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April 21, 2008
House of the Day: 58 6th Avenue
Character matters (as does the Atlantic Yards Effect). By all statistical measures, the four-story brick house at 58 6th Avenue should have found a buyer by now. After buying the house for $250,000 (typo? family transaction?) a year ago, the new owner put it back on the market for $1,850,000 last July, where it sat for eight months. In early March the price was cut to $1,795,000 and in late March again to $1,695,000. More than a proximity to Ratner-land, the problem in our opinion is the renovation. It's got a bad case of personality disorder. As we've harped on again and again, a renovation that goes half-way to modern is likely to result in a house with no soul. No one (or at least anyone with any taste) wants to live in a mish-mash of architectural vernaculars. The seller better hope there's someone out there looking to relocate from a McMansion in the burbs.
58 6th Avenue [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
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Comments
I sure hope the new townhouse listing with a garage on Prospect Park West will be a HOTD some time this week...
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 1:39 PM
I sure hope the new townhouse listing with a garage on Prospect Park West will be a HOTD some time this week...
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 1:39 PM
Keep on cutting, baby. This was a developer who didn't know his target market.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 1:40 PM
perfect example of a house where the owner would have made more $$$ by selling for less with NO reno than by investing $ for a lame reno with a little higher selling price.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 1:46 PM
FIX THE SERVER!!!
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 1:52 PM
agreed, 1:46. i also don't think this is really that great a block either. not a lot of curb appeal. that building to the left leaves a lot to be desired.
Posted by: scoop69 at April 21, 2008 1:54 PM
I laughed as I read the broker fiction of "steps from Prospect Park."
While that may be technically accurate, Boerum Hill is Steps from Prospect Park too, albeit 1.5 miles worth of steps.
This brings me to my point: What to Brokers really do, besides create ads, spec sheets and sit there not answering questions during an open house?
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 1:54 PM
The migration is under way right now, 1:52--hopefully done by day's end. Driving us crazy as well, believe us!
Posted by: brownstoner at April 21, 2008 1:55 PM
If Prop Shark lists a $250,000 "mortgage" - it usually means that's how much the Home Equity Loan was for.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 1:55 PM
Brown Harris should include a few more pictures of the staircase on the website. There are 3 pics of the staircase and the only other interior picture is wasted on the kitchen. I'd prefer a close up of the stairs or something of that nature.
Posted by: Brooklynnative at April 21, 2008 1:57 PM
The location is the problem. A block from the AY footprint and right across the street from the police station. The mystery goes no deeper than that.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 2:00 PM
The reno was so blah.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 2:04 PM
Bad reno, bad floorplan, bad location.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 2:09 PM
depressing renovation + less-than-ideal location.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 2:39 PM
isn't that still an unpleasant part of the neighborhood ?
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 3:08 PM
yes. a far cry from prime park slope, or prime prospect heights for that matter.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 4:09 PM
Living here, you will hear the cheers of the fans at basketball games.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 4:28 PM
"No one with any taste wants to live in a mish-mash of architectural vernaculars..."
That's not only bad grammar, it also not true. I have great taste and I'd live in a house with this kind of renovation... if I got a good deal on it. A prime Brooklyn brownstone is still a prime Brooklyn brownstone... but a brownstone with beautiful restored period details is that much more, and should command a price premium. The problem is when you try to charge a premium when the details aren't there and the reno sucks.
This house has a blah reno, but for the right price I'd still take it if that was the only problem. The more egregious problem here is the location, right across from the police station and down the block from the soon-to-be arena. After all, you can re-do a renovation, but you can't pick up and move the house you buy.
There are some nice things about the house: two baths in each unit is pretty rare for a double duplex. (Maybe it was converted from a 4-family?) And it's centrally located - an easy walk to Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, Boerum Hill or Park Slope.
I bet it moves at $1.6M...ish.
Posted by: sdrubbins at April 21, 2008 5:20 PM
The basketball games on the courts between Dean and Bergen, probably so. The nevergonnahappen stadium not so much.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 5:20 PM
Living here, you will hear the juvenile laughter and threatening yells of the adrenaline-hyped cops across the street.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 5:24 PM
Good bagels around the corner at Bergen Bagel. That should add at least #200k to the price, right?
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 5:36 PM
Speaking of good bagels, anyone know where to get some? Everything lately are just rolls with holes. No density, lots of air, and puffed up like its a good thing. Can't seem to get a good bagel in Brooklyn anymore. Short of some these over priced brick oven places (some are pretty good) the pizza sucks too.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 6:32 PM
I bought a toasted bagel at Bergen Bagels last week and it was so tough that it cut the roof of my mouth. My friend had the SAME issue a few days later. Their bagels suck. And their tuna, egg salad, etc., are all dried out and gross.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 6:42 PM
Now I've heard it. People living in Brooklyn who know where to find good bagels. Wow NY has really changed.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 9:23 PM
It's a 15-footer. Maybe that's why nobody wants it.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 10:20 PM
Agreeing with 5:20... was just about to post the similar.
"As we've harped on again and again, a renovation that goes half-way to modern is likely to result in a house with no soul. No one (or at least anyone with any taste) wants to live in a mish-mash of architectural vernaculars."
is silly. Intelligently combining new with old makes life interesting, better than living in a museum piece (new or old). House with no soul comes from thoughtlessness.
Posted by: guest at April 21, 2008 10:21 PM
I think this was a gut renovation, or it was a severely distressed building that needed a lot of work just to be habitable. It's not like it had been a charming thing with lovely details.
Posted by: harriet at April 21, 2008 11:50 PM
Harriet is correct. This house came pretty close to crumbling into the street. I'm so glad it was saved -- and from the outside it actually looks decent. Sure, the reno is less than fab but at least it's clean and fairly neutral.
And hey, no dissing Bergen Bagels. They are the greatest!
Posted by: guest at April 22, 2008 12:44 PM
Bergen Bagels are NOT the greatest. They're tolerable, but barely.
There's two kinds of good bagels, and two kinds of good pizza. There's Israel-style bagels, and puffy, doughy Brooklyn-style bagels. (Don't mean flavorless rolls-with-holes, which are the third kind, i.e. *bad* bagels.) If you want good Israel-style bagels... then go to Israel. If you want good Brooklyn-style bagels, go to either Hot Bagels on Montague St., or to La Bagel Delight in Park Slope or Fort Greene. (Don't know if the other LBD locations are as good as those one.)
Likewise, FYI, as to pizza: there is fancy sit-down restaurant brick-oven pizza, in which case you want Grimaldi's or DiFara's. But there's also walk-out, everyday, by-the-slice pizza. The best is Fascati's in Brooklyn Heights; also good is Ben's in Park Slope, Nino's in Cobble Hill, and Not Ray's in Fort Greene.
Posted by: sdrubbins at April 22, 2008 4:25 PM
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