367 Grand Defies Expectations (and Asking Price)

Actually, having been to the open house, I personally don't think you can count on getting this price elsewhere just because this building got it. First of all, it was really nicely finished. Not super expensive, but so darned tasteful. I don't care how much people yak on about "You can change the finishes once you get in there", New Yorkers buying condos want a finished product that they dont have to think about it. This was an attractive product -- a very rare commodity on the market these days. Absolute offence intended to all you developers out there: your taste is rank.

Next: It's a corner building. Now, again, I don't care how much people may say "a brownstone is a brownstone" but your standard two exposure brownstone is long, dark, gloomy and depressing. This building, however, has the very rare luxury of having north, west and east exposure. The light is stunning in there. The corners with windows on each wall are just to-die-for gorgeous.

And with all this light, the developer added skylights in the top "attic" floor for extra awesome lightness and airiness. It felt like a french farmhouse, with new york sophistication.

I am not surprised people were falling over each other to buy this place (which they were at the open house). It is a testament to the fact that when you have something rare, people know its value.

The neighb is getting trendy too, which really helps.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 9:39 AM

excellent commentary which has become rare recently. thank you.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 9:48 AM

A bunch of condos in a townhouse is always worth more than a townhouse that has not been converted. A brownstone that is worth $2M can easily be worth $3M if it is converted to condos and sold off in pieces. So just because the sum price of the units in this building sold for $3M doesn't mean a similar brownstone down the block is worth that.

You are comparing apples to oranges, even if on the surface they look the same.

Plus what 9:39 said.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 9:50 AM

Beautiful Townhouse Condo+ Three Exposures+ Room for a Family= Brooklyn Bidding War

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 10:48 AM

bob999: See that little window on the very top? That's the attic floor, w/ same floor space s lower floors, just sloping roof. Very cute. It had three bedrooms and a storage room.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 11:14 AM

bob, I don't even know if it's the darkness so much that bothers me (that too, of course) as the feeling of being trapped on either side by 60-odd feet of wall. It's just that tunnel feeling. It also really limits your design options, and brownstones end up all looking very similar. The corner ones have that wacky cornerwindow element that makes them feel a little off the beaten path. Could be just an illusion, but it is more exciting to design around.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 11:17 AM

It was nice and had a lot of sq footage, but maybe my standards for finishes are higher than most, there were visible water leaks in the attic around the skylights, gaps where there should not be gaps, and everything, except some of the details, was white painted sheetrock. The garden is a tiny square of glass next to the pavement dominated by the outside compressors.

I heard a divorced designer from victorias secret bid out the others on the triplex.

I think this says more about the cache of clinton hill than anything else.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 11:33 AM

Actually one always sees cache spelled without the "t" but with the "accent aigu", Bob. I can never remember the keystrokes to get the accents on letters though. Probably like many people.

The skylights on the 2nd floor of our 2-story limestone allow in so much more light than I thought they would. It's effective. And our skylights need cleaning! They're grubby. Yet there is a lot of light coming into the bathroom and hallway/stairs. It must be that the taller houses get some nice light through skylights on the top floor, but the middle floors are left wanting for light. By the way, white window trim and white woodwork in a brownstone (Edwardian instead of Victorian) really help with increasing light. The white around the windows bounces more light into the rooms.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 12:39 PM

sorry, "affect" is the wrong word above, I should say the biggest "factor determining whether..." :)

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 1:26 PM

Minksy was luckkkkky to have this listing.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 2:21 PM

i would of put the accent over the e if I knew what to type. Here it is, for future reference, code html code 233: caché there you go. Now you guys can go back to discussing the minsky tan.

by the way, it is annoying how once you preview here, StonerBrown no longer takes. Brownstoner needs to hire himself a web designer. Movable type is so 2001.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 3:37 PM

11:33, like I said, the finishes were not expensive, just well chosen. I mean, they had mahogany cabinets in the kitchen. Was it solid mahogany? No, it was a mahogany veneer. They had slate on the bathroom floors and limestone tiles on the walls by the shower. Was it beautifully installed or gorgeous grey limestone? No, it was nice standard jerusalem limestone and basic slate. But it was so pleasant to look at compared to the shite out there. So I am grateful for the effort. And at their price point ($450 a sq foot) the rough edges and "white painted sheetrock" is so welcome. What did you expect, PLASTER?????? It was a friggin crack den before that, so I'm more than happy that gutted the place. nice of them to add actual mouldings too, instead of going, "modern" (read: cheap) and just making everything office-style (see Greene Ave).

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 5:21 PM

Bob999, stop officing and get back to the pertinent issues as hand.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 1, 2007 8:25 AM

Amy, that is a specious argument if I ever read one.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 1, 2007 10:06 AM

Bob999, popular usage will change the meaning of a word, or add to it. It's nothing new. It's how our language was formed. It's so tiresome to hear these kinds of rants. It's like, if you have that much a problem with it, go back hundreds of years and complain to the guy who started using the word "cachet" which means the king's seal, as a word that means prestige. I just know for me there are many many more things in life that indicate a person's intelligence, than whether they know cache with an accent aigu is correct or rather adding the "t" is correct.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 1, 2007 11:30 AM

Both 11:30 and 1:17 have a point, and it's an interesting one. On the one hand, there's something to be said for the evolution of cultures (including their language/colloquialisms) and changes are not just inevitable, but indispensible for cultures to continue to thrive.

On the other hand, lazy and sloppy information-sharing is not just irritating (tiresome), but can be a sign of indifference about the truth. Our administration, and Americans' approach to reality in general, is frighteningly apathetic, and it starts at those really small details where the facts, the definitions, the proofs are vague -- and it's okay.

Not to say that the difference between cache (accent aigu) and cachet are directly connected to unfounded carnage in the middle east, but it really makes me happy that there are people who are paying attention to the fact that communication is the source of actions. Without clarity in communication, we risk chaos and indifference in action.

Ah, Deep Thoughts.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 1, 2007 3:25 PM

The shiny clear rocks in the kings metal hat sparkled like jewels in a crown.

- Jack Handy

Posted by: Anonymous at June 1, 2007 3:38 PM