How Much to Live in that Slope Scarano?
The Scarano-designed condo on 1st Street between 4th and 5th avenues shook off its scaffolding in July, and some of the building’s 10 units have been on the market for more than a month at this point. (If the broker’s website is accurate, a few of them are already in contract.) Listings in the building…
The Scarano-designed condo on 1st Street between 4th and 5th avenues shook off its scaffolding in July, and some of the building’s 10 units have been on the market for more than a month at this point. (If the broker’s website is accurate, a few of them are already in contract.) Listings in the building are ranging from $649,000 for a 1,012-square-foot, 1-bedroom unit to $1.15 million for a 1,691-square-foot three bedroom. Has anyone checked these out in the flesh?
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welcome to the (micro) hood, Momimo.
i don’t know about the price you paid, but imo prices have come off peak about 20% for seasoned condos.
search this site for fuller discussions of the risks associated with new condo purchases. there will be post-closing issues that you;ll hope to get the developer to pay for so you should research this side of the equation perhaps harder than the other (arch/broker). one piece of advice — it’s free so take it for what it’s worth — if you can’t feel good that the developer will be there for the foreseeable future (and it should not be considered inflammatory to have serious doubts in this environment) then i would insist on holding a significant chunk of your purchase price in escrow (50K?). if there are no post closing construction issues within 2 years then it can be released. this may cause a fight and don’t expect the broker to fight for your side. make sure to enlist a solid fighter of a lawyer.
don’t know your financing situation, but it certainly will be difficult for the lenders to close if below 70% sold situation.
i wouldnt worry too much about 321. this is a recurring gossip item more than anything. i was in exact same situation 8 years ago when the initial wave of 4/5th ave condos came on and everyone worried about the same thing. result: no change. i think it’ll be more of the same this time around, though there’s no way to know for sure.
Congratulations.
My wife and I are actually in contract on one of the ground floor units at 267 First Street so I found the comments left very helpful. We spent a year looking around the Slope and Carroll Gardens for a place (and actually went into contract on a previous place in CG but pulled out because the developer was having problems).
Given the amount of time we spent looking, we thought we knew pretty much everything we needed to know about the market in Brooklyn. Couple of things that were helpful about the comments (or at least showed me the things we should have known before going into contract but didn;t}:
1. I didn’t realize there was a danger of them butchering the 321 zone (we intend to stay long term and I already have dreams of walking my son, who is a couple months from being born, up the street to Seventh Avenue and school). Something we’ll definitely have to keep an eye out for.
2. I’m amazed how well-informed Brownstoner readers are about developers and architects. I have to confess I had never heard of Scarano or knew that he had designed the building I’m going to be moving into until your comments today. While our experiences with the developer have been good so far, we’ll definitely take the advice posted in one of the comments and get an inspector to go over the condo carefully.
All in all, we’re very pleased with the prospect of living there. Our chief “wants” for our home were three bedrooms, good school district, proximity to the subway and low taxes. That the condo gets lots of light has its own garage made it a package too good to pass up.
My only disagreement with the comments that were posted was with respect to the comment that stated:
“If they sold (in contract) at prices close to the published asking (625+ sq ft) then the Great Housing Bust certainly hasnt hit PS yet, if ever.”
As I said, we looked at places all over Brooklyn for a year, and had been monitoring listing one the Internet three or four times a week for a couple of years before that. Even in these “bust” times, I think it’s very hard to find a place with all of the amenities I noted above as our goals for less $650-700 a square foot. In fact, compared to “pre-bust” times, I think that kind of price is a relative bargain. New construction in the Slope before the bust would have been much more expensive.
In any event, just wanted to say how instructive the comments were. Always interesting to hear other people’s perspectives.
“benson, i can’t believe you actually list “swarming with kids” as a plus :-/”
Rob, he’s allowed to use ‘swarming’ since he claims it’s a plus 🙂
“what do you think are the chances that they butcher the 321 zone in the next few years? ”
Joe,
I don’t keep up with this issue, as I no longer have school-aged kids. Just off the top of my head, it seems inevitable given all the development that continues to take place.
May the force be with the public official who has to split up the 321 zone, that’s for sure. He or she should get a bodyguard.
I went inside these 2 weeks ago – agreed the triplex is pretty sweet and a cool layout, but out of my budget, didn’t see the other apts
thanks again guys — nothing wrong with pointing out the good qualities of your place. I think condo finances are a big landmine out there for some of the new places so it’s good to hear about a good sitch…
I’ll save your email but it’s too early for me to pull the trigger now. definitly short-list for next year though.
what do you think are the chances that they butcher the 321 zone in the next few years?
And I will say one thing for 4th ave: if you drive to work in south brooklyn, you are loving it.
Joe:
Only one “basement” unit previously sold: 1A. 3E is supposedly in contract and 4A is the only remaining unit for sale above the first floor. Building has mostly young families, a good number of children and is maintained nicely. If you want more specifics write me at: marion11217@aol.com
(I used to own and lived on Lincoln Place, hence the old zip)
MarionG – those units also stink because the are street level with huge windows – essentially they have to have curtains down all the time otherwise pedestrians become your house guests of sorts.
Benson – good to hear
who would want to live on 4th ave? 😉
kids = noise 😉
sales will soon occur for $350/sq ft.
seriously, what a combo: i couldn’t pick out a sketchier architect or broker. what the heck, let ’em get married. i guarantee you the divorce will be ugly.
this is a strange story. a&h were posting ‘sold’ signs before it was even listed on their website (this week).
i am not comfortable that those “in contract” units aren’t insider deals. if i were buying i would need them to convince me otherwise in order to feel like they were real comps. and i’d need to see the contract price.