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January 27, 2009

Last Week's Biggest Sales

1. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $3,850,000
176 State Street GMAP (left)
This 3,304-sf, one-family townhouse hit the market in April of last year, according to StreetEasy, and went into contract a couple months later. Its ad had this to say: "nicely restored with six bedrooms, three baths, a family room, and a great back yard... Because of the lovely original center stair, each room is the full width of the house, and the room proportions are wonderful...It might just be more space than you need." Entered into contract on 6/16/08; closed on 12/16/08; deed recorded on 1/21/09.

2. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $1,850,000
71 Pierrepont Street, Unit 4 GMAP (right)
A 2,501-sf, 4-bed, 4-bath duplex condo. It was initially listed for $2.585 million last March, according to StreetEasy, and there were several price cuts before someone bit. Entered into contract on 11/20/08; closed on 1/09/09; deed recorded on 1/21/09.

3. MIDWOOD $1,585,000
944 East 23rd Street GMAP
2,514-sf, single-family house, per Property Shark. Entered into contract on 9/22/08; closed on 12/23/08; deed recorded on 1/20/09.

4. PROSPECT HEIGHTS $1,527,375
On Prospect Park/1 Grand Army Plaza, Unit 2L GMAP
2-bed, 2-bath, 1,547-sf unit in the Richard Meier-designed condo. StreetEasy shows it going into contract late last February, though public records say it went into contract and sold on the same day a couple weeks ago. Entered into contract on 1/8/09; closed on 1/8/09; deed recorded on 1/21/09.

5. PROSPECT HEIGHTS $1,476,462
On Prospect Park/1 Grand Army Plaza, Unit 4D GMAP
1,477-sf, 1-bed, 1-bath unit. As with this week's other OPP sale, StreetEasy says it went into contract early last year, rather than a couple weeks ago, as public records indicate. Entered into contract on 1/9/09; closed on 1/9/09; deed recorded on 1/22/09.

Photos from Property Shark.

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Comments

One Prospect Park Sales are almost 1,000 psf, to the penny...

Someone said people have already moved in. Does anyone know if that's true? I didn't realize it was already open, so to speak.

I also noticed on the Toren website the other day, that a huge hunk of the units seems to have sold. I didn't count them, but it looked like the majority of them were in contract.

Wonder if we can have an update on the status of that building sometime soon...? I think it's the best of the new construction going up in Downtown Brooklyn, so I'm not surprised it's doing well.

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 11:40 AM

The other very interesting thing is that the Pierrepont listing had been REDUCED to $1,700,000 on 11/7, but then sold for 1,850,000.

Why would that be?? Bidding war?

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 11:44 AM

Yesterday there was a lot of carrying-on about how inconvenient living at Turner Towers would be. I think the Meier building is actually more isolated due to the traffic circle. The 2 bedroom 2 bath unit (on the second floor) for 1.5 million makes me see what a good deal yesterday's 3-bedroom, 3-bath unit for 1.1 million at the Turner really is. -it is just one more subway stop and you don't have to cross the busiest traffic circle in NY to get home.

Posted by: sam at January 27, 2009 11:52 AM

This State Street house kind of makes yesterday's HOTD price seem a bit ridiculous...

Posted by: wasder at January 27, 2009 11:53 AM

I actually agree with you, sam, even tho I wasn't a fan of the Turner building ... it seems nonetheless to be a much better deal than the Meier is.

Posted by: cwbuecheler at January 27, 2009 11:54 AM

I think comparing Turner Towers to On Prospect Park is truly comparing apples to oranges.

I don't think the buyers even probably overlap.

Those who buy in OPP most likely would never even look at Turner Towers and vice versa.

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 11:57 AM

"The 2 bedroom 2 bath unit (on the second floor) for 1.5 million makes me see what a good deal yesterday's 3-bedroom, 3-bath unit for 1.1 million at the Turner really is"

To be fair, Sam...that place did not have 3 bedrooms. One was virtually a closet.

And Turner Towers place didn't have 3 full baths...it was 2.5.

Small technicalities and I see your point, but still...

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 12:00 PM

The Heights house is a beauty, but it is not a 25-footer like the house in Cobble Hill.
In terms of the Meier Building, I think it is very attractive on the outside, but I work in a glass tower, when I go home I want to be surrounded by nice thick pre-war masonry walls. The minimalist aesthetic is easy on the eyes, but I think it is probably not that comfortable to actually live in.

