Dixon Ramps up Renovation in Brooklyn, Releases Slew of Rentals

Dixon is finishing up construction and started leasing another group of properties in Brooklyn, most of them in Bed Stuy and Bushwick. We toured three of them, all in Bed Stuy, and found Dixon is getting faster and better at renovation.

Most of the renovations will be completed in less than a year. Some of the properties had severe water damage, requiring extensive work ranging from gut renovation to replacing some or all structural components such as joists and beams. Dixon is using contractors with experience restoring townhouses in Brooklyn and Harlem, such as All Renovation. Dixon managers oversee each site. An in-house designer creates a unique plan for every house and specs and sources all components, finishes and appliances before construction starts, which speeds things along.

We were impressed with the creative and appropriate use of finishes in each townhouse. In a narrow Romanesque Revival townhouse at 513 MacDonough (pictured after the jump) that had been covered with faux panelling and laminate flooring over the years — all of that was ripped out — an oak plank veneer (a new product engineered to withstand moisture) was used to impressive effect on a kitchen island and on a wall in a bathroom.

The quality of the bathrooms, kitchens, closets and other features was already high, but now is even better in the properties we saw. Dixon townhouses now typically have en-suite bathrooms for every bedroom and extensive closet and pantry systems with built-in shelves. One house even had two laundry rooms. They all have landscaped yards and often decks with huge, custom made floor to ceiling windows that open like doors. Two of the houses we saw this time had Aga Legacy stoves, which retail for around $6,000. An extremely luxurious all-marble bathroom at 14 Monroe spanned the width of the house in front and had both a clawfoot tub and shower.

Dixon has also done work to preserve the historic exteriors of the houses, such as redoing the limestone and brownstone facades and ironwork. At 14 Monroe, pictured below, the original 19th century ironwork was missing, and Dixon reproduced it using a mold from a neighbor, who had already restored his own.

Dixon houses typically rent for at least $5,000 a month and usually more (two months are free on an 18-month lease, and there is no broker fee). Roommates and high-earning professionals with families are typical Dixon renters.

“We’ve seen roommates, families who are moving from other parts of Brooklyn because they’re getting priced out and need more space,” Town Residential agent Josh Carney, who represents all Dixon townhouse properties, told us. “Californians love 515 Monroe.” (As it happened, three separate California renters wanted it.) Typical Dixon renters are married couples ranging from their mid-20s to mid-50s who are successful and work from home or are typically in media, public relations or film — including celebrities, he said.

Only one of the houses we toured, 577 Jefferson, pictured above, is still available. It’s asking $6,928 for five bedrooms and five baths. It has a roof deck.

A lease has been signed at 513 MacDonough (asking $6,995 for four bedrooms) and 14 Monroe ($7,996 for five bedrooms) has an accepted offer.

After at least a year of buying townhouses at high prices and renting few of them since most needed renovation, Dixon is now turning out more properties at an efficient clip. As of June, it owned a total of 535 properties in the greater New York region (including New Jersey, Queens and Manhattan, as well as Brooklyn), and 145 of them were waiting for renovation, according to the six-month financial report, released in late August, from Dixon’s US Masters Residential Property Fund, which is publicly traded on the Australian stock market.

Rental income was $6,663,656 (in Australian dollars) for the first six months of the year, a 52 percent increase over the same period the year before. However, the US Masters Residential Property Fund had a large loss for the first six months of the year, on paper at least. The fund attributed the $25,630,049 (in Australian dollars) loss partly to unfavorable foreign exchange rates.

Notably, the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy awarded Dixon the Preservation Initiative Award for its work renovating and preserving historic properties in New Jersey.

Photos by Dixon unless stated otherwise

The house at 577 Jefferson:

Photo above by Cate Corcoran

The house at 513 MacDonough:

Photo above by Cate Corcoran

Photo above by Cate Corcoran

Photo above by Cate Corcoran

Photo above by Cate Corcoran

The house at 14 Monroe: