« The Times on Deconstruction Curtains for Whole Foods? »

September 29, 2008

Sales Begin at The Steelworks Loft

steelworks.jpg
The Steelworks Loft, at 76 North 4th Street in Williamsburg, released five units for sale last week, ranging from a $575,000 studio to an $895,000 one-bedroom. It's a 1930s industrial building (well, that much you know from the name), with 88 units. Big bonus seems to be the roof, where they've got an open fire pit and a movie screen. Rough time to be releasing units; how do you think they'll do?
Steelwork Lofts Coming Down the Pipe [Brownstoner]




Posted by lisa at 10:05 AM | Comments (23)
Categories: Sales, Williamsburg

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/6453

Comments

I'm generally not a fan of new condos but these look really, really nice. Who's the architect?

Posted by: This Aint No Disco at September 29, 2008 10:06 AM

575K for a studio! Not in this market.

Posted by: 7andfive at September 29, 2008 10:25 AM

They did a really nice job on these. I love the choices they made.

I can't speak to the price but if I were in the market for a condo I'd be interested in them.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at September 29, 2008 10:27 AM

Rentals in a month!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 29, 2008 10:40 AM

Is it walking distance to shul?

Posted by: Inigo at September 29, 2008 10:55 AM

Kind of like arriving at the bar after last call, no?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at September 29, 2008 11:00 AM

I know it's just semantics, but a "Classic Loft" is not 13'-6" X 42'-8". That's a classic bowling alley. Some of the other verbiage is also bizarre. "Made by Williamsburg's Finest." Do they mean the good men and women of the nine-oh? I do, however, like it when the finishes in loft conversions actually look like a loft.

Posted by: altervoce at September 29, 2008 11:10 AM

Looks nice. I'd guess only slight reductions.

Posted by: FatLenny at September 29, 2008 11:22 AM

To each their own. This looks awful to me. trendy design that will be out in two years. I suppose Williamsburg is hot for the under 35 crowd. I'm not the demographic they are aiming for.

Posted by: Inigo at September 29, 2008 12:24 PM

Well according to your previous post they bought the building for 26,000,000 and with 96 units the average cost was 276,042 a unit. A studio starting at 575,000 means this is way overpriced...

Posted by: Dora Chica at September 29, 2008 12:32 PM

You have to factor in the construction and carrying costs.

I'm assuming they built these to make a profit no?

Posted by: TownhouseLady at September 29, 2008 12:34 PM

They've adapted to recent market trends by offering mostly 1 bed and studios. The building itself looks great but there's something not quite right about the tacked on luxury design. The cinema on the roof feels like a gimmick. This doesn't look as good as the Smith Grey, Gretsch or Esquire Building. The authenticity seems to have been lost. Will probably sell however. Though the building appears a long way from even starting construction.

Posted by: Mr name at September 29, 2008 12:37 PM

wow these would be great for those young wallstreet execs. Oh wait. They're all unemployed or soon will be. These would be great for young unemployed hipsters who have the 5% down and can pay the interest only for a couple years. Oh wait. Those loans can't be found anymore. These would be great for the average new yorker working blue collar jobs. 20% down plus closing costs would be easy for them to get. Oh wait, that's over $120k and they've spent their savings on food and utilities and the mta. These would make great rentals. Lots of new unsold properties will soon be on the foreclosure block. Reckoning time is here. What would these have sold for in 1998? That's about what they will be worth this time next year. Any suckers want to jump into real estate now?

Posted by: wburghipstersaredirty at September 29, 2008 12:48 PM

wburghipstersaredirty - I'm bearish about the current market, as anyone who follows my posts knows, but to predict prices will hit 1998 levels seems unrealistic to me. People still need a place to live, and inventory is relatively low (well, maybe it's higher on smaller apartments in which case they will suffer more). NYC will surely suffer, and prices will surely go down, but there will still be many people who do have jobs, that are decently paid, and they will still buy real estate. Prices falling to 1998 levels would constitute quite a crash, and I think what's more likely is a significant softening but the demographics of the city will probably help us avoid an all-out crash. As for the desirability of this particular condo building, hard for me to say as it's very different than what we've been looking for (small townhouse or larger family sized apt in hood with great schools).

Posted by: Miss Muffett at September 29, 2008 1:08 PM

I'd take the penthouse...just to have level floors! No, but seriously, the artist renderings look great. What will this look like in reality? And, I agree, the look will seem dated...at least the bathrooms. They should have gone "green" and really pulled out all the stops. Would have been doable with a building like this...especially since there are no landmarking issues.

