« Inside Third & Bond: Week 85 House of the Day: 169 State Street »

May 21, 2009

Condo of the Day: 555 Washington Avenue, #1A

The apartments at 555 Washington Avenue are tough to make up one's mind about: On the one hand, the former seminary is beautiful to look at from the outside and some of the rooms reflect its stateliness; on the other hand, some of the rooms are so oddly-configured it's hard to imagine putting up with them. Such is the case with this ground-floor duplex. The big arched windows and high ceilings of the living room and the private terrace say "buy me!" but the kitchen feels like it belongs on a sailboat. Some of that oddness is built into the price of $795,000, which is pretty decent on paper for the 1,595 square feet of indoor space plus private patio. Monthly common charges of $1,092 are also pretty reasonable. What do you think?
555 Washington Avenue, #1A [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark

Note: Techies are still working on fixing the pricing widget.

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I have looked at places in here and they are definitely unique. A random fact about this building: Vince Lombardi went to high school in it.

Posted by: wasder at May 21, 2009 12:47 PM

what a strange decision, to split windows between units. I hate when they do that, it's a scar you just can't fix. What a pretty building otherwise.

Posted by: Maly at May 21, 2009 12:58 PM

wow that is a beautiful building. im diggin' the moose head on the wall!

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 21, 2009 12:59 PM

Ha! It's not a moose. I'm no Sarah Palin, but the profile and antlers are completely different. I guess it's some sort of antelope. Think out of Africa, not Alaska.

Posted by: Maly at May 21, 2009 1:03 PM

Beautiful, but you have to walk through one bedroom to get to the other.

Posted by: mopar at May 21, 2009 1:05 PM

Wow.. . i know there'll be nay sayers but i'm pretty speechless

Posted by: ontheparkway at May 21, 2009 1:10 PM

Is this the place with the excellent gargoyles?

Posted by: BkyBky718 at May 21, 2009 1:12 PM

nice place but that kitchen is a bummer.

Posted by: MoneyForNothing at May 21, 2009 1:12 PM

Kudu in the living/dining room, moose antlers in the baby's room...

Posted by: 1842 at May 21, 2009 1:20 PM

love it.
You can always bring the kitchen further out into the living room if you want more cooking space.

On the other hand, why do you have to go through the master bedroom to get to the second bedroom?

Posted by: the chicken at May 21, 2009 1:21 PM

I don't understand the complaints about the kitchen--it's at least twice as big as mine, and doesn't strike me as that much smaller than others we've seen lately. Remember the $4m BH place with crazy views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges? I'm pretty sure this place has a bigger kitchen. Not wild about the decor, but sounds like y'all think it's too small.

Posted by: toadie at May 21, 2009 1:26 PM

"Note: Techies are still working on fixing the pricing widget."

Oh so the widget is not working now????!!! What a crock of shit!

The What (450,000)

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at May 21, 2009 1:27 PM

This is a really cool looking building and 1600 sq ft is a ton of space. Only drawback is location. Not sure id want to live right on atlantic avenue.

Posted by: bktycoon at May 21, 2009 1:31 PM

What's the problem with the kitchen? I think it's beautiful! Wish I could afford this place, overall, stunning.

Posted by: sluggita at May 21, 2009 1:31 PM

Kitchen is fine, bigger than mine. Drawbacks are the location and the bedroom layouts.

Posted by: DeLepp at May 21, 2009 1:32 PM

The location is very Ideal. Walking distance to the heart of Clinton Hill via Washington, walking distance to Prospect Park via underhill and walking distance to Fort Greene via Fulton. I use to live here and loved the building. This is a special Apt and should get some interest. Apt 2A sold for $580k last month and had half the Square footage.

Posted by: Crooklyn at May 21, 2009 1:46 PM

Wow... how could you go wrong for $800k plus another $1000 per month!?!

Posted by: tybur6 at May 21, 2009 1:48 PM

shwingggg....

I say it'll get close to ask.

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 21, 2009 1:51 PM

This seems to be a really wacky layout. It's not clear what the little loft is for. And the largest space, dowstairs, appears to be windowless (which probably explains the low maintenance and price per square foot). Plus one bedroom only seems to have half a window and inexplicably lacks its own door. The appropriate buyers for this would appear to be a couple with large wardrobes but no kids, who are engaged in some type of top-secret enterprise, or who like to have loud drug-fueled parties.

