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May 4, 2009

Co-op of the Day: 130 St. Edwards Street

We've never posted anything about this cluster of co-ops at the corner of Myrtle and Ashland Place but this 1,100-square-foot three-bedroom at 130 St. Edwards Street seems like a good place to start. The main drawback seems to be the low ceilings. Other than that, it looks in good shape. It's not bound for the pages of Architectural Digest but that's not the point. It's a family-sized apartment with a low monthly maintenance of $785 with onsite parking available. The asking price is $539,000. What do you make of that?
130 St. Edwards Street [Aguayo & Huebener] GMAP P*Shark

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Comments

This coop rejects a lot of buyers - part of the reason why some units have been on the market forever. Rejections are beyond credit scores, financial, etc.

that said, the units are big, solid, good light, etc. Most need renov on kitchen & baths but price reflects it. Pray board approves you if you're buying

Posted by: more4less at May 4, 2009 12:58 PM

Do you know (or do they give) the reasons for rejection if they are not financial?

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at May 4, 2009 1:01 PM

m4l...why do they reject a lot of nuyers if its not based on numbers?

No floorplan so who's to know what the "real" 3 bedrooms looklike. 3 bedrooms in 1,100 sq. ft.??? I don't think so.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 4, 2009 1:01 PM

There is a floorplan dave...look on the right in small letters

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at May 4, 2009 1:04 PM

dibs... floorplan in tiny letters on site.
nice layout, bedrooms a bit small.

Posted by: buttermilk channel at May 4, 2009 1:06 PM

DIBS, it's a legit 1000 sq ft (ie calc'd off the flrplans). 2 decent size ones and 1 small one. All have windows & closets. maint includes electricity too.

we looked at such a unit a while back and broker was telling us board was rejecting a ton of people (no reason given). he speculated it could be a ton of the reasons one can think of as one speculates and each speculation would seem to hold some validity to it. That broker actually gave up the listing after we were rejected - ie he gave guessing what kind of buyer it needs to be for board to approve. He suspected and we agreed that we might've been rejected for racial reasons (DIBS, another clue for you) and/or that we have a young baby (most of the residents are older retirees who might not like a loud baby)

Posted by: more4less at May 4, 2009 1:10 PM

OK...I see it now. Sorry. Its actually not that bad of a layout. Even the small bedroom has room for 2 nitestands and a bed.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 4, 2009 1:10 PM

The apartment is nice, but the location is questionable.
I am surprised that there is a market-rate co-op at that site. I always assumed that those blocks north of the park were all housing projects. It definitely has the vibe of housing projects.

Posted by: sam at May 4, 2009 1:14 PM

I like the floor plan. I hate the floors.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at May 4, 2009 1:20 PM

also, one and a half baths for a three bedroom apt is only partially intelligent.

Posted by: sam at May 4, 2009 1:26 PM

Good space for the $ - but the location is awful. Yes, yes - there are new developments on Flatbush etc etc. Still, Ive been on that strectch of myrtle at night and well, you get the rest...

Posted by: saminthehood at May 4, 2009 1:30 PM

This is in the middle of nowhere -- no stores or services nearby. I guess it would be ok if you wanted to drive everywhere, but in that case, why live in Brooklyn?

Posted by: zinka at May 4, 2009 1:31 PM

Oh, is there no train nearby?

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at May 4, 2009 1:34 PM

Another foot for the ceilings and I think this would a decent apt. Has a lot to offer. Only know neighborhood slightly, tho.

Posted by: Nomi at May 4, 2009 1:35 PM

zinka hits the nail on the head.

Posted by: sam at May 4, 2009 1:35 PM

How far of a walk is this to the Dekalb Q stop? And what is that hospital looking thing across the street on the map?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at May 4, 2009 1:36 PM

that location was feasible when we assumed the condo's and new retail was going to be built in that stretch of myrtle and nearby flatbush. With many of those projects slowing big, location is definitely so so.

Posted by: more4less at May 4, 2009 1:36 PM

Yes, people buying in transitional (?) areas can't right now assume desired amenities are going to continue to appear. I guess that never should have been assumed, but seemed so inevitable a year ago.

Posted by: Nomi at May 4, 2009 1:40 PM

Right next to the Walt Whitman projects. Used to walk by them every day on the way to work (and drive by them every night on the way home). nfw would I live here. Just nfw. And no apologies to whoever keeps getting upset at me for not wanting to live near the projects.

