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May 29, 2007

Duffield Cheerleader May Lose House Cuz Of Mom

227DuffieldSt.jpgWhen it rains Duffield Street news, it pours...and this is stuff you can't make up. According to a Brooklyn Eagle article at the end of last week, 227 Duffield Street, home to one of the most advocates of Underground Railroad crusade, Joy Chatel, has been put on the market by for $4.5 million. How did we get here? Well, in 2004, Chatel signed the deed over to her mother, Arnelda Monroe, who in turn sold a 50 percent interest in the building to investor Errol Bartholomew in 2005 to avoid foreclosure. Chatel told the Eagle that her lawyer, Angelyn Johnson, listed the property three weeks ago without her knowledge. “The mother wants it sold,” said Johnson. “At this point they’ll do anything because they’re kind of in a pickle.” Foreclosure perhaps? To cap it all off, Johnson was charged with fraud in February by the Queens DA and is under investigation for other frauds. Nice. BTW, click on the GMAP icon and check out the new Street View feature that lets you do a 360-degree pan of the street. In this case, it's a great way to get a feel for layout on Duffield Street (which Google calls Oratory Place).
Alleged Underground RR Home On Market for $4.5 Million [Brooklyn Eagle] GMAP




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:12 AM | Comments (10)
Categories: Brooklyn, Downtown Brooklyn, Properties, Real Estate

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Comments

what a minute ... if half of the title was transferred two years ago, shouldn't that have raised enough cash to eliminate any present-day financial pickles? and why would someone buy the property now, after the eminent domain hearing has already been held? the whole thing has an off odor to me.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 29, 2007 11:54 AM

The title transfer by itself was not enough to settle the financial troubles. Chatel was supposed to have taken additional steps to further that end, but never did. It's all in the article.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 29, 2007 12:42 PM

Street view is insane! I can't stop playing with it.

Posted by: greenwood slope at May 29, 2007 12:52 PM

It's still weird, though - who's supposed to be the target buyer? There's a risk the property will be seized by eminent domain - no one is going to buy it while that's an open issue.

Likewise, the price being asked is not one that relates to the property as something to own/live in (would you buy a house in that condition for $4.5 mil in that location?). That's a price for a developer to buy at. But there's also the threat of landmark status being granted to it for the UR stuff. So what developer will buy while that's pending?

Am I missing something here?

Posted by: EJ at May 29, 2007 12:54 PM

this is totally f'ed up

Posted by: anon at May 29, 2007 2:10 PM

Worth no more than $1.5MM.

House is probably in shambles condition inside (esp given financial troubles of owner, let's be realistic...).

And let's face it...this is honky-tonk downtown Brooklyn just off Fulton Mall, not at all a nicer residential neighborhood.

And then there are all the legal woes (eminent domain, split and prickly ownership situation, perhaps other issues not addressed in wake of past pre-foreclosure settlement).

So in all honesty, why on earth is it priced as if it's a prime home on Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights ($4.5 MM)?

Buehler?

Posted by: Anonymous at May 29, 2007 2:21 PM

eminent domain foreclosure entitles the owner to receive "fair market value" for the house. Listing the house for this outrageous sum is perhaps a way to pretend the house is worth much more than it really is. It all comes down to dough. If you can convince a government appraisor that your Duffield Street shack is worth 4 milllion, good for you.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 29, 2007 2:45 PM

12:42, 11:54 here. Not to be defensive, but I don't see what Chatel's failure to renovate has to do with anything, unless it was contractually obligated, which the Eagle does not say.

By 2005, the Downtown Brooklyn Plan had been approved, rezoning this site to C6-4.5. Do the math: (2174 square foot lot X 12.0 commercial FAR X let's say $100/developable square feet in 2005) divided by two (fifty percent interest) = $1.3M. Unless Chatel and her mother got ripped off, I don't see how they can be in a financial pickle now. That should have been enough to clear any reasonable debt and then some.

Posted by: 11:54 back again at May 29, 2007 2:50 PM

$4.5MM, what is she smoking?

Posted by: ??? at May 30, 2007 7:53 PM

the only way a listing establishes market value is if verifiable, arms-length offers for the property are made

Posted by: Anonymous at May 31, 2007 11:36 AM

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