As for the kitchen, I don't really like the decor, but there is a lot of counterspace and a dishwasher. The real problem with it, which is apparent from the floor plan but not the photo, is that it is not really separate from the living area. The refrigerator sticks out. So it lacks the aesthetic advantage of a separate kitchen without providing the convenience of the suburban "open plan".

Posted by: supersleuth at May 21, 2009 2:03 PM

Beautiful building. Tragic apartment layout. Pass.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at May 21, 2009 2:13 PM

I love that building to death every time I pass it. Yes, killer gargoyles. I am the sort of idiot who would buy an apt. for its gargoyles and not notice that it didn't have a working bathroom....

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at May 21, 2009 2:28 PM

maybe someone can clue me in here... if you closed off the opening between the two bedrooms and put a door between the second bedroom and the living room, wouldn't that solve the problem? What am I missing?

Posted by: dwarbi at May 21, 2009 2:30 PM

how are common charges of $1,092 reasonable for a condo?

Posted by: randolph at May 21, 2009 2:41 PM

dwarbi, you would still need to pass through one to get to another and to get to the bathroom. No way to separate the two. There are other ways I would change to layout to make it work better.

randi, it's high but reasonable for 1600 sq. ft apt. and private outdoor space in my opinion.

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 21, 2009 2:45 PM

I dig it. The kitchen doesn't kill me, and I actually find the layout kind of interesting and not unusable. It's not really a 2 BR tho ... the second bedroom doesn't actually seem to have a door between it and the master.

CC's are high for a condo (they'd be decent for a co-op where the RE tax is included). Square footage is gigantic for the area.

Dunno ... it's out of my price range, and I'll shortly be out of the city, so it's not like I'm going to buy it, but it's certainly not the worst apartment that's been posted in recent weeks.

Posted by: cwbuecheler at May 21, 2009 2:48 PM

"The location is very Ideal."

Yep...you can get a 15-minute lube job at any number of places on the street ("Brooklyn Speed" is my personal favorite), or stop by the nearby White Castle for a mini-burger.

Posted by: East New York at May 21, 2009 2:50 PM

Hey, don't knock easy-access lube jobs.

Posted by: BkyBky718 at May 21, 2009 2:53 PM

"Hey, don't knock easy-access lube jobs."

Who's knocking them?!? A properly done lube job is invaluable!

Posted by: East New York at May 21, 2009 2:57 PM

Kens, what about a wall between the two with a doorway to the smaller bedroom opening into the living room? There is a second bathroom by the kitchen so no need to go through the master to get to the potty. Any guesses on how much that would cost?

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at May 21, 2009 3:05 PM

What the heck is "very ideal"? Is that like very dead?

Posted by: dittoburg at May 21, 2009 3:08 PM

Snappy, that's not a bad idea at all, but I think the wall to the living room is the wall on the pics with the bookshelves and would be a pain to destroy it. if you do, now you are left with only one wall in the living room to put a couch or anything against, since others are unusable. Not a big job, maybe 5K at most to block one wall and create a doorway with a door in another.

I would love to go to an open house for this one, eventhough I can't afford it.

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 21, 2009 3:15 PM

it is a lovely old school but I hate the location. maybe the area has changed a lot but I recall this site as being not quite here, not quite there. just all by itself on that intersection. The location does not appeal to me, and being old-fashioned, that's the whole ballgame when it comes to selecting real estate.

Posted by: sam at May 21, 2009 3:19 PM

Is that the living room wall? I thought that was the lower level media room. I'm confused (as usual!)

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at May 21, 2009 3:21 PM

ISNH, it's not the living room wall, its the upper corner view of the basement room. So it might be easy to wall of the two beds (giving a closet in between) and put in a door to the liv room. I think the basement has a 'sunken' window' into a light well if the plan is correct.

Posted by: cmu at May 21, 2009 3:31 PM

I wouldn't want a first floor apartment on that block...and remember that if Atlantic Yards ever gets moving you'll be living a block from the biggest erector set in Brooklyn for a good ten years.

That said I dont get the trashing of the kitchen! Brownstoner must be going on some swanky-ass sailboats. Looks big and well laid out to me...just needs some updating.

Posted by: clintonhillbuyer at May 21, 2009 3:49 PM

cmu, thanks. That makes sense. having a closet in between (half to one bedroom, half to the other) would work great for this setup.

I still like this place regardless.

