Condos of the Day: 424 Lafayette Avenue

Good job on these contemporary units. The projects deserve this neighborly integration.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:01 PM

Developers group kind of way?

Brownstoner you are so pretentious.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:09 PM

Is it just me, or does this building have all the charm of the back of a PC circa 1998, complete with ports and expansion slots? Truly an eyesore. E-waste.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:11 PM

1:11--YES! Perfect. Best and most appropriate description I've ever read.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:14 PM

do you prefer the projects than this 'eyesore'?

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:15 PM

i hate those window mounted ac units. So lazy and cheap.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:15 PM

All of these units are the Brooklyn equivalent of a ranch house. In a few years they'll be worthless because there will so many of them and they are all exactly the same.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:16 PM

yuck.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:17 PM

why are we always looking at this sort of crap on a blog named "brownstoner"?
This monstrosity is the antithesis of a brownstone or of any historic dwelling.
It is this type of exploitative construction that is ruining the scale and character of brownstone Brooklyn. I hate it.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:18 PM

I think it makes us appreciate good, solid construction, 1:18.

Every time I see shit like this, I'm so thankful I live in a Brownstone.

They aren't making any more of them, so these ugly monsters are usually built on vacant lots or teardowns.

The arguement I suppose it whether or not you prefer a vacant lot next to a project or this thing.

I suppose I prefer the latter.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:24 PM

"the interiors look fine"??? you have got to be kidding me - the space allocated to bedrooms is literally more than twice the space devoted to living. What are these people thinking? so absurd.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:25 PM

1:15...I truly doubt that this "thing" replaced any projects. But I truly don't see how it is any more aesthetically pleasing than the PJs other than its smaller scale. Give it another 35-50 years and it will look as tawdry as any public housing in the neighborhood.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:26 PM

Oh, you whiny PS beotches! Stop sniffing your plaster dust and join the rest of the world. There are more important things than your silly little hobby.

BILLYBURG RULES!!!!!!

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:28 PM

"why are we always looking at this sort of crap on a blog named "brownstoner"?"

Because it was built in brownstone brooklyn. It's relevant.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:30 PM

Total crap. This will not sell anytime soon at those prices in that location. Lets check back on them in 3 mths to see how much the asking price has been cut by. I predict 30% what about you guys?

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:35 PM

Eyesore extraordinaire.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:38 PM

1:15...I don't think this actually replaced any projects, but I don't find it any more aesthetically pleasing than the PJs just because its new. Give this the 35-50 years that most of the public housing in the area has been around and I guarantee it will look just as tawdry.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:39 PM

is this bed stuy or crown heights?

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:47 PM

1:18 - so, don't read the posts about new buildings. brownstoner is obviously expanding to cover more real estate happenings in the gentrified (or gentrifying) areas of brooklyn.

for many people, having a nice, clean, new space is way more important than buying some old piece of crap that needs tons of work, etc... they don't care about pre war whatever.

a lot of NY'ers want to live here because they have busy, interesting lives. clearly, this is the prevailing attitude or new housing wouldn't cost so much (see manhattan psf new condo prices) or sell so quickly.

really, your opinion is just that. it's pointless for you to even express it. who, exactly, are you speaking to? to the others who share your point of view? what if the majority of brownstoner posters shared, your view, who cares? it's not relevant to what's going on in the city right now in terms of development.

maybe try to look at this from another perspective, you may get some insight.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:47 PM

almost $700/ sqft is way too much for this area

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:49 PM

Everyone's so critical. OK, so let's say you're looking for a 1-br apartment in Brooklyn and you can afford up $272,000. This is "crap" and an "e-waste"(?). So what should you buy at that price point?

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:50 PM

Because we all have to get off on something -- looking down our noses at others does the trick for a lot of us.

Seriously, I am the most pretentious, snobby architecture fetishizer our there, but this doesn't look so bad. At all.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:50 PM

The photo is wrong. The photos above are from that really skinny building on Fulton. The post refers to the new development on Lafayette. Just a heads up.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 1:56 PM

Spraypaint an "Intel Inside" logo on the side and 1:11's vision is complete.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 2:26 PM

This is much closer to the price point I'm looking at than anything else I've seen on this blog recently. But - those kitchens are awful. Why would they put such *huge* shiny appliances in a tiny kitchen? A buyer who doesn't need much kitchen space is probably not going to need an enormous stove or family-sized refrigerator.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 2:51 PM

2:47...

actually the ONE thing i can say for sure about my brownstone, is that it's solid.

it's the best feature of the house, in fact.

you ain't seen wonky floors and mismatched moldings, floors and sheetrock corners, till you've been inside something like these new places going up.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 2:54 PM

I have to say, I can compromise on a lot of things, but I would most definitely want a living room. The 2BR layouts are truly bizarre.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 2:56 PM

wow. those 2 br layouts are bizarre! there is no living room. amazing what they're trying to get away with.

also, the bedrooms in the 1 br layouts is 7'-9" wide. doesn't that mean it's not legally a bedroom?

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 3:07 PM

$272k for a one bedroom condo, even though its a small one bedroom, isnt a bad deal considering the proximity to Pratt and the low maintenence.

the higher priced units are ridiculous though.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 3:23 PM

On the plus side, very close to the historic Cash Money Brothers district...

