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August 1, 2007
Condo of the Day: 555 Washington Avenue 2 BR
We've never been inside any of the apartments at the Cathedral Building at the corner of Atlantic and Washington Avenues in Clinton Hill, but the building certainly has one of the more impressive exteriors in the area. (There's also an attractive interior courtyard.) Judging from today's listing, however, the apartments themselves are somewhat unconventional. This 1,225-square-foot two-bedroom is spread out over three levels and definitely has some of the monumentality you'd expect from a religious building. (It's also got a private yard.) It's been on the market for a few weeks, however, suggesting that the $665,000 asking price isn't knocking the socks off buyers. Has anyone seen it in person yet? Any theories on why it hasn't sold yet? There's an open house tonight from 6:30 to 7:30 for the curious.
555 Washington Triplex $665,000 [Craigslist] GMAP
Exterior photo by Miss Jasmine
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Comments
Not a real two bedroom. A one bedroom with storage.
Posted by: an_architect_in_Brooklyn at August 1, 2007 1:06 PM
location on Atlantic kinda sucks, no?
Posted by: anon at August 1, 2007 1:11 PM
The building has good detailing but not all the square footage is functional. It's a trade off between effeciency and character.
Also- the intersection of Atlantic and Washing Ave is disgusting. It looks like a war zone. The monsterous "Big Yellow" storage building is catty-corner. Additionally, the intersection of Fulton and Washington (down the street) is still a haven for drug pushing.
If you decide to buy... you got to differ enjoyment of the neighborhood until things are cleaned up a little. Hopefully the Atlantic Yards will help.
Posted by: anon at August 1, 2007 1:15 PM
My wife and I looked at a unit in this building. At the time (2004), the hallway carpets were ugly and bare. The duplex conversion of the apartment was awkward and a neighbor was blasting rap music. The upper floors are well insulated from street noise, though.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 1, 2007 1:16 PM
This is a great building. One of Brooklyn's architectural gems. My hat is off to the residents for saving it and maintaing it. It is "a civic ornament" as they used to say.
Posted by: Sam at August 1, 2007 1:30 PM
That looks awesome! I'd live there in a second.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 1, 2007 1:31 PM
I've seen a couple of these units. I agree with 1:06 thru 1:16. Location just SUCKS. Very beautiful details but layouts just not practical. In one unit, I think 1C or something, guests would have to walk through the master bedroom to use the shower/bath. There was only one additional 1/2 bathroom with toilet/sink only.
Development would have been more attractive if they had created fewer more spacious units and bought the lot next door and used it for parking. But what do I know?
Posted by: stonerbrown at August 1, 2007 1:35 PM
1:06,,,you are a bit dramatic. Warzone? There is a car wash, storage building,used car dealership on Atlantic n Washington. It is a major intersection as it veers off onto underhill ave as well but warzone is quite misleading. Fulton and Washington is a major train stop on the A and C lines and always has alot of foot traffic also due to the restaurants and stores. Drug pushing? Cant really comment.Havent seen it at that corner personally.
Posted by: peter at August 1, 2007 1:49 PM
This neighborhood is not a "warzone" by any stretch of the imagination, and while the drug presence is obvious at Putnam and Grand, I've never seen it at the "haven" of Fulton and Washington. The location of this building is actually pretty central to both Prospect Heights and Clinton Hill, if you don't mind living on the corner of a busy intersection.
The building is phenomenal from the outside.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 1, 2007 2:10 PM
I have lived across the street from said unit for the last 4 years and went to an open house for that unit a few weeks back just to check it out.
I agree with the earlier comment that while the unit has character and great detail, the layout is deplorable. One needs to navigate one of the smallest (stair width) spiral staircases I have ever seen in order to access the other floors. The heftier of folks visiting the day of the open house had to navigate moving between floors by rotating their bodies sideways. It would be a nightmare to move any furniture to the top or bottom floor.