Posted by: lechacal at May 4, 2009 1:54 PM

middle of nowhere? it faces Ft Gr park alrdeady. Thats middle of nowhere. I sometimes think commentors must be so handicapped (and not just mentally) that couple blocks to plenty of transportation and services is somehow too much.
Are you all a bunch of overstuffed couch potatoes?
Or if can't say something nice - just make up something stupid to say instead.

Posted by: Petebklyn at May 4, 2009 1:55 PM

This looks like an amazing opportunity for whoever is accepted by the (supposedly?) stubborn board. Where else would you find $450 sq/ft or less in this part of Brooklyn?

And Petebklyn - I'd agree with you, it's definitely not very far at all to walk places from here...and if you have a bike, even easier.

Posted by: collin85 at May 4, 2009 2:07 PM

This address is less than a 2 minute walk to the Dekalb station, I pass this group of co-ops every day on my way home from work. Primary problem that I can see seems to be the lack of a decent grocery store nearby, the closest one is the PathMark at Atlantic Center.

Posted by: fleabag at May 4, 2009 2:31 PM

This building is not near the projects it is nestled within them. On one side there are the projects, on the other the BQE and across the street is a city-run hospital. I'm sorry but this is a highly undesirable location for a private cooperative residence.

Posted by: sam at May 4, 2009 2:32 PM

Undesirable location is a MAJOR understatement. It's awesome if you want to pay 10 times more a month to get that "living in the projects" feel!! 'Cuz that's what you'd be doing.

Sign me up!

Posted by: tybur6 at May 4, 2009 2:41 PM

when the budget is skinny (ie can't day dream too long on living somewhere where one can't afford), this place is not bad. It's close to Dekalb station and the Jay station and close enough to the Nevins station (4, 5). Just wait for retail shops to show up before buying.

Posted by: more4less at May 4, 2009 2:43 PM

> "Just wait for retail shops to show up before buying."

Not to mention hell freezing over.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at May 4, 2009 2:46 PM

Buy when hell freezes over. Right now, there's no rush to buy anywhere - much less over here. Renting is great. retail shops (ie basic stuff; not those fancy pants shops) will show up in a yr. right now, there's nothing there on that stretch of myrtle. The old shops were demo's or closed. people need/want to shop over there and the demand will draw in the proprietors.

Posted by: more4less at May 4, 2009 2:56 PM

Yes, the Dekalb station is pretty close. But you are god smack next to the Whitman PJs on Myrtle, and trust me, you dont want to live right there (esp. in the summer). Plain and simple.

Posted by: saminthehood at May 4, 2009 3:04 PM

So... for a 1/2 million you can't get a better location than IN the projects?!

That's a sad testimony.

Posted by: tybur6 at May 4, 2009 3:04 PM

> "So... for a 1/2 million you can't get a better location than IN the projects?!"

Sure you can. Kensington, Ditmas Park, PLG, the list goes on.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at May 4, 2009 3:07 PM

Brownstoner:

On a walk through Brooklyn a year or two ago I passed these buildings. Actually, for their vintage, they're trim and attractive and reminiscent of 50's Scandinavian Modern. The tall thin towers. The tan brick. The "ribbon" windows.

My walk must have been around this time of year. It was a sunny weekend. I dipped around Fort Greene Park, traveling on the housing-project side where I was greeted warmly by a clutch of church ladies sitting on a bench. Nothing threatening here. I dapper old gent in a black suit tipped his hat. Kids played on nearby swings.

As for the apartment, it's quite good for its type. Off-foyer layout. Hallway to the bedrooms. Enough space for three kids, split by gender if need be.

Back in the early 60s, our family's doctor lived in these buildings with her husband and children. If a doctor isn't middle class, I don't know who is. The housing expectations among Brooklyn's younger professionals still surprise me -- and would shock my parents' generation.

But if it's true the co-op board's discriminates by race and children (see above), then it needs to be called on it. That's against the law.

Nostalgic on Park Avenue

Posted by: NOP at May 4, 2009 3:17 PM

NOP: What a cute story. Should I tell you about the knife fight my wife saw in front of these projects? Or the multiple homicide on Myrtle that happened in broad daylight while I lived nearby? That stretch of Myrtle is a complete shithole. At least it was in 2001/2002. I don't plan on going back to check current status.

And as far as the housing expectations of Brooklyn's younger professionals (like me), any older person who expects me to fund his retirement by selling me some mediocre apartment for $1.5 million that he bought for $15,000 back in the dark ages had damn well better expect me to be picky and point out any flaws. Sell me the place for $15,000 and I'll be interested in the old war stories and won't complain about the projects across the street.

