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March 24, 2009

The Caroline Launches on Ocean Parkway

It takes some big brass ones to launch a new condo development in this market so yesterday's opening of The Caroline is worth taking note of. It's a 44-unit Karl Fischer design that appears to be targeting the under-$500-per-square-foot crowd. Nine listings have been released so far, ranging from $342,000 for a 755-square-foot one-bedroom to $529,000 for a 1,115-square-foot two-bedroom. If anyone lives nearby, we'd love to see a photo of what the facade looks like in real life.
601 Ocean Parkway Listings [Corcoran] GMAP

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the rendering couple better pay more attention to the traffic they are about to step into otherwise its all going to end in tears.

Posted by: dittoburg at March 24, 2009 10:08 AM

Check the slideshow, rooftop shot.

Post apocalypse sunset?

Posted by: Prodigal_Son at March 24, 2009 10:12 AM

I personally like that everyone at the Caroline drives a Mercedes coupe!

Posted by: gemini10 at March 24, 2009 10:13 AM

gemini- its a sign that you've "arrived"

Posted by: dittoburg at March 24, 2009 10:15 AM

Clearly, all the Hassi's will scoop up these bargain prices. How far is the nearest Jew Church?

Posted by: PropJoe at March 24, 2009 10:17 AM

I'm going to take the bait. Bigot much Prop Joe?

Posted by: DarkStar at March 24, 2009 10:28 AM

Nope, the balconies are not offset per dogma.

Posted by: cmu at March 24, 2009 10:30 AM

these apartments look pretty nice although i dont know much about the area. the obvious issue would be distance for those who work in nyc.

Posted by: bktycoon at March 24, 2009 10:31 AM

So, they're trying to gross like $20 million? One could suggest that the profit margins here are a little hefty. (Including the imbedded profit margins that were charged by the sub-contractors.)

We love to talk about the market... and obviously the resale market is quite perverse. BUT, new construction is similar. Simply because it's NYC and for very few tangible reasons beyond that, all costs are inflated to crazy levels... from architects to materials to labor.

(I should be careful, it's not completely irrational... it's just a cyclical, self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course drywall is going to be twice as expensive here than in Jersey, because the truck driver lives in Queens and paid $895,000 for his 2-bedroom house.)

Posted by: tybur6 at March 24, 2009 10:31 AM

I think it's actually a really nice building, and far better than the usual schlock that has been popping up (235 op for example is far more contextual and boring). I'll try to grab a photo for you.

Posted by: lalaland at March 24, 2009 10:32 AM

A friend of mine rented an apartment on Ditmas and East 2nd. There is nothing over there, no restaurants, no bars, just a couple of take out places, laundromats, BORING. These are going to sit for a long, long time...rocketman.

Posted by: curijay at March 24, 2009 10:38 AM

It's a long ride into Manhattan on the F train from that location.

Still, I'm going to check it out. $359,000 for 800sf compared to $549,000 for $646sf at the Argyle is intriguing.

And I bet you could easily get that below $300k in the coming months.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at March 24, 2009 10:38 AM

disagree snarkslope. when you get off the F train at Ditmas and the only thing open is the corner bodega at 10 PM and you get a bag of doritos for dinner, you will be wishing you were in that 4th ave box for 549K.

Posted by: curijay at March 24, 2009 10:49 AM

is 235 ocean still empty? what a pos that turned out to be

Posted by: Xander Crews at March 24, 2009 11:08 AM

Snarkslope will find a bunch of restaurants and bars on Cortelyou, a short walk away. Which he may patronize for a long while with the 200K he saves.

Posted by: Deda at March 24, 2009 11:12 AM

I haven't been to that area in a while, but isn't this building across from where the drummers gather and play all day long when the weather's warm?

Posted by: greenwood at March 24, 2009 11:26 AM

By the way, I like the addition of the Mercedes convertible parked on the happy street...

Posted by: tybur6 at March 24, 2009 11:27 AM

I live on this quiet block and the construction fence just came down only last week. The weird thing about the Caroline is that it's sandwiched between a Lubavitcher center of some sorts and a yeshiva. So the image of people in mini skirts and convertibles seems rather out of place. Nice looking building, but out of place for the block.

The Caroline is a 10 minute walk to Pomme de Terre, Farm on Adderley, and Sycamore in Ditmas Park. The neighborhood is very Russian and Orthodox Jewish.

Posted by: girlacross at March 24, 2009 11:37 AM

curijay.

You know, if you do a little planning, and say, a little grocery shopping now and again, one might actually have food in their very own apartment.

Or does your Fischer & Paykel fridge serve merely as a sculptural element?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at March 24, 2009 11:43 AM

One thing that amuses me, as I live in this area, is the neighborhood map provided on their website seems to be riddled with errors. For example, the Kensington library is shown as being on 18th Ave east of Ocean Parkway, when it's really on Ditmas Ave west of Ocean Parkway. Most of the other items shown on the map are slightly wrong or outdated in some way.