Next - there is little sound privacy as the rooms roll into one another and there is hardly a door to be shut that would sufficiently provide privacy.
The bathroom and kitchen were highly unimpressive for the $$ they were asking and the main living space was very small.
Also, it is right next to where they are building a huge condo - I have had nothing but jackhammer and union protest sounds all day every day for the last 4 months and with the slow rate of progress on that site - it looks as if we are in for a long stretch until that building is complete.
The drugs are really not a problem - they are there but as the kids say "whatevs" That is the flavor of the neighborhood - To the commenter hoping the Atlantic Yards will "clean up" the neighborhood - what I have to say to you is too nasty to be written here.
Posted by: Lives across the street at August 1, 2007 2:19 PM
A few weeks and you wonder why hasn't sold yet? What do you think a reasonable or average time frame a property should be on the market?
To me a few weeks sounds like nothing -unless very underpriced.
Has the hot market mentality become now set a new standard - where any negotiation on price indicates a problem and offers should happen on 1st open house?
Posted by: Anonymous at August 1, 2007 2:20 PM
wasn't this on the market last year?
Posted by: Anonymous at August 1, 2007 2:52 PM
Three words:
ATLANTIC
YARDS
EFFECT
Posted by: Anonymous at August 1, 2007 2:57 PM
this apartment has been on the market for over a year. the price went up which amazes me. i checked it out in the spring and i swear it was 15k less. anyways, the SPIRAL STAIRCASE is a joke. i'm only 5-2 and could barely fit. whomever created these spaces out of the building was looking only for max space not usuability. imagine you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night after a couple glasses of wine... no thank yoU!
not sure who will buy this. every single person that came through when i was there said the same thing. one woman burned her arm on the lamp in the staircase. i'm talking SMALL!
Posted by: g at August 1, 2007 3:15 PM
Hey 2:57, I bow to no-one in my distaste for Bruce Ratner's ugly building compendium, but it should be noted that said state-subsidised prospective ghost town will only extend as far as Vanderbilt. One long block from all that ghastiliness. Still pretty deserted, though.
Posted by: Gari N. Corp at August 1, 2007 3:16 PM
I saw this place in Spring as well, and agree with all the comments about the spiral staircase, and would add that the "second bed" storage area has a very low ceiling, the living area is strangely divided (admittedly by the lovely detail of the original building) and the bedroom doesnt have a lot of useable space because of the look through to the floor below - again, an aesthetically pleasing architectural feature, but not particularly liveable, the garden is tiny and the entry to the building still feels institutional
Posted by: Anonymous at August 1, 2007 3:43 PM
I saw a two bed/ two bath 2 years ago. It was a very DARK and dated duplex right on Atlantic Ave. The ceilings were low too. The building is dark and gothic- an old Boys Catholic school. Good idea- although not impressed.
Posted by: anon at August 1, 2007 4:04 PM
I saw a two bed/ two bath 2 years ago. It was a very DARK and dated duplex right on Atlantic Ave. The ceilings were low too. The building is dark and gothic- an old Boys Catholic school. Good idea- although not impressed.
Posted by: anonymous at August 1, 2007 4:05 PM
Saw this a few ago. The stairs were so small my girlfriend and i had to walk sideways to get to the top floor. i consider the basement room more of a storage than the real estate guy was trying to sell and the asking price. Hell No.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 1, 2007 4:08 PM
Saw this a few ago. The stairs were so small my girlfriend and i had to walk sideways to get to the top floor. i consider the basement room more of a storage than the real estate guy was trying to sell and the asking price. Hell No.
Posted by: dd at August 1, 2007 4:08 PM
Saw this a few ago. The stairs were so small my girlfriend and i had to walk sideways to get to the top floor. i consider the basement room more of a storage than the real estate guy was trying to sell and the asking price. Hell No.
Posted by: dd at August 1, 2007 4:08 PM
Does the Institute for Community Living still own units in this building?
