Purchasing raw space: a buyer's alternative.

Raw space, a unique trend in condominiums, is showing up as a viable choice for people who want their homes customized to their taste.

Raw space comes in several degrees of "rawness." In some cases, it refers to a completely unfinished unit, with nothing more than a Certificate of Occupancy. In other cases, raw space is somewhat less raw, with finished floors, walls and ceilings.

For buyers, the biggest advantage is that raw space allows them to configure their home exactly as they want. It's like a blank canvas for an artist. People start from scratch, without having to rip out an interior that has already been installed.

When it comes to design, raw space affords enormous freedom. One buyer might want two bedrooms, and another might want five. Others might prefer an office, a media room, a gym, and his 'n' hers bathrooms.

Yet buying raw space isn't for everyone. Most people have no interest in either designing or building their homes. Even for those who do, buying raw space is a huge commitment of time and money. It means embarking on a major construction project that can take a year or more. Most people need another place to live during the construction.

Raw space is most coveted by high-end customers -- those seeking large loft condominiums over $1 million. Raw-space buyers can spend from approximately $300 to $700 a foot to buy their homes, depending on location, amenities and other factors, and another $100 to $300 to finish them.

For developers, raw space makes for easier construction. All the building requires is an elevator core, two means of egress, windows and a C of O finish -- a stove and sink in the kitchen, and a tub, toilet and sink in the bathroom. However, the developer usually installs plumbing and electrical riser, and air conditioning ducts. Without the need to finish the space, units come on the market that much faster.

Developing raw space sometimes "goes against the grain" because it feels as though you're leaving a project incomplete, said developer Gary Tamarkin. "It is only appropriate for the right buildings. I don't want every project I do to be raw space."

Still, "there's a minimalist approach that seems to be working," said Tamarkin, whose two recent raw-space projects are 495 West St., a new construction building designed to look like a century-old warehouse, and City Prairie, 206 West 17th St., a conversion of the former administration building for Barney's.

On his raw-space projects, Tamarkin said he prefers investing in things that will last -- steel windows and detailed brickwork -- rather than in fancy kitchen and bathroom fixtures that buyers are just going to rip out.

"I put in a lot of plumbing stacks so people could achieve flexibility," he said. "I also left the concrete floors several inches below floor level so they could put in their own concrete, wood or stone floors. I didn't put in air conditioning, but made it easy for them to do it."

The resales tend to sell as finished space. Perhaps paradoxically, their uniqueness, even as finished space, is a plus.