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March 13, 2009

Checking In On 166 Montague Street

166-Montague-Street-0309.jpg
Things appear to be going reasonably well at 166 Montague Street, the swanky condo conversion in Brooklyn Heights. Or, well enough, at least, that the developer has thus far avoided reducing the price on any of the 20 units in the building. Thus far, four units have gone into contract at prices ranging from $850,000 to $1,240,000. The 13 active listings right now are priced at an average of $1,034 per square foot. Do you think they're going to have to cut prices or should they stick to their guns?
166 Montague Street Listings [StreetEasy] GMAP
Checking In On 166 Montague Street [Brownstoner]
Update on the 166 Montague Street Conversion [Brownstoner]
Franklin Trust on Montague Going Residential [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:30 AM | Comments (16)
Categories: Brooklyn Heights, Condos

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Comments

Sales started Fall '08. When did those contracts get signed?

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at March 13, 2009 11:40 AM

This will be reduced and the contracts he already has are probably worthless; Sales started in the Fall of 2007 and progress is clearly seriously stalled....these units wont be ready for occupancy at the current rate for at least another year and anyone who signs a binding contract at this point (without serious 'out' clauses) is nuts.

Posted by: fsrg at March 13, 2009 11:50 AM

Progress has halted? It seems like they're always working there.

This sold well because it was priced well: you could get a 2-bedroom for 850k. I thought they did a good job pricing ahead of the market and getting these things sold. I have no idea what 20 henry was thinking -- I think it's a nicer building, but they were selling things at a 50%+ premium over 166.

Posted by: Ringo at March 13, 2009 11:54 AM

Is the developer actually planning on finishing this project? Or is it going to be a permanent blight on the neighborhood?

Posted by: altervoce at March 13, 2009 11:54 AM

Or do they only work there on the weekends? I know they were last weekend, but I don't get to that corner mid-week often/ever.

Posted by: Ringo at March 13, 2009 11:56 AM

Where do you get Fall of 2007, fsrq? Street easy says Fall '08. If you're right, then damn! They're in deep doo doo.

Whadduyamean "sold well", Ringo? All we see is toilet paper, sorry, contracts.

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at March 13, 2009 12:01 PM

Hey, I think 1/3 of released units going into contract in October-November 2008 at any price is a pretty decent achievement. I'm not sure how they'd get anyone to buy right now.

Also heard they got the commercial space rented which would be big.

I'm more interested in the idea that they've stopped working on this. That would be a giant drag.

Posted by: Ringo at March 13, 2009 12:13 PM

Wow, the maint./cc charges coupled with the monthly tax bill on even the smallest of these apartments is STEEP! I gotta agree with the rest of the comments - the contracts already signed will be in trouble.

Posted by: CeLe at March 13, 2009 12:35 PM

The contracts already signed would be the people that took the bait when 166 was "marketing" the units to so called insiders and other broker favorites. Which was month or two before the offering plan was approved by the way.

I am sure they thought they were getting a deal then..if only they knew what they were getting into: delays, outrageous common charges, and oh yeah, a new world order in NYC real estate.

Posted by: acoolcat at March 13, 2009 12:49 PM

BHO - I met with the Broker at the time...the offering plan may not have been approved yet (I dont recall) but they had an office, plans and pricing in late 2007

Posted by: fsrg at March 13, 2009 1:39 PM

I believe 166 was developed by the long time owner of the property, as opposed to 20 Henry which was recently acquired by the current owner/developer. I believe 20 Henry was acquired for approx $20,000,000, or $17,000,000 for the exist bldg and $3,000,000 for the adjacent land, based on a $200 psf FAR estimate. $17MM works out to about $371 psf. As you might have noticed, the developer will be very hard pressed to sell at a profit because his entry price was so high. 166 developer may have a better chance at a profit but sales activity is stopped dead. Those foru contracts are summer 2008 deals. No activity since then. Maintenance is very high and I don't think a J-51 abatement is being pursued. These are two of the reasons why asking prices are lower than at 20 Henry.

110 Amity property is currently priced just below the transaction numbers for 20 Henry, which were achieved at or near the top of the cylce.

Posted by: ITM at March 13, 2009 4:22 PM

good luck getting a mortgage here. and if you do, project 3x CCs. new construction boutique condo very very risky right now.

Posted by: BrooklynLove at March 13, 2009 8:31 PM


It's a super cool looking old building, though the windows look small.

Better looking, from the outside at least, than 99% of the new junk on the market.

Posted by: IronBalls at March 14, 2009 12:14 AM


I just went to the property sales description on StreetEasy and it's
pretty clear why the units aren't selling, other than the price, which is too high.

The developer went super modern (almost Euro) on the design and he's trying to sell the units as much on their contemporary fixtures as he is on the fact that it's an historic building in a good neighborhood.

I don't think buyers care about floating toilets, bathroom mirror televisions, and whatever else his Miami designer thought up.

The units would have sold themselves if the developer had spent less on flashy fixtures and set lower prices from the beginning.

Posted by: IronBalls at March 14, 2009 12:42 AM

I've always thought this was a beautiful building, can't help but wonder what it looks like inside. They will probably have to go rental if they refuse to drop prices though. That's what seems to be happening at One Hanson, a similar type of condo (beautiful historic building, modern luxurious interior).

Posted by: hk4bk at March 15, 2009 9:08 PM

I checked the building on September 26th, 2008. The 4 apartments were in contract since then. Nothing has moved since then. Really nice building and really nice apartments. At $1000/sqft though, combined with the extraordinary high cc's is simply a no-no.

Posted by: pirot at May 14, 2009 6:56 PM

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