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March 16, 2006

Set Speed Condo Report: 647 Washington Avenue

building
The northern part of Washington Avenue in Prospect Heights has been rife with development over the past year and a half. Not including the Washington Condos at 35 Underhill, there are several other projects, including the Pacific Blue condos, condos on St. Marks between Washington and Grand and a host of others profiled in the recent development map from the Real Deal. The most recent one to come to market is the condos at 647-649 Washington Avenue. This 16 unit project is being marketed by Corcoran, with prices ranging from $439K for 864 square foot duplex studios to $749K for 1300 square foot 3 bedroom, 2 baths. Common charges range from $165/month maintenance and $32 in monthly taxes to $290/month maintenance and $57 in monthly taxes. The project is split up into two buildings, 647 and 649 and the units are mirror images of each other. The layouts are the usual 2 bedrooms in the back, kitchen in the middle and living areas in the front with balconies. The windows on the front facing Washington Avenue are quite large and get good afternoon sun. The featured amenities include private entrances into each unit, European kitchens and bathrooms and outdoor spaces.

Something of an up-and-coming street in the vein of Vanderbilt Avenue circa 2000, there aren't many yuppie amenities on Washington Avenue. A few long-time anchors are still there - Tom's Diner and Gen Restaurant. Otherwise, there is a natural foods store a block away and a beer distributor. Rumors abound, from the brownstoner comments section, of new restaurants and gourmet markets opening soon. The condos are a 7 minute walk to the Brooklyn Museum and about 12 to the Brooklyn Library and Grand Army Plaza. Nearby subways include the C at Clinton-Washington, the B/Q at 7th Avenue and 2/3 at Eastern Parkway or GAP.
647-649 Washington Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP

Every Thursday, ltjbukem, whose own blog Set Speed scrutinizes the progress and quality of new developments in the area we know as Brownstone Brooklyn, pens a guest post about goings-on in the condo market with an emphasis on new projects.




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:34 AM | Comments (18)
Categories: Condos

Comments

I don't know if the picture does it justice, but the exterior of this building looks little nicer than a slightly better designed version of the crappy cheap-brick-and-Fedders-air-conditioner buildings that have been the subject of so much derision on this blog. At least the windows are large.

Posted by: Park Sloper at March 16, 2006 1:03 PM

What do they mean by a "private entrance" for each unit?

Posted by: Anonymous at March 16, 2006 1:15 PM

Agreed. Looks hideous. Are there any developers working today who are making anything but hideous structures? I wish there was some sort of prize or competition for best looking new residential buildings. Some kind of incentive. Are architects no longer designing *anything*? (These all look like phoned-in builder designs.)

Posted by: Anonymous at March 16, 2006 1:18 PM

by private entrance they mean there is only one unit per floor so the elevator is keyed and opens to a private entryway for each unit.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 16, 2006 1:30 PM

I don't think the design is so bad

Posted by: Anonymous at March 16, 2006 1:47 PM

i don't think it's that bad either. at least it looks better than the washington condos, with its' green and tan exterior, which makes it look like a college dorm.

and yes, the windows are quite large and the picture doesn't do it justice. but no worries, i think mr. b was driving while mrs. b stuck her camera out and shot pics...i like the driveby style, though.

Posted by: ltjbukem at March 16, 2006 1:55 PM

Mrs. B took these solo, but there was a big truck parked directly in front so she had to go with the angle shot. Compared to all the crap out there this seems relatively inoffensive to us.

Posted by: Brownstoner at March 16, 2006 2:00 PM

yeah, these photos make it look OK. but the side view is an unrelieved concrete wall with a few tiny windows that you can see from miles away (it's now the tallest thing as you come up the hill from clinton hill).

Posted by: anonymous at March 16, 2006 3:42 PM

i used to live on prospect place between classon and grand - steps aways from washington avenue. i lived there for 5 years and had a good experience. the entire time there were rumors about gourmet food and restaurants, and all we ever got that was new was a drug store, Gen (excellent food, cheap), and something called Shane's (there's another one on fulton near fort greene), over-priced, slow, and generally not worth going to. to move there for soon-to-come gourmet stores and restaurants might be foolish. certainly don't move there if you need a public school for your kids. move there because there are still good values in housing, because its near the park and subways, and because its got character.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 16, 2006 4:17 PM

these condos might be zoned for ps20, which is where ft greene'ers and clinton hill'ers are zoned.

while not on the level of ps321 in the slope, i hear they are doing good things with this school.

Posted by: ltjbukem at March 16, 2006 5:35 PM

What are you smoking? The Washington Condo looks twenty times better than this cheap looking facade!

Posted by: Sarah at March 16, 2006 6:46 PM

Although better than a fedder special I gotta agree with Sarah, at least the washington has significant architectural elements. This looks dull and cheap. It looks like the used the bolt on facad system, the type that is notorious for leaking...

Posted by: BP at March 16, 2006 11:25 PM

i'm not a trained architect, but what 'significant architectural elements' do you see?

Posted by: ltjbukem at March 17, 2006 8:21 AM

I actually like the look of the washington in person much better than the renderings. I went by a couple days ago and I think it's coming together rather nicely.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 17, 2006 9:34 AM

These would not be zoned for PS 11 CLinton Hill or PS 20 in Ft Greene, but PS 9 on Underhill ave. The NYC Dept of Ed has a school & zone finder on their website, should you need it. PS 20 has a wonderful new principal, Mr. Keaton who is presenting at the FG Assn meeting on the 20th. PS 11 & PS 20's test scores have almost caught up to PS 321. Both schools have active PTA's & nice reveiws on insideschools.org. There are many good resources to use for accurate information.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 17, 2006 9:57 AM

you are absolutely right. the washington condos, which is 1.5 blocks in the other direction, is zoned for ps 11. lucky for ppl moving in there..

Posted by: ltjbukem at March 17, 2006 10:15 AM

If the developers and marketers of 647 knew what they were doing, they wouldn't have built 14 or so 3Br condos. Nice view of the jnkyards out the front and back windows they will have.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 17, 2006 11:32 AM

what unit mix should've they built, then?

those views are what usually happens in gentrifying nabes.

Posted by: ltjbukem at March 17, 2006 11:36 AM

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