House of the Day: Cumberland Condo Conversion?

house
Silly us, we didn't even realize Bellmarc had any brownstone listings in Brookyln until we stumbled across this one in Fort Greene. Located on Cumberland off Greene Avenue, this place has a great exterior but, from what we hear, is a gut reno candidate on the inside. We think the existing extension and plentiful room for side windows could make this an interesting condo conversion--especially given the excellent location. The seven-family C of O got us thinking: Has anyone created half-floor studio condos yet in the area or only floor-throughs and larger?
Vacant Brownstone [Bellmarc] GMAP

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The house we bought in Crown Heights has two studios in the garden floor. Upside: more rent;
Downside: more tenants.

To date we have only rented out one of the studios, but plan to rent them both as soon as we finish building the deck for garden access from the upper triplex.

Posted by: ameraleed at March 24, 2006 11:22 AM

Would you need a certificate of non-harassment on this?

Posted by: babs at March 24, 2006 11:31 AM

Good question. No mention of SRO but 7-family status does set off the alarm bells...

Posted by: Brownstoner at March 24, 2006 11:34 AM

I live in the bulding next door and excitedly dropped in for an open house the owner had for this place (last summer, I think). I was appalled at the price he was asking for such an absolute DUMP. There was one room where the toilet had been ripped out of the floor and was in a pile of rubble in the middle of the bathroom. This place would only be inhabitable with gut renovation. However, at least 1 (maybe more) people still live there, and there are many a night when there is a drunken stoop fest going on. I feel sorry for anyone who has to live under those conditions, regardless of their issues. That landlord is a slumlord.

Also, I cannot believe that this landlord is selling for the exact same price as my landlord (sadly he is selling my building; he is far and away the best landlord I've ever had and is a truly good person). Our building is nicely kept, everything works. But its price tag matches the dump next door with the SRO tenants. I don't get it.

Posted by: FOB at March 24, 2006 11:49 AM

what's a certificate of non-harrassment for? pardon my ignorance, but is this related to multi family units?

Posted by: Anonymous at March 24, 2006 12:35 PM

Did anyone else think this building was extra wide when they first saw the picture? That parking sign cuts it off at the fourth window across, which belongs not to the listed house but to the neighbor's house.

Or I'm just a dummy.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 24, 2006 12:39 PM

well the ad does say it's vacant so there is definitely a premium added for a vacant building when comparing properties over 5 units. Being a vacant property and since they are marketing it as a conversion opp. it doesn't matter that it needs a gut reno. Even if it was inhabitable now it would probably be gutted anyway.

If the building status is SRO and doesn't have the certificate of non-harrassemen it does make a conversion a little more difficult.

For the poster who asked what this is, it only applies to buildings that are Single Room Occupancy meaning that people rent rooms and usually share a bathroom, kitchen, or both. If a building is classified as an SRO you need to have the tenants from the past 3 years sign a statement saying that they weren't forced out of the place before it can have its building classification changed. -- this is the short version, I'm sure there are more specifics that I'm not aware of but you get the idea.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 24, 2006 1:01 PM

Rob Adami is doing 10 studios in a Clinton Hill 5 story (2 per floor) in a 17 footer no less. Unfortunately the plumber(?) just accidently torched the top floor.

I like Rob, but I'm not sure about 10 units since witnessing the fire.

But it answers your question and its yes- someones doing it.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 24, 2006 1:28 PM

Who is Rob Adami?

Posted by: Brownstoner at March 24, 2006 2:06 PM

Anon 1:01, when this was on the market last year the price was even higher and there were still two tenants he hadn't gotten rid of (he told me that)...so much for the premium for vacancy. Then again, it wouldn't move, so maybe he finally got rid of them. it's hard to tell. I still see his cronies hanging around the stoop.

The worst part for me, though, aside from being amazed at the price, was that a landlord would let people live in those conditions. It was beyond horrible in there. I hate that this jerk will get so much money for being a slumlord.

Posted by: FOB at March 24, 2006 3:53 PM

i assume rob adami of adami hardware/adami brownstoning/adami own a lot of fort greene property...almost bought his dad's house on vanderbilt about 3 years ago...learned that the adamis own a lot of stuff....apparently their brownstone/masonary business is one of best in city...funny though that i see them working now more in west village...they are meant to be v. expensive....

Posted by: Anonymous at March 26, 2006 9:32 AM

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March 24, 2006

House of the Day: Cumberland Condo Conversion?

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