The building seems nice enough, though this neighborhood is not really prime territory for luxury condos. The immediate neighborhood has a large Orthodox Jewish community, and this building is very close to several popular kosher restaurants on 18th Ave. Other restaurants and attractions are not as close by, but don't take very long to get to. The nearby F train is slow but 18th Ave turns into an express stop on those all-too-frequent occasions there is a train delay during the evening rush. My impressions is that affordability is a higher priority for most residents here than having a lot of amenities right around the corner.

Posted by: lj12345 at March 24, 2009 11:52 AM

The Fischer & Paykel fridge is already too full with Fiji bottled water and kumquats.

Posted by: tybur6 at March 24, 2009 11:53 AM

(By the way, if you opened a fridge at an open house and it was filled with Fiji bottled water and kumquats... it would actually be quite stunning. Real Estate "Professionals" take note! If you do that, you owe me 10% of your commission!)

Posted by: tybur6 at March 24, 2009 11:59 AM

This is just around the corner from me, and while it would be a hike to the Q train, there's also the very occasional B23 on Cortelyou and I assume some other bus route on 18th Avenue, so you could time your exit correctly and catch one of them to the F or Q train. As was pointed out, it's not that far from the various amenities of Ditmas Park, and the B68 bus on Coney Island Avenue is a short ride to Windsor Terrace and the South Slope. There are also some smaller supermarkets of the C-Town variety nearby. Prices don't seem too out of line for the area, though maybe a bit high for this economy, but I'm no expert on that.

Posted by: sixyearsandcounting at March 24, 2009 11:59 AM

Yeah I'm thinking this might appeal more to the type of person who does his weekly grocery shopping at Shop Rite and cooks for himself, rather than settle for a bag of Doritos because that's all he can get at 10 p.m. en route from the train to his house.

Posted by: Sparafucile at March 24, 2009 12:09 PM

The B23 is going to get the axe if the MTA goes ahead with their crazy new fare hikes/service cuts.

There's a fantastic small grocery store on Ditmas Avenue.

Posted by: girlacross at March 24, 2009 12:10 PM

Can't even come up with an original name - http://www.tregny.com/content/chelsea/the-caroline-60-west-23rd-street/

Posted by: WBer at March 24, 2009 12:18 PM

Whoa, that's a dealbreaker then.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at March 24, 2009 12:31 PM

does your Fischer & Paykel fridge serve merely as a sculptural element?

Likely since they are usually broken -> Fischer & Paykel=hunks of crap

Posted by: fsrg at March 24, 2009 12:46 PM

Corcoran's map has the building on Ocean Avenue, right across from Prospect Park. Much more appealing, though open-house-goers looking for it there will likely be distinctly irked.

Posted by: zuleika at March 24, 2009 12:53 PM

Corcoran's map has the building on Ocean Avenue, right across from Prospect Park. Much more appealing, though open-house-goers looking for it there will likely be distinctly irked.

Posted by: zuleika at March 24, 2009 12:55 PM

The B8 bus that runs along 18th Ave goes directly to the B/Q express station at Newkirk Ave (or to the closer F station in the other direction). But if you're not in a hurry and don't mind a bit of walking you can definitely walk to either the F or the B/Q, or the Cortelyou Rd restaurants, etc. Also, the bike paths on Ocean Parkway make it easy to bike down to Prospect Park on the weekends.

Posted by: lj12345 at March 24, 2009 1:10 PM

Whats not mentioned is that in the lobby "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond is looped on the stereo 24/7.

Posted by: Prodigal_Son at March 24, 2009 2:36 PM

Sweet Caroline, whaaa whaaa whoaaa, good times never seemed so good (so good, so good so good), I've been inclined.... :)

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at March 24, 2009 2:58 PM

this is a really beautiful building, the actual building looks nicer than the rendering and the interiors are nicer than any building in park slope in brooklyn. this is a bargain and i dont think the price will go down because the owners will rent it if the market will not sell it...

Posted by: proudofbrooklyn at March 24, 2009 5:36 PM

Repeating a delusion doesn't make it true.

Condo prices are experiencing huge drops in Manhattan.

Why should Brooklyn be immune?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at March 24, 2009 5:47 PM

For what it is, I don't hate it with the same passion of a thousand burning suns that I reserve for 80 Metropolitan and its ilk. For what it's worth. You guys are making the neighborhood sound kind of fun, actually. What are the schools like?

Posted by: Heather at March 24, 2009 8:50 PM

Proud of brooklyn sure is proud...

People, you are underestimating the major selling point of this building: it's proximity to GAUCHO GLATT!

Posted by: lalaland at March 24, 2009 9:14 PM

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March 24, 2009

The Caroline Launches on Ocean Parkway

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