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July 30, 2007

House of the Day: 544 Washington Avenue

544washington.jpg
This brownstone at 544 Washington Avenue just came onto our radar screen. It's being marketed by a firm we hadn't heard of before—Harmony City—but, unlike some smaller agencies, appears to have a good grasp on the basics of marketing a property on the web. As for the house, it's a 17-footer but has an ample extension, bringing the overall square footage to over 4,000. It's currently configured in the most sellable configuration—owner's triplex over garden rental. As for the interior, there are signs of a few details left on the parlor floor (mostly original door moldings) but for the most part the house has been given a middle-of-the-road contemporary makeover at some point that's not likely to knock anyone's socks off. The location is convenient, just steps from the C train at Washington, but a little hectic. The empty lot next door is also a big question mark. So what about the $1,785,000 asking price? Seems a good 10 percent overpriced to us.
544 Washington Avenue [Harmony City] GMAP P*Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 1:31 PM | Comments (21)
Categories: Clinton Hill, HOTD

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Comments

For this price, maybe the agent could light and stage the pictures a bit better. I'm creative and I have an imagination, but eek all the junk around in the bathrooms, etc. is depressing. Real estate is a more than part fantasy, afterall.

Posted by: anon at July 30, 2007 2:02 PM

It is not the nicest stretch. Washington between Fulton and Atlantic is not so attractive and looks to be a builders grade renovation. Remember the nice 20 foot place on Greene and Clermont - much nicer location and it was 1.6.

Posted by: anon at July 30, 2007 2:02 PM

Agreed it is not currently prime Clinton Hill but when Fulton develops a little more this location is going to be very appealing because the train is right there, Vanderbilt Ave in Prospect Heights is right there, and it's an easy walk to either park (Prospect or Fort Greene).

I would be concerned about the empty lot next door, but I'd feel pretty comfortable about the neighborhood. Aren't they building a ginormous condo foundation right across the street? Will that take a year or two to finish?

Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 2:11 PM

In the words of the immortal
Bette Davis:

"What a dump"

Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 2:15 PM

B'stoner's original post states that the owner's triplex over garden rental is "the most sellable configuration" - just curious, does everyone believe that to be true? More so than a double duplex, for example?

Posted by: anon at July 30, 2007 2:41 PM

Grubby neighborhood

Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 2:55 PM

Grubby neighborhood

Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 2:55 PM

i would say triplex or quad over garden rental is best, then second is owner garden parlor duplex with 2 rentals above, then maybe double duplex. but really it boils down to how much space you need and how much rental income to help with the mortgage.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 3:05 PM

I prefer lower duplex with two rentals above. I lived in a triplex above a garden and never felt like garden was "mine". Plus, that top floor is really too far up for me. Maybe if I were still in my 20s...s

Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 3:39 PM

An upper triplex or duplex is always better because the layout and light is better on the upper floors.
If you have a lower duplex and rentals above, then you have the tenants marching up the stairs and the stairwells are wasted space.
If you have a top triplex, then the best plan is to have a deck and access to the garden from the parlor floor.
You still have to share the gardne but that's way better than losing precious space inside the house.

Posted by: tripster at July 30, 2007 3:45 PM

In 2 years the area will be improved quite drastically, with all those new condos (especially the new glass building on Clinton Ave and Atlantic) and the train being next door...
Watch, after 2-3 coffee-shop/restaurants opening on Fulton Street, this area will actually be very nice with its three lined streets and close to Parks. Who would have guess that 10years ago, Fulton Street in Fort Greene would become what it is today?

Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 3:58 PM

Parking from the ZION church on Sundays is horrendous. They double parked and triple parked.

Posted by: StonerBrown at July 30, 2007 4:03 PM

looking at propshark - what you are calling empty lot next door is part larger parcel that is church property next door.
Lot is something like 75' wide and church building is only like 1/2 that.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 4:10 PM

This is same block where previously discussed new 63 apartment building going up.
So improvement pedestrian traffic-wise and look-wise is happening.
You could guess that success of this new project could entice the church owners ,next-door to #544, to sell to a developer.
Underutilized land and propably worth $3m.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 4:24 PM

I give the real estate broker credit for a good write-up, but the pictures don't match the hype and reveal the interior to be utterly charmless.

Posted by: Park Sloper at July 30, 2007 4:25 PM

Hi there,
I am the seller's broker for this property.
Well, first of all, thank you for all the comments, it's being helpfull.
I have to say that yes the pics are not very appealing, the upper triplex still being occupied by a family with 2 kids, it was quite a challenge to take pics with all their belongings around!
What I can tell you is that this house is VERY large, in excellent condition (the seller being a contractor!) and preserved orginal details. The Parlor doens't show well but it is HUGE and the library/office is georgous!

Posted by: Matthieu Bouchout at July 30, 2007 4:49 PM

I agree 4.25. The only thing is the empty lot is probably zoned R6B now, so any development there would have to be contextual in size and have the facade line up with the brownstone next to it. I think that is a good thing, and if applicable to the empty lot, would give you some piece of mind that it would not be too tall of a building if developed next to your new home in the future... link below has the new zoning map.
http://nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/ft_greene/proposed_zoning.pdf

Posted by: lp at July 30, 2007 4:51 PM

I was responding to 4.24's comment about future development of the empty lot, not 4.25, sorry...

Posted by: lp at July 30, 2007 5:10 PM

Wonderbread!

Posted by: whitey at July 30, 2007 5:31 PM

if this is 544 washington, then this is on the west side of the street, not the EAST side, NOT next to the church. it is next to a used car dealership.

surprised no one caught this..

Posted by: ltjbukem at July 31, 2007 7:23 PM

actually, there are two churches on that block, one on the west side and one on the east. This is next to the driveway of the church on the west side of the street, not an empty lot. There are no empty lots on that block, just ones being used for construction or parking.

Posted by: dahl at August 1, 2007 6:50 PM

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