Insignia residential brokers introduce 'cubicfactor'.

Leonard Steinberg and Herve Senequier of Insignia Douglas Elliman, New York's premiere residential real estate brokerage, announce a new factor in assessing value in the sale and purchase of apartments and lofts: The cubicfactor, a reference to the cubic footage (or volume) of apartments.

"So many buyers and sellers talk about dollars per SF when evaluating properties," says Steinberg, a vice president of Insignia Douglas Elliman, specializing in the sale of luxury lofts and apartments in Manhattan. "We think it is as important to consider the value of cubic footage (the cubicfactor): The emotional and physical value of taller ceilings, aside from the actual space it occupies, has a tremendous value to many people, and in many cases we feel loft's values have not been fully realized."

"Comparing a 2,000-SF apartment with 8.5-foot ceilings to one with 11-foot ceilings, in our opinion, poses a difference in valuation," says Senequier, Steinberg's partner. "Cubic-footage-wise, the first scenario measures about 17,000 cubic feet, where the higher ceiling version measures 22,000 cubic feet....or about 29% more volume!"

Although the true value of square footage relates to how usable it is, when you have ceiling heights that measure 14 feet and 16 feet, mezzanine level options can allow for additional square footage as well as providing more volumeness space. Assessing value to. the emotional and physical satisfaction of volume is more difficult to define.

In a city like New York where space is highly valued, being in one room surrounded by a sense of spaciousness vertically as well as horizontally has both psychological and physical, as well as financial value.

"We live in a loft with tall ceilings," says Steinberg. "Although the apartment measures under 2,000 SF, the sense of spaciousness is really quite remarkable. The dramatic impact is wonderful, and with large trees, cascading silk drapes and a 'mini-mansion' element, we would be unable to afford this quality of life outside of the Loft arena."

From a purely financial perspective, all land in New York is zoned in a manner that determines how high a building can build (The FAR, or floor-area-ratio), and how much total square footage is allowable based on the size of the lot and it's location. Translate this into the value of an existing apartment, and the cubicfactor theory becomes easier to appreciate.

Outside of the loft market, tall ceilings are usually only obtainable in townhouses and grand pre-war apartments, which are financially out of reach of most buyers. The loft market often offers similar qualities and is much more affordable. Most new loft buildings are condominiums, and are therefore more easily financed, avoiding rigid board a pproval procedures. As the American lifestyle has changed, families have developed a tendency to desire fewer, larger, more spacious rooms, open-plan inter-active kitchens, etc: When you are living in one room at a time, the volume of that space (or cubicfactor) becomes very important .....almost as important as the square footage.

Calculating the cubic square footage (the cubicfactor) is simple: Multiply the square footage by the ceiling height.