« One Hanson Board Jacks Common Charges 17 Percent 470 Vanderbilt Cleared for ULURP Take-Off »

January 29, 2009

New Bushwick Condo Boldly Braves the Bear Market

375-Menahan-Street-0109.jpgIn a sign of either bullishness or outright hubris, a new condo building is launching this week at 375 Menahan Street in Bushwick. Four blocks from the Wyckoff L train, the six-unit project will range in size from a 600 to 1,043 square feet and in price from $259,000 to $329,000. Five of the six units are one-bedrooms. Aptsandlofts.com has the listing. We shall see! GMAP




Posted by Brownstoner at 9:45 AM | Comments (18)
Categories: Bushwick, Condos

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/8162

Comments

I can see how the low maintenance would make it appealing...

Posted by: alsawo at January 29, 2009 10:07 AM

Why no photos of the bedrooms? I'm guessing they are small...

Posted by: missing_cobblehill at January 29, 2009 10:28 AM

The units look neat and certainly are well-priced. For someone who has the downpayment and good credit, it's a great way to freeze his housing expense to under $2,000.

Posted by: Maly at January 29, 2009 10:40 AM

Places look nice. The price seems right and this area of Bushwick is pretty liveable.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 29, 2009 10:48 AM

Wow, even for bushwick, that's cheap, and the places look nice. What's the catch?

Well, 650 sq. ft. 2 BR? That's hard to imagine.

Posted by: l12 at January 29, 2009 11:13 AM

Typical ignorant commments. Just the beginning of the worst housing crisis on record. Yeah, lets drop $300k in bushwick, a craphole that only gained a semblance of interest as the housing bubble speculation spread to crap areas...

Posted by: cornerbodega at January 29, 2009 11:46 AM

Bushwick is a "pretty livable" neighborhood - 11 long stops to Union Square on the L train. I can't imagine why anyone would want to buy there in a collapsing market.

Plus, you can now get the same value (per square foot) in much nicer areas. So unless Bushwick has some particular appeal to you, why bother.

Posted by: Paul C at January 29, 2009 12:26 PM

where can you get new construction at $320-380/square foot? The maintenance and tax is also pretty low.
Maybe Brownstoner can have a recession special, with 1 bedroom listings with monthly costs under $1,600.
Bushwick is definitely on the far outer edge of gentrified Brooklyn, but at least the pricing of this building reflects it. The real hubris is to ask people to shell out 20% down and pay twice (or three times!) as much every month in mortgage/tax/maintenance than it would cost to rent.

Posted by: Maly at January 29, 2009 1:13 PM

i like bushwick. think that what's happening there is exciting. depends on your point of view of course. this does seem cheap.

Posted by: wine lover at January 29, 2009 1:46 PM

Craphole, huh? I will agree that the majority of CORNERBODEGAS in Bushwick are crapholes.

Posted by: MAT at January 29, 2009 2:01 PM

Paul C

Please provide examples of 300 psf new construction in "nicer" areas.

Thanks,
DH

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 29, 2009 2:22 PM

DH - Actually, these units are $425 - $479 psf, other than the 2 duplexes with recreation rooms (that is, basements) that are a bit cheaper as a result.

That being said, I admit I may have exaggerated - prices are not below $500 psf yet in places like Greenpoint or the eastern edge of Williamsburg (neighborhoods which I consider much more desirable than Bushwick), but they are probably headed that way.

I also admit that $450 psf might be an OK price for Bushwick, although I see entire houses asking less than $300,000. Personally I would never buy there, at just about any price, and definitely not now, when the gentification wave has reached its high point, and is rapidly receding.

Posted by: Paul C at January 29, 2009 3:54 PM

450 psf - fair enough. I used the larger units for my calc.


I have also seen these 300k houses in Bushwick, but they are usually in terrible shape. The decent ones seem to hover around 600k


That said, I agree that Greenpoint/East Williamsburg (lets say the Graham stop) would def be more desireable as far as commute/ameneties go.....but aren't prices still hovering around 600 psf?

I would take the location of these Bushwick condos in a heartbeat over the places around the Grand/Montrose/Morgan stops. Essentially similar ameneties, and you aren't near two giant housing projects (williamsburg and bushwick houses) It's definitely quieter out there in the bushwick/ridgewood DMZ.

These personally aren't for me - but i can see they would be appealing to someone looking for a starter place.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 29, 2009 4:41 PM

"Personally I would never buy there, at just about any price, and definitely not now, when the gentification wave has reached its high point, and is rapidly receding."

What in the hell are you talking about?! Current home buyers? Sure, probably.

But what, no one new is renting in the hood? No other developments or fixed up rentals are on pace? No new restaurants, etc?

No stats = asstalk.

Posted by: MAT at January 29, 2009 5:04 PM

I was seriously looking for a rental apt out in this neck of the woods before I moved to where I am now off the Bedford L - as I really wanted to have a 1 bedroom for around 1,000 bucks a month. Most apartments are railroads, which landlords try to pass off as a 2 bedroom and try to charge around 1,200 - 1,300 bucks. Buying the $259,000 apt with 20% down would make your monthly cost around 1,300 - 1,400. That's not a whole heck of alot more to own. You could probably rent these out easily to cover your mortgage.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 29, 2009 6:29 PM

I live about two blocks from here. This is a sweet neighborhood with lots of great restaurants and hipster art events and music, if you're into that. I love my neighbors. The recent Mexican immigrants are a very positive presence. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best part of Bushwick. It's more residential than the lofts, and it's close to Northeast Kingdom and other fine spots.

The L-M Myrtle stop is very convenient and gets you into Williamsburg, Union Square, or the Lower East Side very quickly.

As for the price, it seems reasonable for a new-construction condo. For some perspective: In 2005, you could have bought 1,000 sf of raw loft space down the street for $250,000. In 2007, Apts & Lofts was selling similar apts for slightly more money in a less desirable area of Bushwick near the Myrtle JMZ.

However, it is more expensive than renting or buying a whole house. Similar space runs about $1600 a month in rent. Three families are about $650,000; two families range from $430,000 to $520,000.

The maintenence is low because of a temporary tax rebate. Could be an issue when you sell.

What they've done here is convert a six-family railroad tenement into open-plan modern lofts.

Obviously, this is for people who like a modern look. And who are single.

Posted by: mopar at January 29, 2009 6:51 PM

dirty hipster, did you find a one bedroom for $1000 of the Bedford L? Because that would be quite the surprise.

Posted by: mopar at January 29, 2009 6:54 PM

Totally agree on the location, mopar--this area is so much better than the L stops closer to Williamsburg. And there's a lot of good cheap eats....

Posted by: tinarina at January 29, 2009 7:15 PM

Post a comment

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

Latest Restaurant Additions