The New York Times reports a rash of brownstone conversions in Harlem—mostly by folks from further downtown, who buy up dilapidated homes and cut them up into smaller spaces; condos in “unexceptional” buildings can sell for as high as $1.6 million. A few buildings on St. Nicholas Ave have been titled “The Rockwell Condominium” after former nearby resident Norman Rockwell, as if symbolic of the American dream real estate developers are pitching to potential buyers. Some residents, like stay-at-home dad Ray Franks, worry the conversions could alter the feeling of brownstone neighborhoods. But for now, in an area with landmark protections are few and price per square foot is king, economics are carrying the day:

The logic of condominium development from the developer’s point of view is fairly simple. The slices of the pie are worth more than the entire pie, said Christa Giesecke, a German-born architect who lives on West 149th Street and is renovating her second condominium project. In the current market, the value of a condo apartment is far higher than the value of a rental unit, and a condominium brownstone can be worth more than single-family residences.

This arbitrage is what we’ve been saying for a while will fuel the next stage of the Brooklyn brownstone boom.
Going Condo in Harlem [NY Times]