Ultimately, they're going to have to lower their asking prices to get interest going.

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at September 29, 2008 1:10 PM

What is the doormen's desk made of? Scrap metal? I think it is a nice look for an advertising agency or a gallery, but for home sweet home? How many hipsters have the scratch to pay for this faux-industrial luxury?
We have come a long way from when "loft" meant large cheap space in Manhattan. Now it means small expensive space in Brooklyn. No wonder everything is imploding.

Posted by: sam at September 29, 2008 1:17 PM

There are tons of assumptions about williamsburg buyers stated here that are just off. One is that the wall street guys have been buying here. they aren't. Also, it's not the under 35 or hipster set that buys everything either. In fact, I doubt that hipsters buy much of anything.

From all anecdotal evidence, i think that the swing to smaller apartments is a mistake. Big apartments are selling well. Think that in Williamsburg (like elsewhere) that families are the big buyers and many are mid 30's or older. In fact, many of the owners in my condo building are over 40.

100 N. 3rd sold out and people already moved in (have friends that bought there). Appears that they were successful because they offered several family sized apartments. My friends (who are over 35 and have a kid) said that every one of their neighbors who they've met have children.


The neighborhood is viable and has a great long term outlook regardless of this economy simply because of it's proximity to Manhattan. Obviously, the neighborhood (especially prime - mid/north + west of the BQE) is also built up with tons of amenities. Also, and this is very important to a lot of people, there are no ghetto areas, no projects, and is gentrifying at a staggering rate (in the prime areas). It's the far south and east that have the issues. Prime Williamsburg is simply not going to go backwards at this point.

Another plus is that many of the new condo projects are zoned for the grade school PS17 which is highly rated.


Posted by: wine lover at September 29, 2008 1:48 PM

Townhouse Lady,

Of course they are there to make a profit but a studio at 575,00 is at the low end of the prices. and the avergae unit is price cost was 250,000. the lowest studio price is more than double the average cost price which means taht the average price is actually probably three or more times the cost. Which sorry makes it way way way way way way way way way way overpriced. No matter how you try to spin it it is overpriced.

Posted by: Dora Chica at September 29, 2008 1:50 PM

I'm squeamish about this part of williamsburg. so much toxic waste. Wasn't the infamous Radiac Corporation nearby on Kent Avenue? I mean that operation handled uranium and plutonium radoactive waste -with a state license!
Dunno, this is too much money to spend to have to worry about toxic stuff leeching up from the wine cellar.

Posted by: sam at September 29, 2008 2:19 PM

Can we talk about the firepit? On the roof? Is that even legal?

Posted by: Heather at September 29, 2008 3:38 PM

dora chica - how many sq. feet is the studio? i can't get on to the website. that's all that's relevant - the psf pricing.
very little in that area is below $650 psf. obviously who knows where the market will land after the recent events.


sam - what are the health stats surrounding that area? is it any worse than anywhere else? i had read in the past that the data on actual cancer rates showed williamsburg and greenpoint to be some of the lowest in brooklyn. hearing that whole foods cannot build because of the delays caused by the toxicity of the gowanus area - is the gowanus area worse?

Posted by: wine lover at September 29, 2008 4:41 PM

wine lover
I think you may be misinformed on two important counts. While many r.e. professionals say things like "only the price per square foot is relevant" most people do not buy property that way. besides, square foot measurements are notoriously mendacious in NYC.

secondly, williamsburg and greenpoint as rather infamous for toxic waste. evidently, one of the largest oil spills in history occurred there and the oil is still trapped in underground voids all over the area. The radioactive waste operation was open for business until very recently. It may be nothing, but I worry.

Posted by: sam at September 29, 2008 5:07 PM

Wine lover is generally right - in addition to there being a lot of families looking for decent sized housing in the area, its going to be harder and harder for singles to swing the down payment at these prices (six months ago, the Times and others noted the lack of qualifying applicants in this demographic - can't imagine that its gotten better).

And Sam, Radiac is still open (about 6 blocks away from here). Unfortunately, if there is an accident there (which probably would not be nuclear in nature - they only handle low level stuff, and the other stuff they handle is actually much scarier), much of lower Manhattan would be uninhabitable as well (not to mention Clinton Hill and Ft. Greene and everything else in the path of the prevailing winds). The oil spill, on the other hand, is a few miles away, and is not seeping into "voids all over the area" (partially because its really far away and partially because the geology of this area doesn't allow for a lot of voids). You can look up a map of the Mobil oil spill.

Posted by: WBer at September 29, 2008 11:52 PM

Post a comment

Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.

Latest Restaurant Additions