Sign up for the Brownstoner daily email
« Heights Brownstone Portfolio Changes Hands Rentals of the Day: The Standish Hits the Market »

October 6, 2008

Sales: Turner Towers Spread Gets Full Asking Price

135-Eastern-Parkway-10c-Sold.jpg
We thought it looked pretty good at the time and, evidently, so did one buyer (that's all it takes, after all): The 2,800-square-foot prewar apartment on the 10th floor of 135 Eastern Parkway just closed for the full asking price of $1,700,000, according to StreetEasy. (The ACRIS link is here.) Interestingly, the buyers are moving from 1042 Fifth Avenue at 85th Street — in Manhattan! Either that, or someone's got some very generous parents. That's the same building where Edgar Bronfman recently sold a $21 million apartment.
Co-op of the Day: 135 Eastern Parkway, #10C [Brownstoner]
135 Eastern Parkway [Stribling] GMAP P*Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:32 AM | Comments (23)
Categories: Prospect Heights, Sales

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/6521

Comments

I predict that a handful of the smart wealthy people in Manhattan would consider selling their 5, 10 and 20 million dollar places and trading them in for 1, 2 and 3 million dollar places in the prime areas of Brooklyn.

That's assuming they can sell, of course.

Posted by: 11217 at October 6, 2008 11:36 AM

And let's hope they don't need to sell these "prime" Brooklyn properties within the next 5 years.

Posted by: 7andfive at October 6, 2008 11:50 AM

This is a huge prewar apartment for $600 a foot. Seems reasonable to me.

Posted by: itsagas at October 6, 2008 11:53 AM

Not sure how many people bought "prime" properties in Brooklyn to sell in 5 years. I think the overwhelming majority of the people who bought homes in Brooklyn were looking to spend some time and raise a family. I think it's the new condos in the fringe areas that will take a larger hit. Notice I said larger...I do think the prime areas could suffer also.

Just as has been the case in Phoenix, Los Angeles and other hard hit areas. The good housing stock closest to the city centers have held up much better than the new construction crap built out in Casa Grande, AZ or Riverside, CA.


Posted by: 11217 at October 6, 2008 12:01 PM

If they are fortunate enough to sell a place in the city for 10 to 20 million and they get a place in Brooklyn for 1 to 2 million, I wouldn't think that it would be much of a problem if they decided to leave within 5 years. Even if they couldn't sell the Brooklyn place, they would probably be able to just move anyway and still maintain their unsold apartment.

Posted by: Just Wondering at October 6, 2008 12:02 PM

Not everyone buying in Brooklyn is selling a place for 10-20 million in Manhattan. Most are selling places for way under 10mil- still a lot of money.

I have friends that sold a place on the UWS for 2.5mil earlier this year. They're now renting but want to buy in Brooklyn when the market settles. I think they are the typical prime Brooklyn market- people that sold for a lot of money but never had the money in the first place to buy a ridiculously expensive place that would sale for 20mil now.

Posted by: 7andfive at October 6, 2008 12:07 PM

I do not disagree with you 7andfive but I was responding to 11217's first post about a hypothetical sale in Manhattan for 10-20 million and a subsequent purchase for 1-2 million.

Posted by: Just Wondering at October 6, 2008 12:13 PM

It's the parents, of course. No one moves from 1042 5th to Turner Towers.

Posted by: shillstoner at October 6, 2008 12:14 PM

I was just saying that maybe there are some people who would be open to it. Of course, many owners of such properties would never consider Brooklyn, but I think that's changing for some. Who knows...you could live off the proceeds and have a very nice life here in Brooklyn. Makes financial sense for someone looking to scale back his/her life.

You will see in my Miriam post that I had two really hard core Manhattanites out to PS for brunch yesterday. ALL they talked about was how they wanted to move out here...they commented that the men are hotter, the stores were cuter, the people were nicer and that it was greener and prettier.

Even though the economy is in the toilet, it doesn't change the fact that there are some really spectacular things about Brooklyn, and some people as they tire of Manhattan will consider it more and more, I believe.

Posted by: 11217 at October 6, 2008 12:22 PM

yeah SS, if someone was to move from 5th Ave to Brooklyn they'd go to BH, CH, or maybe PS. Not Eastern Parkway.

Posted by: denton at October 6, 2008 12:42 PM

it's probably parents. but it's far from impossible that a rich buyer is downsizing but still interested in being steps away from major cultural institutions, like parks, museums, libraries, etc. and i find it totally possible that this hypothetical person would pick this renovated prewar on eastern parkway over many PS alternatives, which tend to be new construction and/or unrenovated prewars at this size and price range.