Posted by: sam at January 27, 2009 12:03 PM

"The Heights house is a beauty, but it is not a 25-footer like the house in Cobble Hill." Yeah, but its a really nice center staircase house and in the "location location location" department though I would prefer Cobble Hill personally I bet that State Street block commands a higher premium.

Posted by: wasder at January 27, 2009 12:05 PM

Totally agree, Sam.

I think On Prospect Park looks beautiful from the outside actually (I know a lot of people here hate it) and I even think the view of it from the lawn in Prospect Park on a summer day is beautiful, but I would never want to live in it.

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 12:06 PM

"The 2 bedroom 2 bath unit (on the second floor) for 1.5 million makes me see what a good deal yesterday's 3-bedroom, 3-bath unit for 1.1 million at the Turner really is."

Good to see marketing works! This is why brokers inflate square footage and room counts. I think you could get a nicer 3rd bedroom out of the OPP layout that the one in Turner Towers. Plus, one is renovated and one is not. Plus, one has a 25% flip tax and one does not. Plus, one has a co-op board and one does not. 5 years down the road, I'd rather be trying to sell OPP than the TT unit.

Anyway, all this stuff looks expensive to me. Where is this damn depression I keep hearing about?

Posted by: Ringo at January 27, 2009 12:08 PM

Not sure what you mean Wasder...Sam is right, yesterday's house in Cobble Hill was wider and larger. Plus (notwithstanding the protracted argument), the block was nicer than this part of State Street, even if it is in Brooklyn Heights. I actually thought this sale would have been strong support when the owner/broker went to price the Cobble Hill house.

Posted by: NorthHeights at January 27, 2009 12:08 PM

All that might be true, NorthHeights, but State Street went to contract in June 2008, according to Streeteasy.

The difference between June 2008 and January 2009 is quite significant.

I also think this house looks younger, fresher and less formal. Probably more attractive to more buyers, I'd think.

In any case, I think it reaffirms just how crazy the 4.4 million price was on yesterday's house.

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 12:12 PM

"Not sure what you mean Wasder...Sam is right, yesterday's house in Cobble Hill was wider and larger."

Yesterday's house was 600 square feet larger overall but I highly disagree that the block was nicer (or more desirable to the uber-high end buyer) than this block of State between Clinton and Court.

Posted by: wasder at January 27, 2009 12:19 PM

"In any case, I think it reaffirms just how crazy the 4.4 million price was on yesterday's house."

11217--I vastly prefer agreeing with you than disagreeing. Glad we are on the same page on this....

Posted by: wasder at January 27, 2009 12:20 PM

176 State Street is on a 19x100 lot. While the house looks very narrow in the picture, it's not.

Posted by: bk14 at January 27, 2009 12:23 PM

can something go into contract and close on the same day?

Posted by: Santa at January 27, 2009 12:27 PM

I prefer agreeing with you too, Wasder.

By all means, if I'm proven wrong about Congress Street, so be it.

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 12:32 PM

State between Clinton and Court is not a uber-high end buyer kind of street. It feeds into Court where the big movie theater is. It's a fine block, but this house would be several hundreded thousand dollars more if it were on one of the premium streets like Garden Place or Willow Street. I'm a Heights partisan through and through, but if I was forced to choose between this block and Congress between Clinton/Court, I'd probably take Congress.

Posted by: NorthHeights at January 27, 2009 12:34 PM

"I'm a Heights partisan through and through, but if I was forced to choose between this block and Congress between Clinton/Court, I'd probably take Congress."

Depends on who you talk to I think. I had a conversation this morning with an old friend who has lived in the Heights for 20 years now and I happened to mention the back and forth yesterday about the Congress Street stuff on here. The initial reaction from him was...

"Congress...you mean the street with those 3 big ugly brick buildings on it...?

Ha. I thought it was funny considering the big debate about it yesterday.

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 12:38 PM

19 footer on State Street near Court sold for 3.8 million.
25 footer on Congress Street near Court asking 4.4 million.
I predict it will sell for 4.1.

what's the prob?