Sheesh. Old people these days, with their damn rock and roll and hula hoops and whatnot.

Posted by: lechacal at May 4, 2009 3:28 PM

NOP: my parents would not even set foot in Brooklyn let alone live here. You are way off base. Young folks today are totally OK with living in racially diverse communities. But this is a bad investment based on its location within that diverse community.
Besides, you have your nerve you're living in Manhattan now. Don't preach to us. OK?

Posted by: sam at May 4, 2009 3:38 PM

Apropos where one's forebears may have lived, Prince Street (which is right on the other side of the Walt Whitman houses from this place) is actually named after one of my ancestors.

Posted by: lechacal at May 4, 2009 3:43 PM

Nostalgic on Park Ave: Here's the thing. Neighborhoods change, and not always in the gentrifying way that many posted on this site complain about. A lot of 'nabes that were all family-friendly in the early 1960s went seriously downhill in the decades that followed. Downhill as in Myrtle Ave was known as Murder Avenue up until not that long ago. In other words, Park Avenue it ain't.

By the by, the early 1960s was almost 50 years ago. That's about two lifetimes in real estate years.

Posted by: Kris at May 4, 2009 3:47 PM

A coop will never tell you why they deny applicants as it could open them up for discrimination.

Posted by: Adam Dahill at May 4, 2009 3:50 PM

co-ops do not accept buyers because they do not have enough financial resources to carry the unit comfortably. end of story. outside of socially snooty buildings in Manhattan, that is all there is.

Posted by: sam at May 4, 2009 3:55 PM

Sam, your naiveté is kind of cute. But seriously, co-ops don't have to disclose why they are rejecting a buyer, so it can really be for any reason whatsoever. If the board doesn't like gays or Jews or blacks, they can reject them. They can reject people for their political affliction or profession or maybe because they are simply "not the right kind of people." And this kind of discrimination flies in EVERY possible direction.

Yes, it is despicable and unethical. But it happens. If you think racists and homophobes only exist in Manhattan, then I totally want some of what you're smoking.

Posted by: Kris at May 4, 2009 4:04 PM

PS - these days, it's easy to see "not the right kind of people" being: yuppies, bankers, people who have small dogs they carry around in handbags, or wasp-y trust funders from Ohio.

Posted by: Kris at May 4, 2009 4:11 PM

kris, I may be many things, but naive is not one of them.
Co-op boards are composed of six to twelve people. some of whom may not particularly like each other, or they may feel in competition with each other. It would be extremely foolish for someone on the board to say: I don't like these people because they are black so lets not approve them. Others on the board may see this as their opportunity to blow the whistle and have that person or persons rear ends skewered. Unless you have a situation where everyone is in perfect agreement about their bigotry and completely trusting that all secrets will stay in the board room, things like this do not happen. Now, if you have a nutty lawyer scrawl all over the purchase agreement and change every article and pronoun, then yes, there is a strong possibility that the board will decide to nix him/her. also if a person is lying in some way or gets a bad reference from a former landlord. All of these things go into it. No one will risk their reputations and even their careers by being openly racist or anti-semetic or anything else on a co-op board. Co-op boards are more like a herd of cats than a star chamber.

Posted by: sam at May 4, 2009 4:39 PM

"This building is not near the projects it is nestled within them. On one side there are the projects, on the other the BQE and across the street is a city-run hospital. I'm sorry but this is a highly undesirable location for a private cooperative residence."

Well, one out of four. The development is across the street from the Whitman Houses, but at least a block away from the BQE. University Towers to the west, Fort Greene Park to the east, and The Brooklyn Hospital Center is privately-run.

I've looked into this development and decided, 'not for me, at least at the prices the apartments go for.' Others can think as much or worse. But can we at least get the factual stuff right?

Posted by: altervoce at May 4, 2009 4:50 PM

Sam, unless this coop was expecting me to buy it all-cash, rejection was not due to financials. You believe it, don't believe it, etc. hey it's a free country and you can believe what you want to. The seller's agent (wasn't even my agent) to speculate the same and then give up the listing cause board had also rejected other qualified buyers on that listing, I stick to my racism and/or loud baby reason.

Posted by: more4less at May 4, 2009 4:52 PM

I disagree. It is true that most buildings won't discriminate in these ways, but some will. There are a lot of co-op buildings out there. Obviously, people will not openly say things like, "Let's reject them because they are black and I do not like black people." It will obviously be more subtle than that, as racism usually is.

