« Development watch: Hello Living Complex Continues to Rise House of the Day: 72 Middagh Street »
February 7, 2008
Condos of the Day: 10 South Oxford Street
We bet there will plenty of interest in the latest brownstone condo conversion in Fort Greene despite the fact that the finishes aren't doing it for us. Why? The location. This one's at 10 South Oxford Street, just steps from the park. The three upper floor-through units are all listed as having 950 square feet (though we suspect that includes the public hallway) and are asking from $750,000 to $800,000; the lower duplex is asking $1,550,000. As for the finishes, we just don't care for the "new traditional" look. Give us the old stuff, warts and all, or a modern reno that's got some teeth. This stuff in the middle is just kinda blah.
10 South Oxford Condominiums [Brooklyn Properties] GMAP P*Shark
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/3742
Comments
The photo Brownstoner posted might be stripped of details, but other photos from the development have beautiful moldings and an antique fireplace mantle. Perhaps they're just mid-way through adding details in the building?
If someone did buy the unit without the details, it's really not hard to add them. Easy. I think I'd actually rather choose my own moldings and fireplace. Like I'd rather go find a cool salvage fireplace mantle than use a new repro one.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 12:43 PM
Another browndo. Cool!
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 12:51 PM
I agree with 12:43. There's worse.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 12:56 PM
The "Euro" kitchens look completely out of place.
I think these are really high on a dollar per square foot basis.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:00 PM
Junk.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:01 PM
overpriced. lets check back on these in a few mths. i say 20% reduction
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:02 PM
Oh so sad. Such a great block, and to have to walk into what's basically dorm quality garbage. They actually took a photo of the microwave. Priceless.
I'm especially revolted by the shit they did to the fireplaces. Did they actually tile them with what looks like home depot limestone tile? The big mantel (one of the first photos) actually looks like it's floating off the ground. Totally mutilated.
I really wish that some decent architects would get in on the conversion/development game, instead of these smalltime hacks.New york has so many talented designers who do beautiful work on shoestring budgets. Why are flippers always (or for the most part) so damn tasteless?
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:08 PM
Oh My Goodness! look at those awful aluminum bronze windows & the over the top moldings & that Fireplace with the weird floor Oh My Goodness Get a clue on the current trend this is no tit
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:11 PM
With 20% down and rates @ 6% these floorthru condos will cost you $4,183.00 per month(with maintenance & taxes).
Thats insane!! Why would anyone buy a floorthru for $4200/month when they can rent similar floorthru for less than $2500/month, saving themselves $20K every year?
This is a great example of why renting is better than buying.
--It's a Wrap
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:14 PM
Its a wrap
What blog is going to say anything is worth it now? Sooooo obvious.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:17 PM
This is bad. I think I would prefer no details to these "details". The fireplace mantels are hideous, and one old one just does not match the decor.Did you notice a piece of crown molding between parlor floor doors. Icky!
I do not think an architect has been involved in these interiors, besides filing the job at DOB. This is a contractor/developer "special".
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:21 PM
Kitchens are Ikea. And it should be criminal to charge thise prices for a pretty basic renovation.
Also, what's with the crappy name of these condos? Either eliminate the name, or perhaps go to Landor or some other branding company to get a good name.
I personally would recommend:
I (heart) Puppies Condos
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:21 PM
Could be worse (except that limestone fireplace surround, which couldn't), but it's always sad to see what was a glorious brownstone reduced to white boxes with exposed brick. That light fixture on the ceiling pretty neatly sums up the developer's tone-deafness on taste.
Still, amazing hood, amazing block, nice facade, steps from the park.
Posted by: Rehab at February 7, 2008 1:24 PM
A light fixture is changed in 5 minutes.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:35 PM
Agreed, the renovation is really leaving me limp.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:39 PM
How many newby yuppies does it take to change a light fixture?
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:40 PM
Answer is 4, 1:40.
First the architect has to choose the light fixture and submit the plan to the DOB and LPC.
Then the contractor has to hire an electrician.
Then the electrician replaces the fixture.
Then everyone on Brownstoner has to comment on it and say it's "out of context".
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 1:44 PM
Does anyone know who's behind this scam?
BTW: It's not 950 sq feet. How did they calculate that? I hope they're not using the envelope of the house as their calculating criteria -- that's only done if you're buying an entire building. When you buy a condo, the sq footage is based on the interior living space ONLY. Which, by my calculation, only comes to about 750 sq feet. So that brings the cost to over $1000 a sq foot. Brooklyn heights prices.
Now I'm the first to say that Ft Greene is way more appealing and attractive than brooklyn heights ever was or will be, but it can't come close to BH prices.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 2:05 PM
Who still thinks exposed brick is classy? Didn't that go out in 1979?
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 2:05 PM
1.55M for the lower duplex??? That is absolutely INSANE. That's actually more expensive than the Heights, and is the price of recent sales of just about any three-story townhouse in a comparable neighborhood.
In this market? Good luck, kids. Hope you didn't take out a big mortgage...