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 21, 2009 3:51 PM

I really like this place. I think I would buy it for 450K if I could figure out how to get a door into the second bedroom. Maybe rig up some sort of hall where the closet is?

Posted by: thedudeabides at May 21, 2009 3:53 PM

I really like this place. I think I would buy it for 450K if I could figure out how to get a door into the second bedroom. Maybe rig up some sort of hall where the closet is?

Posted by: thedudeabides at May 21, 2009 3:54 PM

cmu, thanks. That makes sense. having a closet in between (half to one bedroom, half to the other) would work great for this setup.

I still like this place regardless.

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 21, 2009 3:54 PM

thedudeabides, look at the comments. CMU and Snappy figured out how to make a master bedroom and another one out of this setup.

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 21, 2009 3:55 PM

Ditto, it's like "very unique."

Posted by: mopar at May 21, 2009 4:10 PM

Yeah, not sure why it would be a big problem to fix the bedroom situation.

Looks like a good price to me, but I could see why the cc's are a turn off. You'd think there would be a tax abatement, but maybe it expired. So I think this will sell with a 6 as the first digit...maybe 675k? It's a lot of space, but outside of the main floor, it isn't enticing space.

Posted by: Bolder at May 21, 2009 4:20 PM

I live in the building and stopped by the open house last week. The common charges are high because they include the taxes, and that is one of the largest apartments in the building. There's no tax abatement because the building has been condos since the early 80s.

The garden is beautiful. The loft is being used for storage right now. If you changed the entrance to the second bedroom, you would just need to walk through the living room to the bathroom because there are two full baths on the ground floor, though neither of them are much to look at. The bedrooms are pretty small too.

The basement level is huge though - really nice spread with plenty of room for a big tv room plus two home offices. And a bathroom down there in the laundry room though no shower. If need be, you could probably easily (but unofficially) partition off part of the downstairs into a bedroom, especially since you wouldn't have to walk up the spiral stairs to go to the bathroom.

Posted by: washingtonandatlantic at May 21, 2009 5:29 PM

oh, I forgot to add, this apartment is on the Fulton side of the building, so the Atlantic noise is minimal. I live on that side as well and rarely notice it.

Posted by: washingtonandatlantic at May 21, 2009 5:31 PM

I went to high school there (Cathedral Prep, Class of 1968). The rooms on the first floor were school's office (principal, business office etc) and a couple of classrooms used mostly for after-school activities (the literary society, the Latin club, detention).

What's now the inside courtyard had a full-court basketball layout (I had my best game there, ever!) , a whiffle ball "field", a handball court ... and was where we had graduation ceremonies (weather permitting, and it rarely did).

And since some people have commented on them: the architecture left its mark on the names of the school literary magazine (The Gargoyle) and newspaper (The Spire).

I drive by it all the time, and always think about stopping in.

Posted by: TheHud at May 21, 2009 5:44 PM

Wow, I love that apartment, despite or because of its eccentricities... but price does seem high for the location. The fact that it faces Fulton and not Atlantic would be a huge plus though. And does the basement have windows? And can the loft be a sleeping loft?

Posted by: Heather at May 21, 2009 7:09 PM

How can it face Fulton? Fulton is a block away. Buy a house for this price in Bed-Stuy. At least the neighborhood might get better - here you will always have a highway going by the side of your building. And Washington is a major north-south thoroughfare.

Posted by: Putnamdenizen at May 21, 2009 9:04 PM

Hrm, yeah, Putnam, there is that. But I do like this apartment, irrational as it may be.

Posted by: Heather at May 21, 2009 11:17 PM

I remember checking out a couple of apts in this building back when I was in the market for a coop, and thinking "what a beautiful building, but what a crummy job they did converting it to apartments." This apt. actually has less crazy angles and unusable space than the two I looked at then, but the materials used in the conversion were in every case so cheap. And the location is very noisy and not near useful amenities like grocery stores or pharmacies. The courtyard was very lovely, though. And the gargoyles rock.

Posted by: brooklynette at May 22, 2009 1:18 AM

This is actually the least crazy layout I've seen in any of the apartments in this building, and the closest to a reasonable price as well.

I regret not living here every time I walk past it, but that's because I'm a gargoyle fetishist too. I don't think that in the end that would be enough for me though.

Posted by: phbalanced at May 23, 2009 4:26 PM

« Inside Third & Bond: Week 85 House of the Day: 169 State Street »

May 21, 2009

Condo of the Day: 555 Washington Avenue, #1A

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