A reason need not even be given for the individual "no" vote from a board member. If one is offered, it might be something more along the lines of, "he doesn't seem trustworthy," or "something's fishy about their application," or "He was dressed like a slob" or "I just don't think they are a good match for this building."

In the case of the actual building mentioned in this thread, I suspect it is white people who are being rejected... so maybe it's more like "they don't fit in with the neighborhood." Or "they are yuppies" or "they seem like pompus, entitled asshats. Did you get a load of that little dog in her purse?"

Posted by: Kris at May 4, 2009 4:56 PM

Sorry more4less, I certainly didn't mean you in my example!

Posted by: Kris at May 4, 2009 4:58 PM

Lechacal: We can swap horror stories. Not too long ago, a Park Avenue shopkeeper, a neighborhood fixture, was murdered in broad daylight in her store. One evening, I walked into a local grocer's and found blood all over the threshold and a group of detectives investigating a hold up. I've been "rolled" twice in the past couple of years, right on the avenue, by groups of drunk teenagers. Living in one neighborhood in NYC rather than another carries no guarantees.

Sam: My point about race had to do with discrimination -- not people's willingness to live in diverse communities -- and if this co-op's board discriminates by race it's acting against the law. And such discrimination isn't limited to Manhattan. Recently, prospective Asian and Indian buyers brought complaints of discrimination against middle-class co-ops in Jackson Heights where, although the neighborhood is among the most multi-racial in the city, these buildings rejected non-white applicants.

Kris: Brooklyn in the 50s and 60s was in the midst of "white flight", gang wars, and race riots. Mitchell-Lama and Title I projects like the one posted today -- and Concord Village, University Towers, University Terrace, Willoughby Walk, etc. -- were perceived, temporarily at least, as safe havens for middle-class families who stayed in Brooklyn. And the neighborhoods that surrounded them were considered rougher than they are today.

NOP

Posted by: NOP at May 4, 2009 4:59 PM

OK kris, now I am picturing The What as a member of this coop board. In the interviews he would yell at all of the applicants that they are asshats and retards and ask them why they want to move to asshat hill. He would send out rejection letters filled with misspelled words in ALL CAPS and lots of exclamation points. All rejection letters would have lengthy and irrelevant sections cut and pasted from financial news sources.

Posted by: lechacal at May 4, 2009 5:01 PM

Kris, no need to apologize. Hey, they might've rejected us for those yuppie, etc reasons. but 1 thing for sure is it wasn't for financial reasons. In hindsight, they did us a huge favor - huge favor. Now, we watch patiently for the mkt to pull back

Posted by: more4less at May 4, 2009 5:12 PM

Any coop board who agrees to an interview and _then_ rejects the buyer is moronic. You review the package first, then reject or interview. THis way, in theory anyway, the board has no idea what the race of the applicant is.

Posted by: denton at May 4, 2009 7:08 PM

Ugh. I used to live not far from there, and I agree with other posters that NFW could you pay me to live there, much less invest. You'll be comfortably nestled between the screaming tractor-trailer brakes on the BQE and the gunfights of the projects. I moved to Bed Stuy after and felt WAY safer - at least I was in a neighborhood, rather than the weird no-man's land the developers have created here!

Posted by: meerkatz at May 27, 2009 5:07 PM

Hello,
i have never posted to this site before but after reading the above comments i feel compelled too. i find the above comments off base and racist and make me ashamed to live in the same neighborhood as you people. i have lived at kingsview for four years, and i have
had good times and bad just like you would have anywhere.many of the people who live here are older its true, but they started this place and it is their home first.these people are for the most part very friendly and nice. we feel like we have a great deal in a really nice area. it is within easy walking distance of every subway line in the city as well as LIRR. there are many nice restaurants and IMO the greatest soul food restaurant i have ever had in my life. i will admit that there are some people wilding out at night. however the projects are not just nearby, it is a isolated world unto itself. it is really a marvel to behold. there is a grocery store right there on myrtle that none of your snooty readers every saw probably. personally i like how it brings a realness to my life. i did not move here to live in the suburbs. it is a fantastic location and a area i feel totally safe in. the coop board here is a pain in the ass but i am sure there are others that are like that as well.the good part is once you are in, you are in. most people here are accepting of however you live and do your thing. this is the real world, and you guys are all living in a fantasy, i will take my home over yours any day.

Posted by: jazzlife at July 7, 2009 8:57 PM

« Rosie and Nelson Redux House of the Day: 1816 Glenwood Road »

May 4, 2009

Co-op of the Day: 130 St. Edwards Street

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