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 2:09 PM
btw, there isn't plenty of interest in these places-- they've been on the market for months. If they lowered the prices (especially on the duplex), they'd probably get more traffic, or at least an offer or two.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 2:21 PM
I lived next door to this place for over five years. This reno took almost as long. Clearly, some issues with the contractor/developer. It looks like someone finished the job on the cheap. The 'hood is amazing, but clearly it's no longer for people like me working in the non-for-profit sector.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 2:26 PM
These seems a good bit overpriced, even when accounting for the location and the renovation.
Those 950 sq ft places should be in the upper 6's rather than 700's or even 800's. Not to mention these aren't 950 sq ft.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 2:31 PM
More like a 'con-stone' 12:51.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 2:47 PM
@ 1:08-
Architects don't have enough money to buy and reno a brownstone and flippers / developers are too cheap to hire a good one.
but if you've got a place that needs a good reno, HIRE ME! i'll do it.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 2:52 PM
2:52, I do think that Brownstoner should do an architect profile, especially for small-scale work like this. Maybe it would entice some of the flippers out there to get professional help (pun intended).
I know that architects don't have the money to do an entire flip themselves, but perhaps if several companies got together and formed a development branch, invested into each project as a group and reaped the benefits as a group, they could afford it?
I'll let you know when I'm in the market for a gut reno. building.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 2:59 PM
i think these places look pretty good.
Posted by: z at February 7, 2008 3:06 PM
2:52 here.
I blame it on HG TV, A&E, and the like.
Design is easy! Construction is easy!
Put in a granite countertop, some beige tiles, beige walls, "stainless" fixtures, and let the money rain down upon you.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 3:12 PM
i thought i understood what "new traditional" meant, but if this is it, then i'm confused. doesn't it mean adding new-but-cheap looking elements like gold-tone door handles and soffits with mouldings? this condo looks rather like they added lots of mismatched fixtures and materials and suburban touches, which to me is not the same thing.
more generally, while i don't love "new traditional," having lived through a costly renovation of an older home, i wonder what mr. b would suggest for someone renovating without deep pockets. sleek and modern is hard and super expensive and often nearly impossible to do right in renovated townhouses. it seems we either go into debt for fashion, or we let our kids eat lead paint and inhale crumbling window mouldings.
Posted by: i disagree at February 7, 2008 3:47 PM
the duplex would be better if you put the bedrooms downstairs and the living space on the parlour level. i live in a condo with this configuration, and it's great. light on the main floor, cooler and darker on the bedroom floor. because of our construction, we were lucky to have significant windows and in the master, a patio door too, so that helps.
i think the psf is too high. if you were interested in this space, have it crazy inspected. if the guts pan out, offer close to $650 psf, and change the decorating as you go. paint, door handles and light fixtures don't strike me as a big deal (or any wood work either).
i personally am not a fan of the area, so i would never pay this price. that to me is more of a turn off than the actual interiors.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 5:23 PM
Very tacky indeed. Sure, much of this can be changed/improved -- but at these prices, why would you want to spend more redoing the ugliness? And the fireplaces are not only hideous, but one wonders if they are up to code? Unless they are only meant to be decorative.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 5:32 PM
"i disagree": the kind of money these people are asking for, you'd think that they DID renovate it with "deep pockets". This has nothing to do with money. This has to do with Knowing What You're Doing. You know, basic professionalism. If you're tasteless, higher a designer. If you're not a contractor, don't try to be one. (Like someone else said earlier, this isnt HGTV this is reality).
You wanted a suggestion, you got it. Just look at this Brooklyn Heights beauty:
http://corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=1180830
That house was bought for 2.5m as a rundown shack and is back on the market looking terrific for just under 3m. That's a slim profit margin (if any), and therefore proof of how much you can do on a very meager budget. It just takes brains.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 5:58 PM
TheGrammarLady’s back!
These apartments, indeed, are rather unfortunate looking. They are not terrible as starter apartments but, yes, the asking prices are too high.
I wondered for years when this house would be sold and renovated. I think it had absolutely original windows on the parlor floor (maybe other floors...I never looked closely enough). It was quaint but the façade was really getting shabby.
There used to be an almost picturesque sheet metal valance over the ground floor entry that got very ramshackle. Rather amusing.
Well, yes, I was curious too so looked at the website. The interiors look too beige and to even approach their asking prices, they would have had to have put in top of the line bathrooms and kitchens, etc.
FG/TGL
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 6:13 PM
I suspect 10. So. Oxford is a classic case of someone getting in too far above their head in terms of the mortgage, and trying to make up the difference by overcharging for the post-renovation space.
Reminds me of those ghastly places on 3rd Street in Carroll Gardens that Corcoran recently took over after they've been languishing on the market for upwards of six months.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 6:19 PM
OMG did I really spell "hire" as "higher"? sorry people.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 6:30 PM
It's a classic case of someone who should've kept their day job and not ventured into a new career without at least a cursory knowledge of what they were doing.
Hubris is so destructive.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 6:43 PM
it is so beige
Posted by: guest at February 8, 2008 9:10 AM
The Landmark Estates at 122 Ft. Greene Place are coming online March 1. Get ready because these four condos have been created with incredible compassion and attention to detail. The developer (me) preserved every possible traditional element and modernized the rest. If you read Living Etc. and Dwell every month you will love this development.
Check out Brooklynproperties.com soon!
Posted by: guest at February 9, 2008 11:10 AM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.