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January 24, 2007

Condo of the Day: More Union Street Priciness

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As long as we're on the topic of expensive Union Street condos, it's probably worth taking a gander at the mini-palace atop the aspirationally-named Shinnecock in Park Slope. This is the smaller of two penthouses atop the new (2004?) highrise between Prospect Park West and 8th Avenue. The asking price of $2,350,000 is almost a 50% hike over what the current owner paid back in March 2005. This wouldn't be the first time someone paid $1,000 a foot in this neighborhood (someone paid $950 a foot last summer for a place on the 12th floor) and to be fair the views and loftiness of the apartment are very nice. Kitchen looks a little shlubby for this price point though. Waddya think?
Union Street Penthouse [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Building photo by Kate Leonova for Property Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:27 AM | Comments (22)
Categories: Brooklyn, Condos, Park Slope, Real Estate

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But really, what on earth justifies that kind of appreciation in such a short time or for that area? Are people still living with their heads in the clouds? What's the point of being so overly greedy? Unless they did a ton of work, even a 15% increase would be a lot.

Posted by: Anon at January 24, 2007 11:36 AM

11:35 - nothing justifies it, which is why the unit has been on he mrket for a long long tme.

Posted by: David at January 24, 2007 11:47 AM

I would at least expect custom cabinetry in the kitchen, as in really nice stuff that's custom designed to fit around the nooks and crannies and go all the way to the ceiling. Strange. But, I've said this on another thread, the big, family-sized condos are really hard to find. Maybe the demand alone will get that price. Though the place would show better if the owners had better taste. I'll sound catty but their furniture and decor are really bland and unimaginative. Makes the detail-void unit even more boring. You know how some listings say "bring your architect", this should say "bring your decorator".

Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 11:56 AM

with that much money you could by a 1 bedroom across the street at the on prospect park.

Posted by: iologica at January 24, 2007 11:59 AM

At what % increase does a seller become "greedy"? I've never understood why people focus on the details of the most recent sale in determining current value. Either the apt. is worth $1K sq/ft today or its not (nice place but I say not). This constant focus on the seller's potential profits strikes me as simple jealously.

Posted by: C-Roy at January 24, 2007 12:00 PM

I think most of us use the mark-up as a way of judging whether or not something is worth $1k/square foot. That could mean to someone whether or not they will buy something which has any hope of appreciating in the future. I guess another way of putting it is less about the seller's greediness and more concern about our potential stupidity in paying such an inflated price which is not justified by either improvements in the property since the last sale or a commensurate run-up in the market as a whole.

Posted by: putnam-denizen at January 24, 2007 12:11 PM

This has been on the market for six months I am 100% sure I've seen those pictures in spring/summer last year.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 12:22 PM

It's not greed if the property really can sell at that price. It just means the seller made a good investment. I agree that to focus on seller's profits too much is more about bitterness over not having the foresight to buy the place at the same time the sellers did. If you don't like the idea of a seller making that much profit, don't buy the place.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 12:53 PM

As for a property being on the market a long time, if a seller doesn't have to sell immediately, and can wait to find the one buyer who will pay a certain amount, a property will sit around a while. Maybe this seller wants to upgrade to a brownstone in Park Slope and knows they need a certain amount of money to do that. And because the market has slowed a bit they can take the time to sell first before buying. I actually think we'll be seeing more of this.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 12:57 PM

I think it's beautiful. Wow! Kitchen: yes looks small. But my god that place is amazing. The price tag: so far outside my world it doesn't even matter.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 1:18 PM

That is not a chef's kitchen. Another Lie. It looks like any other kitchen. Come on give me some custom cabinetry for that price. Suckers who buy for this crap you deserve it. ANd the brokers out there--SHAME ON YOU!

Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 1:28 PM

lol, iological. You might have hit the nail on the head as to why this unit went up so much in price. Maybe all the luxury condo buildings around the park will go way up, due to Meier's building. Could be good timing for these people to sell. They might be thinking, if there are buyers coming out here from Manhattan to check out Meier's building, perhaps those buyers will find other buildings more appealing and larger for the price. It's a thought. But it's so true the kitchen is way lackluster for the asking price of the condo.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 1:33 PM

"Maybe this seller wants to upgrade to a brownstone in Park Slope and knows they need a certain amount of money to do that. "

Um, and if they can't sell and can't afford that brownstone, too bad. I don't see how waiting is going to do them any good, if the place is overpriced.

And it's not jealousy - it's exactly what putnam-denizen said - it's a good way to assess whether 1K per sq. ft. is a good value and whether buying it would mean a possible appreciation or depreciation for the buyer.

But if the case is as the person above said - maybe they need to sell to move to something pricier - than it is greed, if they are trying to get more money than what their place is worth to buy a place they currently can't afford. I've heard a lot of people around here saying, well, too bad if you can't afford something in the neighborhood you want to live in, don't complain. If that's the case, it has to work both ways - can't afford the brownstone? Too bad, stay in your apt.

Posted by: Anon at January 24, 2007 1:44 PM

Thank God we're subsidizing their tax bill ($21 a month). Without public money built into this development, these poor folk would be looking at maybe only a 40% profit in what they paid.

Posted by: Big D at January 24, 2007 2:40 PM

Per the remark about the seller perhaps having the luxury of time (six months and ticking, at this point)-- I don't agree that such would be a good strategy. If your place sits on the market too long, you've priced it too high--and it begins to be regarded by buyers as damaged goods. Price it right, and it will sell.

Posted by: Bob999 at January 24, 2007 2:41 PM

a property listed at over $2M and there are no professional photographs? those photos are terrible and if i were the seller i would be a little irate.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 3:52 PM

This building has had lots of problems. Much money has been spend fighting with the developer on fixes. They might get in the high $1mil. range but anything above that is a stretch. Building is dumpy and is cheapily constructed..

Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 8:44 PM

this is a beautiful building, it reminds me of 2 montague terrace in the heights, the architect was striving for something different than the ubiquitous and atrocious meier glass prisons or the cheaply made fedders boxes.

i'd gladly buy in this buiding.

Posted by: adriennui at January 24, 2007 10:22 PM

jesus, the second you step outside of this building you're standing on a city block that, for most of the day, is choked with horn-blasting, a-hole motorheads who want nothing more than to speed off down eastern or flatbush as quickly as possible.

make prospect park west a two-way street to relieve some of the congestion on union and then, maybe, i'll consider paying good money to live on this block.

Posted by: a at January 24, 2007 10:57 PM

Bob999, well sure, for someone who absolutely needs to sell, you're right it's a bad strategy to list too high. But the point being made is that for a property owner who wants to test the market during a slowdown, and see if he can get his ideal amount and if he doesn't, pull it off the market for another year, this is what he'll do. It only takes one buyer.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 25, 2007 8:36 AM

We looked at these apartments when they were still finishing the place. There were many nice things about it, but there were so many windows in the bedroom and they went so low that any furniture you'd want to put in there would block a window, no way around it. That annoyed us enough not to consider it.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 25, 2007 3:18 PM

I looked at this apt. when it was listed last summer (I forget if the price has changed), but the pictures actually look BETTER then the apt. does in real life. It is classic Corcoran photoshopping of the photos on their site. The ceilings are only about 9 feet tall (they seem like 12 feet in the fireplace photo). The roof deck is TINY. The retractable roof (although very cool) takes up nearly 1/3 of the roof space when open (they convienently leave this out of the photos). Overall a great apartment, but very overpriced.

Posted by: anon at January 28, 2007 11:50 PM

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