Hey, just because South Portland Avenue was voted the best block in New York doesn’t mean you can just slap any old price on a house and expect it to fly off the shelf. Which is what the owners of 23 South Portland (who also own 4 South Portland) have done. Granted it’s a five-story house, but it’s been an SRO forever (though the owner claims to have received a Certificate of Non Harrassment) and is in need of a total renovation. (An email we received from a neighbor said that this is a case of renovatus interuptus—the interior is totally demo’d and the backyard full of sandbags. We’ve got no info on why the owner/developer is cutting and running. The recent title and mortgage history is a little tricky to follow too, but the house has changed ownership a couple of times since 2004, most recently in January of this year. The price of that transaction is not provided (possibly because it was simply a transfer between related parties?) but it was accompanied by a $1,680,000 mortgage. Given that you can pick up the perfectly restored house across the street for $2,600,000, the asking price of $2,500,000 for a place that needs a complete make-over seems like a relative rip-off. Then again, what would five floor-through condos on this block net you? Clearly that’s the only way this price could make any sense.
23 South Portland Avenue [Christmas Realty] GMAP P*Shark