Posted by: Anon at August 1, 2007 6:14 PM
I live in the building, and while I haven't seen the particular apartment, I've seen others on the ground floor and they do tend to be a bit dark. But the building is great, and keep in mind, this was a school and it was converted into condos back in the early 80s, so its not a new conversion. And the building used to have parking rights next door before the construction at 545 Washington started, and once that construction is done, tenants will have the right to park there for a monthly fee.
And it is very safe and convenient to the C train (though sadly its not a stop on the A train unless its running local). I like the location - even though its not quite as close to the restaurants on Myrtle as I would like, its also not too far from Vanderbilt Ave in PH, and a reasonable walk to the B/Q train on 7th Ave in PS when necessary.
Posted by: dahl at August 1, 2007 6:45 PM
I went there with a friend when a 1 bedroom with a lower room with no windows and spiral staircase that sounded like it was about to break. The place was horrible. It had tiny windows, the paint job was scary, and the layout was horrible. Also, my friend said that she felt like the hallways reminded her of a rape scene. I think I am pretty good at seeing potential in spaces, and there was nothing to work with there.
Also, the price was $500,000 and the monthly fees were insane for the space. I think with taxes and maintenance it was something like $800 a month.
Posted by: NewSloper at August 1, 2007 7:19 PM
I went to an open house for a different unit in that building about a year ago. The apartment was unimpressive and a really strange layout. It was formerly part of the gym, so they took what could have been an amazing high cieling and turned it into a 2 story duplex with 2 low cielings and 2 bathrooms right next to each other. Odd to say the least.
And then there was the broker who had nothing but great things to say about the building, and casually mentioned he lived there (hmmm... no vested interest in raising prices there, huh?).
The whole building looks like what could have been a great place to live IF they had done the conversion properly and allocated a decent ammount of space to the apartments, but instead they carved them up and crammed as many units into the space as possible, Manhattan-style.
This apartment looks like it has some nice details (the windows look great), but seeing as it's so small, you would probably have trouble appreciating the huge windows since you can't get far enough away to take them in completely except when you're wedged into the corner of the room, as the person taking the picture probably was.
The "private garden" looks nice too, if you're into spending time outdoors with a friend (singular, not plural), since you probably couldn't fit 3 people out there. Not for claustrophobics.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 1, 2007 11:50 PM
This renovation was done 15 or so years ago, before the current kind of upsccale renovations that are popular now. The building was and I guess is, sort of isolated and in a very questionable neighborhood. I live up Washington in PH and we were all amazed when that building was converted as we didn't think anyone would want to live there. The little park across the street was renovated around then too, I guess the developers had some pull with the city. Too bad they chopped it up, if it were being renovated today it would probably be done differently.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 2, 2007 7:18 AM
i hate this area. the ghetto element blows and is as bad as you can imagine. lived near there for almost 2 years and it was like getting out of jail when i moved away. poster is right - Atlantic Yards will help clean up the "hood."
have no clue what the oppostion to Atlantic Yards could possibly be. that part of town is full of low lifes - the only way to go is UP!
Posted by: anon at August 2, 2007 2:04 PM
I don't agree that the neighborhood is a ghetto. It WAS terrible many years ago when the building was first converted to condos. I've lived near the Cathedral Condos for years and the days of drug dealers in the park is long gone. Now it's a gem and those people who were lucky enough to snag a place in that gorgeous building when the prices were rock bottom are sitting pretty. You can't build places like that anymore. Thank goodness the people who think poorly of this area have moved! And I hope they're very happy with their 3 roommates in their cramped overpriced Manhattan walkup. We "hoodrats" love living in a safe, huge space with NO roommates (because we can afford it without them) AND a car that's only a 2 minute walk to most of the amenities you want and need to be comfortable and happy. If this is a ghetto, then LONG LIVE THE 'HOOD!
Posted by: guest at August 23, 2007 3:36 PM
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