property. Financing — what you salary for it initially — is nan astir important thing. The 2nd is who you get to thief you build — whether you are redoing a closet aliases building a house, you request nan correct team. The third, for us, is buying successful up-and-coming neighborhoods,” Bob said.

Their first location successful Chelsea was connected West 19th Street. They bought it earlier nan Chelsea Market and Chelsea Piers moreover existed. It was besides earlier nan Meatpacking District took off, earlier nan High Line and moreover earlier nan West Chelsea arts territory came into being.

“I thought Chelsea was nan astir affordable of nan downtown areas, and I liked what was going connected nan West Side,” Bob said. “We were successful Soho successful 1997, connected nan fringe successful West Soho and past nan Village, ever nan Village, though we evidently didn’t observe it — and we were successful Nolita beautiful early.”

In Soho, they built connected nan tract of a erstwhile weapon shop, down nan thoroughfare from beloved vicinity restaurant, Felix, which turned into Bob’s unofficial office. (Cortney would tally complete pinch their landline telephone erstwhile personification called.)

While it’s important to bargain what you tin afford, your return connected finance often reflects these choices.

“When we bought our first location successful Chelsea 30 years ago, you could bargain a Chelsea townhouse for $500,000, a Harlem townhouse for $250,000 aliases a West Village townhouse for $900,000,” Bob said. “In nan 3 areas we looked at, a $300,000 finance successful Harlem would now beryllium worthy $3 million, a $500,000 finance successful Chelsea would beryllium $8 cardinal and $800,000 successful nan West Village would beryllium $25 cardinal — that’s nan amended buy,” he said.

The mates met successful nan South — Bob is from Virginia and Cortney is from Georgia — but they started making love successful New York, wherever they’d propulsion parties to make money. After Cortney’s flat caught fire, she moved successful pinch Bob. Their friends were moving to nan suburbs. They stayed. At first, Bob worked successful finance by time and chipped distant connected renovating homes, 1 astatine a time, astatine nighttime pinch Cortney.

But arsenic their design/home business — and family — grew, it became their full-time business and passion. Their activity tin now beryllium recovered crossed nan country, and moreover nan world.

“Building a location nan correct measurement truthful that it is cleanable is hard, particularly nan first time. Gutting a location gives you nan expertise to do it correct — and while group get excited astir nan aesthetics, nan mechanicals are moreover much important,” Bob said.

Today, nan Novogratzes opportunity they’d bargain connected nan Upper East Side and nan Upper West Side because that’s wherever nan worth is, and it’s “cleaner and quieter.” But maybe, conscionable maybe, Bob said, “maybe I’m conscionable getting older.”

Next up: their first aggregate dwelling — possibly connected nan Lower East Side.

As for New York haters, get complete it, he said: “I don’t cognize if New York still has that Disney-like consciousness that it had nether Mayor Bloomberg, but location is specified tremendous wealthiness present and location aren’t galore places wherever group want to live. New York has nan civilization and nan lifestyle.

There’s much crime, but it’s still nan champion metropolis successful nan world. I americium astounded by really galore able group are present compared to 20 aliases 25 years agone — and New York existent property is astatine an all-time high. If you are that type of personification who wants to beryllium successful Manhattan, location is nary different spot to be.”