Posted by: i disagree at October 6, 2008 1:32 PM

It's also totally possible that this hypothetical person will be spotted riding their unicorn in Prospect Park.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at October 6, 2008 1:35 PM

and you, following, eating what they leave behind.

Posted by: i disagree at October 6, 2008 1:42 PM

My friend got hit in the face with a unicorn balloon yesterday on 5th avenue. Coincidence?? I think not...

Posted by: 11217 at October 6, 2008 1:43 PM

I'll take a stab at this one:

It's a rent controlled tenant (probably a son or daughter with cleared succession rights) taking a huge buyout from the 5th avenue building's co-op board and hastily buying a place that reminds them of home.

It's certainly not uncommon for buyouts to reach those kind of numbers and often they come with high pressure to move by a certain date.

Just a guess.

Posted by: manofelt at October 6, 2008 1:47 PM

"and you, following, eating what they leave behind."

To quote the great Pee-Wee Herman, "That's so funny, I forgot to laugh."

Posted by: SnarkSlope at October 6, 2008 1:50 PM

Who the hell knows, but if I had a 15M plus apartment, I'd sell it, buy a nice little 3-4M place in the slope, and have the extra 12M plus to invest, spend, whatever. There's no way I'd buy on Eastern Parkway. But you never know.

Posted by: shillstoner at October 6, 2008 1:54 PM

"There's no way I'd buy on Eastern Parkway"


Some of the most expensive apartments ever sold in Brooklyn have been at On Prospect Park on Eastern Parkway.

Posted by: 11217 at October 6, 2008 2:04 PM

If I had that kind of money I would prefer Eastern Pkwy to Park Slope or 5th Avenue. I am not a Slopehater and I do frequent Park Slope for things that are not available to me in Ditmas Park, but being near the Library, Museum and Garden on a grand boulevard complete with a service road trumps Park Slope in my book.

Posted by: Chaka at October 6, 2008 3:22 PM

Brownstoner:

Having grown up in Crown Heights during the 1950s (and yes, this part of Eastern Parkway is in Crown Heights, whatever the marketing moniker "Prospect Heights"), I'm happy to see buildings along the street making a comeback.

A wag once said: In a just world, Eastern Parkway would be its city's best address.

That probably still won't happen, but an apartment like this -- on a high floor with views over surrounding rooftops -- can certainly compete with Manhattan offerings, if not on Fifth Avenue then certainly on West End and Riverside Drive (and all the side streets between), where places of similar size sell at a multiple of 1.7 mil.

No doubt there's going to be a dip in the market (a pre-war, floor-through apartment in my own Manhattan building just had a 10-percent cut in sales price), but for the long term, Eastern Parkway is as good a place to buy in Brooklyn as anywhere, especially in the vicinity of 135 and "On Prospect Park," the latter spreading a prestige premium on adjacent blocks in a manner similar to River House on the Upper East Side.

In 10 to 15 years -- and that's not an unreasonable amount of time to live in an apartment, if it's a place to live and not speculate -- the parkway from Nostrand Avenue to the Plaza will have re-established itself as prime property.

Buy and hold.

Nostalgic on Park Avenue

Posted by: NOP at October 6, 2008 3:46 PM

It's probably a crash pad for some upper east teen who is at a private school in Brooklyn. Yes, there is at least one member of the 21MM clan in a borough private school.

Posted by: superstooper at October 6, 2008 4:03 PM

On Prospect Park is on Plaza Street, not Eastern Parrkway. And people will move to a Meir regardless of its location. That is hardly relevant.

Posted by: shillstoner at October 6, 2008 4:17 PM

Shillstoner (4.17pm):

On Prospect Park not relevant to Eastern Parkway?

As a Manhattan co-op owner, I was only too happy to see an extremely expensive condominium open on my street several blocks from me. (Condos, as a rule, are pricier than co-ops, because they're easier to buy and sell.)

Why? It becomes what realtors call a "comp" lifting the value of most buildings in the vicinity. It also represents neighborhood investment on the part of people willing to pay a premium to live in the area.

Personally, I don't like the building (not my style) and the jury's still out on On Prospect Park, as far as I'm concerned. But I bet lots of people at the Copley Plaza, 135, the Traymore, and the Woodrow Wilson -- and their realtors -- are only too happy to have it nearby.

NOP

Posted by: NOP at October 6, 2008 4:49 PM

Post a comment

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

Latest Restaurant Additions