Posted by: sam at January 27, 2009 12:48 PM

True enough. Both streets have pluses and minuses. For example, this State Street house backs up onto the retail stores and walk-ups of Atlantic Avenue, whereas Congress Street backs up onto other townhouses on Amity Street. I personally think the Congress Street house asking price is a reach, but nevertheless I found yesterday's debate on the streetscape to be largely off the mark.

Posted by: NorthHeights at January 27, 2009 12:50 PM

19 footer on State Street sold for 3.8 million in June 2008
25 footer on Congress is asking 4.4 million in January 2009.

State Street house looks nicer, seems more updated yet is slightly smaller.

No ones knows, but how much do you think they'd get for State Street today if it were for sale? That might be a good number to start with on the Congress Street house.

3.2 on a good day?

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 12:51 PM

"I prefer agreeing with you too, Wasder." I went back and looked at the thread when my apt was coop of the day last summer and you loved our interiors!!!

Posted by: wasder at January 27, 2009 12:58 PM

I wish I remembered which one that was, Wasder!!

Posted by: 11217 at January 27, 2009 1:00 PM

If I told you I would have to kill you. You will have to take my word for it or wait til the next meet up.

Posted by: wasder at January 27, 2009 1:03 PM

"State Street house looks nicer, seems more updated yet is slightly smaller."

It's 25% smaller. That's a whole floor.

Posted by: NorthHeights at January 27, 2009 1:16 PM

Poor State St buyer. Could of held out for a 20+ footer for the same price/location.

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at January 27, 2009 1:51 PM

Does anyone know for sure that Turner Towers has a 25% flip tax? I have never heard of such thing. 2% is normal for any co-op, 5% is high, but 25% is unheard of. If that is really the case, then buying anything at Turner Towers is a non-starter.

Posted by: sam at January 27, 2009 1:54 PM

25% on the profit is the flip tax - I lived there.

Posted by: oldrte10 at January 27, 2009 4:43 PM

25% of the profit?
How oddly Communistic.
They would do better in such a large building to charge a flat 2%. I'm sure that half a dozen or more units change hands every year.
I would not buy into a building with such a peculiar flip tax.

Posted by: sam at January 27, 2009 5:04 PM

So here is another chance to comment on Turner Towers after yesterday's photo. My family had an apartment by the Brooklyn Museum in the 1960's when Eastern Pkwy. was a good place to live.

Then came a change in immigration in about 1965. What I was told was that this caused a "bad batch of drug traders from the Carribean" moving to the neighborhood. (This is what I was told, I did not say this.) It took some time for the neighborhood to decline. By 1976, the last of our acquaintances left the neighboorhood. Of a family of five, four members had been mugged. It was after this, maybe the eighties, or late seventies, I don't know which, but then the apartment houses went co-op and/or condo(?). Crime was rampant, muggings and rapes in the parking lot of the Brooklyn Museum, where a family member worked.

So someone said the neighborhood is on the upswing, which I believe.

Living across the street from the Brooklyn Museum, the BBG and the Library, and close to the Arche, is amazing. The subway is right in front of Turner Towers. A grocery store is around the corner on Washington and a drugstore is nearby. One could exist here and it is only a short subway ride to Manhattan.

I would not mind living there again. I would want to know how the neighbors are, if there would be any problems in the building.

The poster, SAM, has much more practical insights and experiences about these real estate opportunities. I scroll to his opinions first.

Posted by: BklynSoFar at January 27, 2009 8:02 PM

If you lived in OPP, you would most likely be coming home from Manhattan via the 2/3 to GAP or the Q/B to 7th Ave. So, your walk home would be across Vanderbilt Ave, which has only a moderate volume of traffic--you would not be crossing the GAP main rotary, which I think Sam noted.

Posted by: ksquared at January 28, 2009 8:35 AM

OPP : GAP subway stop, or the Brooklyn Museum stop.

ksq -- thank you for the food for thought.

After reading these posts, and if living at the OPP, I think I'd try the Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum subway stop on the way home from Manhattan.

It is not such a long walk west from EP/BM, to the OPP -- no circle to navigate -- no streets to cross either. It is possible that the walk from the EP/BM, by Turner Towers may close to equal, or even shorter than from the GAP. Anyway Eastern Parkway across from the Museum is a pleasant walk, also beautiful.

Posted by: BklynSoFar at January 28, 2009 6:18 PM

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January 27, 2009

Last Week's Biggest Sales

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