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nye/pr/2005/2005jul19.html

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 3:46 PM

THIS IS BED-STUY AND OVERPRICED.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 4:12 PM

This building would be worth buying into if it were in Park Slope. Park Slope is the best place in the world.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 4:14 PM

Aren't these much more psf than the pre-war co-op that was apartment of the day yesterday? Does the difference in maintenance balance out the equation? That apartment was overlooking Prospect Park, had a true kitchen, LR and DR.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 4:39 PM

I heard superman was really from park slope

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 4:41 PM

As an earlier poster said this is bed stuy not clinton hills and the prices are way too high. lets check back on these in 3 months and see how much they are reduced by.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 4:49 PM

Like it or not this condo is as DHIC as the David Salle house on Hanson Pl in FG. Look, we don't live in the past century. Move forward and be on the cutting edge.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 4:53 PM

"... because there will so many of them and they are all exactly the same." The same can be said of the brownstone houses in Brooklyn too. As other posters pointed out, not all brownstones are solid and likewise not all contemporary buildings are craptastic. This one blows though.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 5:45 PM

so insulting that this broker would call this the center of historic clinton hill. perhaps she hasn't seen the mansions on clinton or washington avenues. this location is not very nice and i live in the neighborhood. there is a bus stop right there and as mentioned, the view leaves much to be desired. the prices on the two bedrooms is ridiculous.

Posted by: guest at January 10, 2008 5:58 PM

What about the tiny bedroom? If you look at the floorplans and pics, you'll see that the bed is practically backed up agains the air conditioner. Now that's planning.

Posted by: guest at January 11, 2008 12:22 AM

There's a fair amount of drug traffic in the projects directly across the street from this building, and the fact that the 88th Precinct is around the corner on Classon hasn't done much to diminish that (there was once a gun battle in the projects in which most of the windows of the 88th were shot out). Granted, that kind of activity is a lot less frequent in 2008, and there are now pricey lofts on Taffe Place about a block away. But having lived in Clinton Hill for a couple decades, I would absolutely not move myself or my family into this location, whether new construction or a brownstone. There are plenty of safer areas in both Clinton Hill and Bed Stuy.

Posted by: guest at January 11, 2008 7:13 AM

Does anyone know what's going on with the lot next to 424 Lafayette St?

I saw the apts at 424, and thought the 1 br's, though small, were pretty decent for the price, especially the ones facing the back. Not as shoddy as some new constructions, and the finishes are definitely a few notches above the typical renovations you'd find in a prewar in this price range. So yes...I'm thinking about it!

But my main concerns were with safety on that particular block, and with what they were putting up next door. Right now it's a huge pit, with a few girders sticking up. It's a big lot, at least 5 brownstones wide. If it's condos, great, that could really change the dynamic on that block. But the broker thought it was zoned for something commercial ???

Posted by: guest at January 11, 2008 4:09 PM

I also saw the condos and agree with 4:09, construction and finishes are definitely above average. They are small and I'm not wild about the window AC units, but overall pretty nice. I bet the 1BRs sell but the 2BRs need a price chop before they get any action.

Regarding the lot next door, according to Property Shark the former building was a medical office but the current owner is listed as "Lafson Housing LLC", so it will likely be housing of some sort.

Posted by: guest at January 11, 2008 11:32 PM

Thank you 11:32! I was wonder if I was missing something, with all this kvetching re 'craptastic' new construction.

For the small sf that it is, the 1brs were reasonably laid out, imho. And the storage room that comes with the units saves a few bucks on what you'd shell out in storage rental, good for all the stuff you have you don't want to look at all the time, (a real killjoy in a small space), and a nice place to stash your bike. A real functional perk in this price range, vs. the horizontal shower jets, which are perhaps a bit over the top.

I went by again this evening, and the block feels ok to me. Nowhere near as sketchy my first apt in NYC in the early 90's, where they found a woman's body hacked up in pieces and packed into 2 hefty bags on the steps of my subway stop, and shut down the local bodega for illegal cockfighting in the basement. That apt was on the corner of Fulton & S. Oxford, and look at that corner now. Aaah...good times.

Posted by: guest at January 12, 2008 4:18 AM

I went by the open house for this building today. the exterior of this building is absolutely hideous!!! the design is severe and out of place (and the industrial gray paint doesnt help matters). the interior of the one-bedrooms are okay but small. the layout for the two-bedrooms are ludicrous! gigantic master bedroom in the back with another tiny bedroom in the front, and no living room! i can not believe the asking price for the two bedrooms are in the mid $600 range. these units will not sell at this asking price, which puts the buyers for the 1 bedrooms at considerable risk.

Posted by: guest at January 13, 2008 7:57 PM

I also went to the open house today. The bldg is hardly hideous. Hideous is all those cheapo Fedders monstrosities sprinkled liberally east of there. I find this design interesting on a block with lots of mixed architecture. It will also be interesting to see what goes up next door.

As for the 2 bedrooms, I agree that they're overpriced, but the other problem is they're marketing them as 2 bedrooms. If they billed them as "floorthru lofts +1" or something with the large bedroom as a living/loft space and the front room as a bedroom or office, it would make more sense.

Posted by: guest at January 14, 2008 12:18 AM